Dear Protestant Brother or Sister,
You need to know something. You need to know why I care so much about deepening our unity towards what the creeds and early period meant by “catholic”. It is because there is so much more at stake than you currently recognize. I am not referring to future consequences for your own soul, though these should not be neglected either. I am talking about something much bigger. I am talking about something that affects all souls.
There is an amazing reality at the end of Scripture–at the end of our world as we know it. I’m not overtaken with apocalyptic fervor nor end times scenarios. I’m not making any predictions about timing. I’m merely pointing out the inarguable and inevitable. There is a beautiful reality awaiting God’s people, and it is described in Revelation 21:10f:
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed . . . . And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass (ESV).
One city, where we will all live. All of us . . . together. “All of us together” is a vision that captivates people. It explains many peoples’ desire to be in the city, though they mistake the city they are truly after. That heavenly Jerusalem will be unlike any city of today.
By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day-and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Rev. 21:24-27, ESV)
The city will be a source of light and glory and goodness. Its gates will be ever open for some, and ever closed to others. There will be no crime and no distrust. Instead, there will be insight and wisdom and guidance, and its glory will be unique and unmistakable. And the nations will walk by its light. Okay, so let the nations walk by its light!
What is this light?
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the lamb (Rev. 21:22-23, ESV).
The light is the brilliant aura of the heavenly scene. The source of light is God, who, though in the old days resided in the Holy of Holies as a shadow, has stepped out from his umbra to dwell fully amidst his people. No more veils. In fact, that is what the title and first word of our book (i.e., ἀποκάλυψις) literally means: “that which comes out from what is veiled”.
And his people will not merely be bathed in his light, but their bodies will reflect his glory like a million suns, and the golden city will refract that shine with such radiance that only new eyes will be capable of remaining open.
But the inhabitants won’t stop their shining in order to file out to divided churches on the Lord’s Day, as we do now. In the first place, there will no longer be church or temple, as special places of God’s presence, because his presence will fill the city, and his people will need go nowhere to be in it. But second, how absurd! The picture is one where unity of worship reigns. Altogether, we behold and worship him. Let me repeat that: altogether, we behold and worship him.
This is the end. And by that I do not merely nor even predominantly refer to when. No, I am talking about the type of “end” that pertains to purpose and desire (Greek: τέλος). God can have whatever end he wishes, and clearly, this unified city of light is the “end” that he wishes. This is the fulfillment and fullness of the Church’s journey. This is the Church, no longer pictured as a building but as a city. All genuine Christians will culminate their journeys here–one people gathered for worship.
If this is our ultimate end–this unified gathering of light wherein we worship altogether, why should we be content with a divided church situation now? Why should God be happy with an end that is not his own?
Because the purpose of light is to illuminate, in this city of light there will be no divisions based upon truths currently veiled from us. All will be laid bare, and many of our eyes will grow wide with amazement, and with true contrition and a bit of shame we will exclaim, “Oh!” And we will apologize to our brothers and sisters, and the Holy Spirit, saying, “I’m so sorry that I never allowed you to teach me.” And division itself will be unmade through this precise recipe: light and repentance.
If this is the end God desires, how might we go and do likewise? How might we, the nations, walk by the light of this city? The answer that most commends itself is this: As long as there is division, we must never give up the journey to humbly seek the light, repent of our ignorance, and unite under one banner. It doesn’t matter if we are new Christians or seasoned Christians. It matters not if we are fifteen or fifty. As long as there is division, we must never give up seeking, repenting, and uniting.
It remains for another time to argue that unity is an end in itself and not just a means to an end, but the image from Revelation should suffice to convince you that we must do what is in our power to fulfill this vision because it is the Lord’s. And we mustn’t minimize our solidarity with it by claiming it is impossible. This is how disobedience rationalizes: “since it is impossible, why even try?” But it only seems impossible because so many, instead of obediently trying, have bought the rational. Well, I’m here to remind us of our duty.
And it’s not as though this paradigm of a single, unified entity is an other-worldly ideal isolated to the book of Revelation. There was one unified Israel, but only for a time, and many bad things resulted when it divided. And there is to be one Church (cf. the “one body” of Eph. 4:4), which is intended to fulfill Israel’s ideals and oneness, and which will become this heavenly city. We know this because this new Jerusalem, just like the Church, is described as Christ’s bride (cf. Rev. 21.2).
And there is also the direct call of our Lord himself, who not only reiterates the divine intention for unity but also, finally, gives us the stakes that terrify me and should terrify you too. Christ says in John 17:20-23:
I ask . . . that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me . . . may [they] become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me (ESV).
Can you see what’s at stake? Can you see the result of disunity? The credibility of the gospel is ruined.
This may sound in-credible to you. I recognize that you may be predisposed against what I’m saying. You may even lack the categories necessary to give it due consideration . . . I did. All I can offer you is the truth and an apology. I’m sorry that what Christ asks of us may require so much (though there is much to gain). And I’m sorry that most of you, even if you come to feel the prick of my rationale, will nevertheless not make a turn. But my apology isn’t merely one of remorse. This entire site is an extended defense of the ecumenical approach Christians ought to be prioritizing. What do I mean?
Many Christians, as they spend more time with Scripture, come to realize that God’s heart is a missionary heart. He desires the nations. Our images from Revelation are very clear about this:
By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day-- and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. (Rev. 21:24-26, ESV)
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev. 22:1-2, ESV)
The glory and honor of the nations are not precious gems nor the wealth of the nations’ localities. They are what God values most: people. The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the people from all the nations of the earth, to bring them into the city where there is no death, and all tears have been banished (cf. Rev. 21:4).
To state it clearly: God seeks to save lost people from every nation on earth in order to bring them into one, unified gathering of people for worship. That is what a missionary heart looks like. If we are to be conformed to Christ, we are to adopt the same missionary heart with the same purpose. If we truly have a missionary heart, we will seek to clear the way of all obstacles to achieving this purpose.
God’s search begins with some really good news, the credibility of which will have a decisive influence upon many hearers. And the credibility of that message, Jesus himself tells us, depends upon our unity. We need to stop and consider this with fresh eyes until those eyes shed tears for the lost and see that our division keeps them that way. If a missionary heart demands a clearing away of obstacles, and our division is an obstacle, there is only one thing we should want to do with it.
It will not do to disregard what I’m saying because you believe it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict the hearts of men–not ours. It is not balanced to focus upon one truth from Scripture while ignoring the others. According to Jesus, our disunity invalidates our message. Our disunity makes it so that the world cannot so clearly see that what we have to say is life-giving. It is not difficult to integrate these two ideas from Scripture. In fact, they imply something quite simple yet very frightening. The balance implies that the Holy Spirit will convict less people of the truth of the gospel because we lack unity. This is a tragedy.
We split into denominations over a thousand differences of theological opinion. But just how important are denominational interpretations of Scripture, or even the very ability to read Scripture, when compared with the credibility of the gospel? How important are different opinions about when and how a person ought to be baptized, whether the buck stops at one or many leaders, or which Latin word best describes Christ’s presence in the elements of Communion? What good is our insistence on numerous down-stream truths when by our actions most peoples’ boats remain beached at the headwaters? What good is a fire truck brimming with water when the nozzle is stuck shut? What good is the salvific power of the gospel when its credibility prevents access to it? Truths for insiders are irrelevant to those on the outside. Only the credibility of the gospel matters if they are to be healed.
This needs be our refrain:
By our division we have tarnished the credibility of the gospel. By our apathy Christ's body has been diminished.
Our unity matters more than you can now appreciate. I pray the Lord open your eyes to it because many souls depend upon it. The more united we are, the greater the gospel’s credibility to the world. Resist the urge to confine this call to the occasional camaraderie of inter-denominational efforts or Christian friendship. You might ask, “Why is this not enough?” I cannot adequately make this argument here, but in efforts to check your motives, honestly ask yourself how sure you are that unity doesn’t demand something much bigger than you can now see. If we are to believe Jesus, the stakes are not only too great for dismissive attitudes but also too great to be anything but absolutely sure about whatever minimum is required.
Unity, by definition and in its very nature, is communal. That needs to be our focus at precisely this time in history. That needs to be your focus. Is it? If it is, you’ve probably noticed that Protestantism hasn’t the resources to unite the church. To which ecclesiastical identity would the world of churches unite? Protestantism has no center, nothing that everyone agrees upon. It’s own boundaries cannot even be established, for there exists no authority to establish them. In its very essence and historical effects, it represents a series of departures from the unity we see in Revelation 21 and from the unity John 17 tells us we need to make the gospel as credible as possible.
The only real solution, as I see it, is for Protestantism to become like John the Baptist and diminish. It need not be beheaded (for it has no head to decapitate). It simply needs to step back and allow another to step forward. It simply needs to hear and heed the call of Jesus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24, ESV). It needs to recognize in this call its next step and peacefully dismantle its many distinct identities from the inside to accomplish its Savior’s mission. For clarity about what I do and don’t mean by this, see my reflections at Becoming Like John the Baptist. Oh how I wish you, dear Protestant brothers and sisters, could see this clearly!
My assessment comes from no hatred of Protestantism. On the contrary, I grew up Protestant and love Protestants. Most of my friends are Protestant. Many of my heroes are Protestant. My teachers were predominantly Protestant. But no amount of affection can change the fact that all the goods within Protestantism are being undermined by the negative consequences of our disunity. We need to protect the credibility of the gospel, for in protecting the gospel, we protect the only means of salvation available to mankind. What I am calling for may sound radical, but so is what we will achieve with a credible gospel. Radical sacrifices incur radical gains.
So with an unflinching stare and hope that you will hear the Spirit’s corroboration, I beg you to awaken! Each contingency must be given due consideration: Christ is the gateway to God, the gospel is the gateway to Christ, credibility is the gateway to believing that gospel, and unity is the gateway to credibility. The more unity we achieve, the wider the gate is thrown open.
For those few who can see the truth and potential of this vision, here is what you should do about it.