Unity is
vital in homes, churches and nations. Jesus said it well in Luke 11:17, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls.”
However, is
it possible for unity to be dangerous? Of course it is, if people are unified
around a lie. Unfortunately, there are many examples in the Bible where people
are united around a false promise or a false hope, where people are bound together in
a false unity that leads to disastrous consequences.
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve united around
the Serpent’s lie that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, they could rid themselves of the need for God. Genesis 11 paints an equally troubling scene where all of humanity
rallied together to rise into heaven to defeat God at the Tower of Babel. A
little over a year after the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt by God’s
mighty hand, Numbers 13-14 shows
they had an opportunity to enter the Promised Land. However, with virtually one
voice they chose to keep wandering in the wilderness rather than to confront
the giants across the Jordan.
Moving to
the New Testament, Mark 15 depicts
the day our Lord and Savior heard the united shouts of those He came to save
imploring Pilate to, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” The Apostle Paul never forgot
the day he witnessed roughly 25,000 demonically-inspired people shouting, “Great is
Artemis of the Ephesians!” in unison for two hours straight due to his work for
the kingdom of God (Acts 19).
Finally, Revelation 13 reveals that
one day almost the entire earth will be deceived into following the Antichrist,
and therefore, worshiping Satan.
A. W. Pink wrote this about the
false good news Satan offers to the world:
The gospel of Satan … does not promote strife and war—but aims at
peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the
father against his son—but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race
is regarded as one great "brotherhood." … It propagates the
principles of self-sacrifice, charity and benevolence, and teaches us to live
for the good of others, and to be kind to all. It appeals strongly to the
carnal mind and is popular with the masses, because it ignores the solemn facts
that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, and
dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope lies in being born again.
Don’t sacrifice truth for the sake
of unity; doing so can come at the expense of people’s souls.
In January
of this year, Pope Francis released a video prayer request, asking everyone to engage
in more dialogue with people of other religions because, “We are all children of God.” The video depicts a
Buddhist, Jew, Catholic priest and Muslim all declaring that they believe in
their particular faith leader, and they believe in love. 1 John 4 says that God is love, so does that mean all these followers of various religions are children of God believing in the same God?
An article has also demonstrated the Pope discussing atheists in a similar light. He said, "The
Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us,
not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists.
Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class!”
While it’s true that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross offers
redemption to everyone, not everyone has had their sins forgiven, and thus been
delivered out of the domain of darkness and into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13-14).
No matter how other Catholic writers or priests want to
spin Pope Francis’ words, he is very much insinuating that John 14:6 should not be taken at face value. What does John 14:6 say? “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way,
and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’”
Though
the early Christians genuinely sought to demonstrate God’s love to all people,
they refused to soften Jesus’ words to make Christianity more acceptable to the
masses.
No
one can know the Father, unless through the Word of God, that is, unless by the
Son revealing [Him]. … Therefore the Son reveals the knowledge of the Father
through His own manifestation. … He said to His disciples: “No man knows the
Son but the Father, nor the Father but the Son, and those to whomsoever the Son
shall reveal Him;” thus setting Himself forth and the Father as He [really] is,
that we may not receive any other Father, except Him who is revealed by the
Son. …
And
for this purpose did the Father reveal the Son, that through His
instrumentality He might be manifested to all, and might receive those
righteous ones who believe in Him into incorruption and everlasting enjoyment;
… but He shall righteously shut out into the darkness which they have chosen
for themselves, those who do not believe, and who do consequently avoid His
light. … Wherefore did the Lord say to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth,
and the life and no man comes to the Father but by Me. If you had known Me, you
would have known My Father also.” – Irenaeus 180CE Volume 1,
p. 781, 783-784 [CD-ROM]
Like Jesus,
Irenaeus had no problem causing holy division. He basically said
that if you have not received God’s Son, you are not part of God’s family. If you
choose to not believe in God’s Son, you choose to reject eternal life and bring
judgment on yourself. There is only one way to God the Father, and it is
through the Lord Jesus Christ His Son.
Even though
there was no Pope ruling over the vast number of Christians throughout the
world in the first three centuries, it is remarkable how unified the early
Christians were in their core doctrines and values. They were unified around
the person, life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and were fiercely loyal to Him,
no matter the cost.
The early
Christians believed that since Jesus said He is the only way to the Father,
taking Him seriously mattered enormously. Therefore, evangelism and
discipleship were matters of great urgency.
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