My Beloved Brothers and Sisters,
I am not sure whether or not I am irrationally afraid right now. But I am not willing to risk it. I fear that there may be potential for division among us this week. This week has been sensitive, to say the least. And in our sensitivity, I know that we are each thinking about how best to love our neighbor. But in doing so, I want to urge you not to forget Ephesians 4:3, “Eagerly maintain the unity of the Spirit ...”
I want to remind you that we must maintain the unity of our church. Even when we may disagree politically,we can and we must remain united as a church. How can this unity even be possible?
The answer is that we must understand the difference between biblical premises and political conclusions. As Christians, we all unite in our biblical premises. But as citizens of a nation, sometimes our consciences can be led to different political conclusions.
For our own members who vote Democrat, it is important to understand that they do not do so because they are pro-abortion. I know that they value the unborn as image-bearers of God. But they also value others as image-bearers of God. From this premise, their consciences are led to the Democratic position on immigration, guns, etc. Same biblical premise. Different political conclusion.
For our own members who vote Republican, it is important to understand that they do not do so because they hate immigrants. I know that they value immigrants as image-bearers of God. But they also value others as image-bearers of God. From this premise, their consciences are led to the Republican position on border-protection, pro-life laws, etc. Same biblical premise. Different political conclusion.
Because of how sensitive everything is this week, I fear the potential for our church to overlook our common biblical premises and divide over different political conclusions. If we are not careful, then we can easily become angry with another church member who does not agree with the precise political conclusion that we have reached.
So, please take a moment to remind yourselves of the common premises we share. Your brothers and sisters at GMC care about justice; your brothers and sisters at GMC all want to obey the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves; we all desire to grow in compassion. As a church, we share the same biblical premises. As a church, we share the same desire to know the Word of God. And in this same pursuit, it is not unusual for us to reach different political conclusions as individuals. We have maintained our unity before. We must maintain our unity now.
We cannot forget who we are.
We are a family.
We became a family because we were all adopted by the same Father, who bought us all at the cost of our Elder Brother. We were all drowning in the ocean of sin together, but by the grace of God, we are all riding in the same Lifeboat together. We are a family headed to the same Eternal Home.
Yet, it is good to be a dutiful citizen and think carefully about the political issues before you. But regardless of your political conclusions, please make sure not to neglect brotherly love (Hebrews 13:1). Please make sure to maintain the unity of our church. We are a family, and I know we love each other.
Until we meet again,
Pastor Daniel Chin
Pastor Daniel Chin is the lead pastor of Global Mission Church English Ministry. You can contact him via email here.