NOT FEDERATION, BUT UNITY.
THE Southern Review says: “The national ‘congress of the Disciples of Christ, lately held ‘at Lexington, Ky., appointed a committee of ‘seven to take charge of a movement in behalf of an ‘international confederation of religious denominations. According to this scheme, the different religious bodies are to retain their own creeds, but will ‘be auxiliary to an international congress, and will ‘affiliate with all other churches on a common platform. The ultimate aim is to create an international ‘church.” The Christian Work says that “this ‘movement is the first of its kind in America, and is ‘in line with the wide-spread tendency toward church federation and church unity, and with the rapidly ‘growing spirit of internationalism in literature, social ‘reform, and art.” A church, or a federation of churches, that is “in ‘line’ with anything but the “commandments of ‘God and the faith of Jesus” is not the church of Christ. His church is world-wide, but it is not a federation of widely-differing bodies. It is “one ‘body,” of which Christ is the head. True, there are “many members” in the one body, but they are individuals, and not varying organizations. “We, being ‘many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” See Rom. 12: 4, 5. In this body there is an entire mutuality of interest on the part of the members. No one has any separate or selfish interest to be built up without reference to the welfare of all the others. There is no jealousy or envy between them. See 1 Cor. 12. “There is one ‘body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one ‘hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” etc. Eph. 4: 5. This is not a confederation of diverse faiths and baptisms. It is one, even as the Father and Son are one. Christian Work says that “a confederated church ‘. . . involves a return to the early apostolic ‘church.” But a “confederated church” never can be anything but a number of churches joined together. Confederation implies a union of separate interests to gain some special advantage. But the church of Christ is a body of members having one interest9in which all self-interest is absorbed. The member has no interest aside from the interest of the body. The Word of God is designed to bring all the members to the unity of the faith. It does not teach diverse doctrines to be confederated. Some of these diverse beliefs are erroneous. Whatever is not according to the Word is false, and not until that which is false is segregated from the various bodies can they become a truly united church—united in the faith of Christ. Christ is not divided (1 Cor. 1:13), and His kingdom is not a federation. His work is one of atonement, reconciling men to God, that they may be at one with Him. To this end the members must be at one with each other. There can be no covert dissension in His body. “He gave some, apostles; ‘and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and ‘some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the ‘saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying ‘of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity ‘of the faith”—not in the federation of varying organizations holding and teaching antagonistic theories of faith. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers never would bring the members of the one body into the unity of the one faith by propagating diverse theories and striving to build up opposing interests. “A house divided against itself can ‘not stand.’”