Introducing Our New Teaching Position On Unity

We believe in the spiritual unity of all who believe in Jesus Christ, both locally and around the world. Therefore, we do our best to understand the gospel as revealed in Scripture, ever-growing in our capacity to root our identity in Christ (personally and corporately).

We believe that unity is a prime mark of a healthy local church when that unity is based on a shared faith in Jesus Christ. We cherish and preserve it with joy in our local church. Unity requires humility toward one another, expecting that our one family of faith will contain a multitude of differences. We do not believe that unity requires uniformity in behavior, practice, or personality. Rather, we see unity as most distinctively Christian when it reflects a breaking down of the walls of hostility that mark the world’s divisions. 

In our local church, we seek to demonstrate the unity of Christ by the way we practice mutual accountability in areas of difficult cultural division, including in matters of ethnicity, gender, and economic status. We do not pretend that these differences are absent, but instead, seek to honor Christ in the way we pursue unity in the midst of them. 

We expect that the same Spirit is at work in each of us in complementary ways, so we are quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. There will be times that our opinions are challenged, the views of others will be different than ours, and our brothers and sisters will have insights we can learn from. Disagreement can be a means for the bonds of fellowship to be strengthened. Where we disagree, we are charitable with one another rather than suspicious or judgmental, looking forward to an eternity where we will be joining in worship with fellow Christians from every tongue, tribe, and nation. 
(Approved at the January 2023 elder meeting) 
 

WHAT ARE "TEACHING POSITIONS"?
Teaching positions are secondary explanations of our faith as a church. Our primary statement of faith is on core confessional topics (the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the resurrection, etc) and is agreed to by all incoming new members. Teaching positions represent our elders’ guidance on issues that are contested or culturally relevant. Church members agree to accept the spiritual guidance of the elders and not be contentious over teaching positions, but there is no expectation that every member agrees with every teaching position. Our hope is that this teaching position can bring clarity and direction to those inside and outside our church. 

WHAT WAS THE PROCESS FOR CREATING THIS TEACHING POSITION? 
In 2020, our elders decided to add three teaching positions in response to the racial discord in our country. The first, affirmed in 2021, was on the Image of God. This teaching position on Unity is the second. The third teaching position (upcoming) will be on Biblical Justice. 

The elders spent a portion of our meetings in 2022 studying the topic of Christian unity in Scripture. This teaching position is the fruit of our study, discussion, and listening to other Christians. 

HOW IS THIS TEACHING POSITION GROUNDED IN SCRIPTURE? 
Here are some of the significant passages of Scripture that shaped our thinking. Many of the phrases in the teaching positions are allusions or quotations from these Scriptures. 
 

John 17 - May we be one as the Father and Son are one
Acts 2:42-47 - Living in unity together 
Acts 6:1-7 - Finding resolution in the midst of differences 
Acts 10 - God does not show favoritism 
Romans 14-15 - Unity in the midst of contested matters
Galatians 3:26-29 - One in Christ 
1 Corinthians 12 - One Body, different gifts
Ephesians 4:1-6 - There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism
Ephesians 2:11-22 - Destroying the dividing wall of hostility 
2 Peter 2 - Warning one another as fellow believers
Revelation 7 - Every tongue, tribe, and nation 
 

See thesermon seriesfrom Fall 2022 on Unity in the Book of Acts for further biblical teaching on the topic. 

WHY ADOPT A TEACHING POSITION ON UNITY? 
On the surface, unity is not a contested or debated issue in Christianity. Who is against unity? 

While there are few Christians in America that would openly say they are against unity, it would be disingenuous (at best) to claim that American Christians are known for our unity, either within local churches or across church lines. There is a deep history of schism within our broad Protestant tradition, as well as within our own specific denominational heritage. 

We are concerned about the self-sorting consumerism that marks American Christianity currently, where it has become normal to only attend church with people like ourselves (however we might define that) and expect our extra-biblical preferences to be normal. 

Similar to the teaching position on the Image of God last year, this teaching position was adopted to encourage reflection, emphasis, and to craft a theological vision for what is important more than putting a stake in the ground on a contested issue. 

At Grace Seal Beach, we have enjoyed terrific unity, especially in recent years. This teaching position is not an attempt to correct a problem but rather to build on and reinforce a strength, and to exhort our church to extend that strength to building unity with Christians beyond our own local church, both inside and outside of our denominational tribe. 

HOW DOES THIS FIT WITH OUR CHURCH'S PREVIOUS TEACHING ON UNITY? 
In our Statement of Belief, we affirm: 
7/THE ONE TRUE CHURCH: We believe in the spiritual unity of all who have faith in Jesus Christ. We also believe in organizing believers into local churches for worship, edification, and witness.

This Teaching Position is an elaboration and extension of that same teaching. 

HOW WILL THIS TEACHING POSITION HELP US MOVE FORWARD AS A CHURCH? 
In the coming year, you will hear about opportunities to improve on our strength of unity as a local church through being involved with ministries like Grace Conversations, the Caring Fund, Stephen Ministry, and Life Groups. Additionally, we will continue to partner with other Christians in the region to support our Compassion partnerships. Behind the scenes, our pastors and ministry leaders will be engaging with other ministers in our denomination and/or region. 
 

This teaching position gives a portion of the theological reasoning for why we invest time in these areas and a corrective for us in the future if we recede from such initiatives.