Lateral Ministries: Following Jesus Beside You

The church is a fellowship on the move, a truth movement dedicated to unity, and a unity movement dedicated to the Truth. As the cherished hymn says, “What a fellowship!” However, if we are true, we must indeed be a movement: moving in truth towards greater unity.  But what does it mean to be a truth AND unity movement? It’s easier to be one or the other, but both?  Briefly, it means truth, as revealed through Christ by the Holy Spirit in Scripture (John 17:17), is held to be essential (John 18:37; Rom 1:18, 2:8; 2 Cor 13:8; Gal 2:14; Eph 4:15, 21, 25; Col 1:5; 2 Thes 2:10, 12; 1 Tim 2:4, 3:15, 4:3, 6:5; 2 Tim 2:18, 3:7-8, 4:4; Titus 1:1; Jas 5:19; 1 Pet 1:22; 1 John 1:6, 8, 2:4, 21; 2 John 4) foundation of Christianity. Though exhaustive agreement on every point of Scripture isn’t realistic in this age, comprehensive agreement on the essential foundations of the Faith is a no-compromise issue (Rom 14; 1 Cor 1:10; 2 John 9–11). Those who will not be bound by essential Christia...

Judge Righteously! Be careful how you judge! All division between humans follows making judgments. It's impossible not to make judgments (every decision is one), and it would be immoral not to make the kinds of discerning judgments between right and wrong Scripture (and every concept of good vs evil) requires. There's no way to be a good person unless you're choosing not to do evil, and there's no way to do that unless you can judge between the two and know the difference. Jesus did say, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matt 7:1 ESV), but He also followed that hyperbolic commandment with several qualifying instructions in verses 2–6, which I summarize:  (1) You'll be judged by God by the same standard you use to judge others (v. 2). (2) Don't judge hypocritically (v. 3–5), but as long as you're not being hypocritical, "judging" your brother with the sincere intent to help him is good.  (3) Then, v. 6 says, "Do not give dogs what ...

“In matters of faith, unity. In matters of opinion, liberty. In all things, charity.” The saying is attributed to John Wesley, though many have used it widely, including many among the churches of Christ. In Wesley’s time, “charity” was synonymous with “love,” while today, charity has a more limited meaning. Nowadays, we would say,  “In matters of faith, unity. In matters of opinion, liberty. In all things, love.” I’ve heard it from pulpits and in classrooms all my life as representative of the spirit of unity the churches of Christ were intended by our forefathers and our Lord to exemplify. Sadly, we haven’t lived up to the ideal very well. Often, we struggle between the two equally essential aims of maintaining doctrinal purity and being diligent to preserve Christian unity. Neither aim is optional. The Lord requires both. He never said this would be easy.  While the quote isn’t directly from the wording of Scripture, it is a Scriptural ideal. 2 John 9–11 teaches that there ...

Deuteronomy 33:27 says, “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy’” (ESV). The International Children’s Bible words it this way: “The everlasting God is your place of safety. His arms will hold you up forever. He will force your enemy out ahead of you. He will say, ‘Destroy the enemy!’” These are comforting words to spiritual warriors. King Jesus has defeated the enemy and exposed him to open shame. He has triumphed over death, freeing us from it. Nothing and no one can defeat our King! Not even the church’s failures can keep Jesus from accomplishing all the aims of His reign. He will return and judge the whole world. We’re free to fight fearlessly. We will be victorious in the end. But we can delay the victory. The church has a mission to fulfill, and no Bible passage states it so completely and succinctly as Matthew 28:19–20:  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing...