Can We Unite with THEM?
(Reflections on The Manhattan Declaration - Part I)
Mark Albrecht
For the last few months, there has been much conversation about a document called “The Manhattan Declaration.” It is a joint statement from a wide scope of Christian churches around three specific shared convictions drawn from scripture – the dignity of life, the sanctity of marriage, and the protection of religious freedom.
The writers of the document hoped to gain over 1,000,000 signatures as a statement of unity among Christians in America. So far, more than 400,000 people have signed the statement, including many prominent Christian leaders from virtually every corner of the Christian community.
All Christians in America have been asked to add their names to the list. Should you? Should I? This is the first of four articles that will hopefully help you to have a better understanding of this document, a better grasp of its scriptural foundations, and greater clarity about whether or not you should add your name to its list of signers.
In this first article we will deal with the issue of unity. If you have read the document, it’s opening page speaks of the importance of Christians uniting to obey God, stand for the common good, and protect the intrinsic dignity of all persons. It calls for Christians to cross historic lines of theology and ecclesiology (church government structures) to speak and act in defense of some basic truths.
This in and of itself seems to be a “no brainer.” Who isn’t in favor of seeing the church of Jesus Christ unite and stand together? But for some Christian leaders, this is the portion of the document that has proven to be the greatest sticking point, preventing some from adding their names to the list of supporters.
The statement specifically says that Christians stand together – Evangelical , Catholic, and Orthodox Christians. Most all are familiar with the Roman Catholic Church, but the Eastern Orthodox Church may be unknown to some. The Orthodox Church arose when a schism in the Roman Catholic Church caused a split of East and West over 1000 years ago. The Western Church retained the title of Roman Catholic Church, while the Eastern Church eventually became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. (You may be aware of Greek Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, or Russian Orthodox churches in Chicagoland.)
Despite its sad misrepresentations in our culture today, the evangelical (protestant) church is essentially one that holds firmly to the authority of scripture and to the gospel of faith alone in Christ. The Protestant Evangelical church traces its roots back over 500 years, to a time when sincere “protesting” Catholics called for a return to purity and the teachings of scripture. But they were ultimately cast out and formed the “Protestant Church.” (NorthBridge Church is both a Protestant and Evangelical church.)
Catholic and Orthodox churches and church leaders would give somewhat different answers than an evangelical church to questions regarding the authority of the Bible and the definition of the gospel. These church leaders would give church tradition a great measure of authority alongside the teaching of scripture. And when it comes to defining the gospel, Catholic and Orthodox leaders would put great value on the importance of participation in church sacraments alongside of faith in the finished work of Christ.
For this reason, because there are some clear differences regarding the definition of the gospel and the authority of scripture, some evangelical leaders have chosen not to sign the Manhattan Declaration. They feel that it ignores our crucial differences and by aligning in this effort we ultimately water down the gospel, leading to confusion, not clarity.
I see the point these leaders are trying to make – we cannot cross historic lines of faith if it ultimately confuses the simple and central message of salvation found in Jesus Christ alone. But I believe that there are a couple of things we must consider regarding the unity being sought by the authors of The Manhattan Declaration:
1) The statement is not about the definition of the gospel. It acknowledges that we must declare the good news of life and hope in Christ, but it does not seek to define this gospel too rigidly. There is no sentence in this statement about the definition of the gospel that staunch Protestant Evangelicals could not wholeheartedly embrace.
2) The cry of the heart of God is for His church to be united. And according to Jesus Himself, the way the world will see and understand the reality and relevance of Christ and hope of the gospel is through the unity of His people. In John 17, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus prays:
My prayer is not for them (the 12 disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe (you and I) in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us that the world may believe that You sent Me… I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent Me…
The passionate prayer of Jesus the night before His crucifixion was that His church would be one. America now has over 170 million people who don’t yet know Jesus, and if our fellow Americans are going to know the truth of the gospel, it will begin when His people unite.
Though we have historic differences with Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, it seems right to unite around this handful of deep convictions about the sanctity of life, the definition of marriage, and religious liberty. Since this statement does not seek to define the gospel, it seems we can lay aside our historic differences to unite together around some common beliefs about issues so crucial and so timely in our culture.
But do we all hold common views about these three big issues? Watch for Part II of our Manhattan Declaration commentary as we look at what scripture says about the meaning and dignity of human life.
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