Reformation without differences? It’s Not possible…
I believe that in any good reformation there are going to be things that people disagree about, for if there wasn’t any disagreement there would be no need to reform, hence I’m not against being a polemicist. In order to change we need to face our differences and choose sides. Now, you must understand, that I believe the church for the most part in America has become so perverse that it is no longer recognizable as Christ’s Church, but instead is on the verge of becoming a mere cult to the worship of money, America, self, moralism, and religion; for if you do not understand this then you will see my points as pointless. Because of this abounding heresy found in most American churches division is necessitated and recommended. Take a look as these verses regarding division in the New Testament:
Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them. John 9:16 (italics added)
Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Luke 12:51-53 (italics added)
Jesus came at a time when division was necessary. He divided people by those who would believe His Gospel and those who would not. We must not be afraid to divide away from those who have perverted the Gospel.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9
Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. Romans 16:17-18
Also the book of Jude
We need to act in accordance with the spirit and by the will of God given through the Holy Scriptures to become a holy (seperate) people. This does not mean fortressing our faith and removing ourselves from the world, but rather being distinct and remaining true to the Gospel. That means evangelism among the world (culture grand and small), it means remaining faithful to the truth but being flexible with the presentation. As Mark Driscoll says, “there are some things that remain in the closed hand and some things that remain in the open hand.” (paraphrase) The bible is in the closed hand.
So in the spirit of becoming holy and blameless we must contend ernestly for the Gosple and that means not being afraid to step on heretics toes. We should seek to reform gently those who have wandered from the path of truth, but not be afraid to say their wrong and we don’t want them to associate with us. It’s okay for them to think what they want, but there comes a point when they’ve wandered too far and they’re no longer Christian, they’re something else completely.
K.B.
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In the footsteps of those great men 
Hey KB, good post. 1 Corinthians gives a good taste of issues not worth dividing over. I totally agree that Christ divides and so does his word. Still, there is another part of me that would like to see denominational walls die down between those who still believe God’s Word is finite and God’s way is led by the Spirit–a paradox–like the wind–John 3:6-8, and yet also led by order, self-control, sobriety, and authority. It’s like God always knew that there would be people in the church there who had only and intellectual knowledge of Him and not a relational knowledge of Him, and there would be others who had only a sensual knowledge of Him and not a relational knowledge of Him. Likewise, God’s Word speaks to both sovereign election and to freewill as if God knew that there would be some who would like to take credit for their own salvation and others who would like to write off their bad choices as God’s bad choices rather than repent and choose to follow God. I’d like to see more people willing to reach across denominational lines and stand for Christ and stand on His Word together–on the plain speaking of His Word. Because one of the things Paul writes in Corinthians is that men should not be divided by which man they follow–Paul, Apollos, Christ, —Calvin, Wesley, Christ–We all follow Christ. The scary thing is, the mounting apostate church is not divided along those denominational lines because they all have a common cause–the love of THIS world. If we could see our common cause in the love of Christ and forsaking this world there would only be one division–the world and the church.
Hey Aaron, thanks for the compliment.
My short answer to what you wrote is, I agree. However, I feel that the only way for the “denominational walls” to come tumbling down is for the church in America to see it’s sinful heart through the looking glass of the truth of scripture.
Secondly, we may quote heavily from Calvin and Martin Luther on our blog, but there are also things that they taught which we (I) patently disagree with. Take Martin Luthers sinful antisemitic teaching; a teaching that played into the tragedy of the holocaust. This teaching is not to be emulated or continued. However, many of the teachings of Calvin and Luther are powerful because of their faithfulness to the Word of God. We adhere to those teachings when they agree to the Word of God and when they are helpful in teaching and understanding His Word.
Consequently, reforming the church (tumbling the denominational walls) is going to be painful because of the apostate teachings held in most of the American church. We are going to disagree! But my hope is that the spirit of God would work through his faithful churches to reform those who have fallen away or to destroy them completely.