Separation: A Tough Decision

I have been reading through some of Gresham Machen's sermons recently in the book God Transcendant which is a mighty little book containing some wonderful sermons. Today I read one called "The Separateness of the Church" which speaks of a topic which has been close to my heart this summer and speaks of something I am sure was close to Machen: Ecumenism.

I started this summer by reading Iain Murray's Evangelicalism Divided which more or less tracks Ecumenism in Britain and America. I had no idea how relevant the issue would be for me but I have been in an argument with a friend recently concerning the so called "Limited Atonement" in which my friend says that if we do not come to an agreement on this doctrine than we have no unity and must part ways. I am all for standing for doctrine in a world of shifting sands and a church of silly Ecumenism but for two solid Christians to part ways over the extent of the of the atonement seems a bit much to me. My friend of course defines unity from John 17, "I pray Father that they may be one as you and I are one." I have no problem with this and I long for the unity of which Jesus speaks but I do yet have a problem. I don't think that perfect agreement on the extent of the atonement is quite what Jesus was talking about, or if it was, it isn't expected to be absolutely fulfilled on this planet or in this age. This is the issue: Ecumenism. You see, if I say, "We can agree to disagree on this" I sound Ecumenical to him, in fact I begin sounding Ecumenical to myself.

Let this be my sounding point, I feel that Christians should never be ultra tolerant or even a little tolerant of a world comprised of insidious Postmodernism.

I have a similar problem with my school librarian. I love my school librarian, he is one of the coolest people I know and I call him the "Iain Murray of the Brethren" because of his hair and the way he talks and how much he knows about books and controversies. But the problem I have with my librarian is the same problem I have with my friend only with the roles reversed. He takes the stance of George Mueller and the Bristol Brethren and says that he will for the moment "bear with their infirmities" when it comes to the issues which break unity. However, I feel that when the strongest Protestant in the Anglican world goes and joins in with a load of Catholics we shouldn't be simply "bearing with their infirmities" we should be fighting for the faith. The same goes for Protestant Liberals and Emergent Church Postmoderns.

Here is where Machen comes in,

"[The apostles as new Christians] were living Christian lives because they were devoted to Christian truth. 'Ye turned to God,' says Paul, 'from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.' That was the secret of their Chistian lives; their Christian lives were founded upon Christian doctrine - upon theism ('the living and true God'), upon christology ('His Son...whom He raised from the dead'), and upon soteriology ('which delieverd us from the wrath to come'). They kept the message intact, and hence they lived the Christian life."

Further,

"If the sharp distinction is ever broken down between the church and the world, then the power of the church is gone."

I believe this wholeheartedly. We should not let the little things in that quietly destroy the church and as Machen was saying, "Make the salt lose its savor." We should contend earnestly for the faith. But I am simply not sure where the line is drawn, it is such shady line, and I hate shady lines. I want to be separate from the world, clearly separate from the world, but I also don't know how I am going to avoid losing one of best and only friends over the issue of the extent of the atonement. I have no desire to return to the recycled Liberal Ecumenism of the Emergent world but I also have no desire to go down the road of small, tiny, sectarian, 20 person and shrinking churches where if you don't agree with every jot and tittle of the unspoken doctrines of the church you don't go to that church.

Decisions, decisions.

For the glory of the almighty risen Savior,
R.D. Thompson