To my brethren, whom I love

We are the Brethren. The world knows us as the Brethren. We do not want to be called a denomination, because a denomination is an institution governed by the laws of man. We believe that man has no right to make rules and regulations that institute a denomination. We believe only the Bible determines how believers should conduct ourselves.

Therefore, we strive to be denomination-less. We call ourselves the assembly. As in the assembly of believers.

However, the fact is, there is nothing we can do to shake off our denomination tag. No matter how we try to change our name. The way we name our churches gives us a distinctive in itself. Even if we call ourselves the “nameless church,” we are still a denomination, i.e. the nameless church.

We have an identity that we have put on ourselves ever since we were founded. We are who we are. We are the Brethren.

The world knows little of us. There are relatively few of us in the universal body of Christ. What pains me is how we see other Christians who are not from our assembly. Eight things I have to say to us, nine that sorrow my heart.

1. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh… that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:11-12)

The barrier between the Circumcision and the Uncircumcision have been brought into the same commonwealth, as partakers of the same promise, through the blood of Christ. A barrier of such a great magnitude that extends across cultures, races, languages and spiritual background could be reconciled by Christ.

But yet, we see other Christians who are not from our assembly with a highly prejudiced eye. Even those who are of the same skin colour, who speak the same dialect, and are already citizens of the kingdom of God.

2. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. (Ephesians 2:14-16)

Christ Himself has put to death the enmity between Gentile and Jewish Christians by His own flesh. But yet, we erect walls of separation among fellow Gentile Christians who are not from our own.

Christ has made peace for two very irreconcilable people groups who profess to follow Him. But we keep our distance from Christians who are from outside our assembly, and do not even want to be seen with them.

3. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If fthe whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. (1 Corinthians 12:14-18)

We interpret this as a teaching for the local church, but fail to see it extending to the universal church. God has set each of us in our places just as He pleased “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12-13)

But we see other types of Christians as though nothing good can come out from them.

4. Paul exhorted us to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

But we think as though we are exclusively correct, and better than everyone else.

Once I visited a Baptist church during one of my dark patches of my life. The head pastor came and spoke with me. He asked me where I was from. I said I come from a Brethren church. And he said, “Thank you for being gracious to us.”

Can we find such humility from among ourselves?

5. Jesus prayed, “…that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:22-23)

If Jesus’ prayer cannot be interpreted as a prayer for all believers in the universal body of Christ, I don’t know how else it can be interpreted.

6. Paul wrote, “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”

Have Christians from other denominations caused any evil to us? And yet we see other types of Christians as though they are the source of defilement to the sanctity of the body of Christ.

What regard do we have for them? If there are two ways to see something about them, we do not choose to see the good side of it.

How peaceable are we with them? Have we even tried?

7. Paul also wrote, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…” (Romans 8:16-17)

We, together with other kinds of born-again believers, are joint heirs with Christ! We inherit every blessing that Christ inherits, together with Christians all around the world!

But yet we treat other kinds of Christians as though we don't share anything with them at all.

Are we pompous enough to say that they are not joint heirs with Christ along with us, when the Spirit Himself bears witness? Unless we go far enough to say that other Christians from outside our assembly are not the children of God. Have we gone that far?

8. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3)

There are 31,103 verses in the bible. And we have made every effort to ungraciously divide ourselves over 82 verses in the bible.

9. We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. (Romans 15:1)

Given the assumption that we are doctrinally strong, do we bear with other Christians who are weak? We have preferred to not be associated with them because they are theologically inferior.

We who are strong in our theology… How strong are we in our application of it? For as long as we always think less of Christians who are not similar to ourselves, we are crippled babes in the practice of our faith.

We may have gotten our apologetics right in all areas in Scripture. But woe befalls us if we are found to fail badly in how Christ teaches us to live.

I am born a Brethren, bred a Brethren, serving as a Brethren, and intend to remain a Brethren. But one thing I strive is not to be denomination-centric. I believe it will do well for us to think likewise.