Guest Columnist
One of my denomination's founders, Barton Stone, is credited with saying that Christian unity is "our polar star."
In the early 19th century, Stone's Christian Church and Alexander Campbell's Disciples came together, merging two great frontier movements into one group that called itself simply Christian.
They had this notion that, given time, all flavors of Christianity might be persuaded to set aside divisive labels. They envisioned nothing less than the re-creation of the First Century Church, where there weren't any Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics or Lutherans -- only Christians.
It was a beautiful idea. As is often the case with beautiful ideas, human frailties stood in the way.
It's ironic, really, as the Stone-Campbell Movement (as it is called) -- dedicated to the principle of Christian unity -- has split over the years into three distinct streams. First, in the early 20th century, the Christian Church and the Church of Christ parted ways, largely over whether musical instruments should be used during worship services.
Then, in 1968, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the independent Christian Churches split over issues of church governance. Disagreements over restructure, as it was called, literally ripped us apart. Other Christian denominations have similar stories, as do other faith traditions.
Of course, divisions also occur at the local level within congregations.
In seminary, one of my classmates described a huge fight that happened in her church. The issue: the color of the carpet in the sanctuary. One of that church's biggest families ended up going elsewhere.
Church splits almost never revolve around theology. More typically, one encounters arguments over issues of power and control. Usually, somebody just gets mad and leaves over the carpet or something similar.
How blessed we are that the good Lord doesn't see our churches the same way we do. For even when someone picks up and leaves -- when we decide to worship in different places and in different ways -- we still worship the same God. We remain part of the same Church.
It might even be that the distinctions we make between Christianity, Islam and Judaism don't mean as much as we think. After all, we all are children of Abraham. We all seek to know and to serve God. We are a large and fractured family, and the family is rife with disagreement.
We have a saying in my tradition: "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity." Let us come together and celebrate -- in whatever way we may -- the things that bring us together.
The Rev. Charles Cochran is the pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Augusta.
