New Jersey Faith Alliance 2 Route 37 West Toms River, New Jersey 08753 732.349.1550, ext. 214 fax 732.286.6311
A COHESIVE FORCE by Walter Healy
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An argument for the recognition of the unity of the Spirit by NJ leaders.
We agree the church needs unity. We have been seeking renewal, reconciliation, reclamation, revival, and transformation—these are words and ideas that have become prominent in forward looking church communities. We are in assent but I say let's not get confused by too many terms. Let's just go back to the Bible and begin to think in terms of how God thinks which is covenantally. God thinks in terms of commitment. (The whole measurement of your well being with God in the Old Testament was faithfulness.)
Francis Frangipane said, "It is a sin to ignore being united in worship and in war." I believe Francis is right. The Bible says, "Be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit." We don't have to build it—we don't have to find it—we don't have to define it—we have to be eager to maintain something that God has done in Christ, and it is a sin to ignore anything God has done in Christ. He has made one new man. And so, I look at the churchwide experience over decades and I look also at where the church needs to go.
I look at these wonderful things like transformation of a city or a region and I know that it devolves or evolves backwards to unity. We need horizontal relationship to be strengthened. There has been too much attempt at vertical control, power, authority, title—it all becomes meaningless. God has a plan for His church in New Jersey and it is not for defeat and for being trampled underfoot. There is a great destiny for the state, but just as there’s a destiny for every individual believer, there must also be yieldedness, a willingness to pursue that destiny to its conclusion.
This is why we are seeking likeminded ministers who have already examined and concluded what God is calling us to. He is calling us to a unity beyond prior experience: He is calling us to a unity of covenantal proportions. This is what FAITH Alliance is about. Event driven unity is always temporary, aimed at a task. The Alliance has nothing to do with what we can do but, has everything to do with what will we be. This has to do with being or nature, not doing. Unity is not doing something together—that is togetherness. Unity is a state of being already given us in Christ.
I want to point out the difference between two terms: adhesion and cohesion. Adhesion is that force that holds together unlike molecules whose surfaces have come in contact. They need glue. They need an adhesive. I have watched the church for decades looking for adhesives—fruitlessly, because the church will never adhere—it is not unlike molecules. The Church is the salt of the Earth. Salt has cohesion, an entirely different force by which the molecules of a single substance seek to bond with one another and by which they are held together.
Here is the application: where two begin thinking we are different and need to come together, they will seek adhesion. The adhesive will hold for a period and then break. Adhesion is not covenantal; cohesion is covenantal. Cohesion is: you're a Christian and I'm a Christian, you're seeking the Kingdom of God and I'm seeking the Kingdom of God—we are molecules of like Substance. I'm seeking your betterment and you're seeking my betterment, because if one member suffers we all suffer, and if one member rejoices we all rejoice.
A mere coalition will fall apart after a period of time because it is adhesive, not cohesive. But there is a difference between coalition and covenant. Coalitions come together usually to combat a perceived common problem or common offense… come together to right this offense. When the offense is righted, if that does become the case, then the coalition begins to descend and fractionate into power struggles. Covenant is a much different concept.
The point is this: New Jersey is at an hour where she must pull together—she absolutely must pull together. The Church of New Jersey has to find a common passion and purpose. God has such a purpose for New Jersey and I am hopeful that we can find His purpose for this hour and this territory and then choose to make it a priority—jointly choose to make it a priority so that cohesion will take place… where the molecules of like substance are held together by a force that is not breakable.
That is why you can take a salt block and place it in the woods, knowing it will withstand the severe winter storms (making provision for the deer and other animals) because it coheres. Salt holds to itself without any need for adhesives. It doesn't need glue because it, by nature, does hold to itself. So, too, is the church of a cohesive nature. Amen.
In closing, "even things without life either flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known whether piped or played? For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for the battle?" We live in a culture that teaches us and trains us not to make commitment. Our culture is literally at war with commitments. We are taught that our relationships should be formed on the basis of perceived needs and we relate to whosoever we believe can help to meet those needs. We are attracted on the basis of "What can you do for me?" And we are trained that when our needs change, it's time to find new friends, those who are more attuned to our new needs.
We all know as church leaders this is part of the problem in the church community; we have the “cruise-o-matics,” charismatic butterflies, running around from flower to flower sucking nectar here and there, their ultimate destiny just going back to being a worm. We know this is a problem and we wonder, "How do you get people in the church to be committed to the things that are important and significant?"
I submit to you, if the bugle is making an uncertain sound, the troops will not form for the battle. It starts at the top. If the leader's level of commitment is uncertain, how can the people ever line up with certainties? I do believe that if the leadership of the State can show (visibly demonstrate) a commitment to unity, then the church will quickly make its commitment, because commitment is contagious. You've all seen a thousand times when it has been so.
It only takes one voice to change a room. But it must be a committed voice, a voice persuaded and confident and insistently and persistently committed to an idea, a concept. If our commitment as leaders is uncertain how can the church-wide commitment ever come to certainty?
What we need to do is to find ways to commit to one another in truly cohesive ways. Not with mere adhesives which are confined to what-can-you-do-for-me—what-can-I-do-for-you relationships, but with actual agape love, a love by choice. Sometimes Christian friends are just a pain in the neck. Sometimes our lives are sorely discomforted because of relationships. Believers, however, refuse to change relationships because they get uncomfortable. We make a commitment to those with whom we relate and it is covenantal; from my perspective it is a statement, "I am your blood covenant brother. I will never hurt you. I will never compete with you. I will never attempt to make you less than you are. I will seek your highest good. I will desire in prayer and in deed to put you over the top so that you and I together can move on in God."
It comes down to whether we will commit to one another and how strong that commitment will be. If we make an uncertain sound, no one will follow. We can preach all the sermons we want on unity in our individual assemblies but nothing is going to change. When there is a visible demonstration that the leaders can and will do it, then the church, in fact, will recognize it is united.
Walter Healy, Founder of NJFA
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