Loving the Brotherhood in an Information Age

“Love the brotherhood” (1 Peter 2:17). Amid a discussion of the obligations we have to mankind, Peter pauses to give a quick reminder; a people born to “sincere love of the brethren” (1 Peter 1:22) always have a special obligation of love to their brothers and sisters in Christ. Thankfully, unlike obligations that can prove difficult such as submitting “to every ordinance of man” (yes, even those born out of “the ignorance of foolish men”; 1 Peter 2:13, 15) or being “submissive to your masters” (1 Peter 2:18), loving the brotherhood is for the most part pretty easy. For one thing, it’s easily achieved in our interconnected world; at no point in human history has it been easier to be aware of and even to interact with other Christians than today. On top of that though, it’s just an easy command; there’s so much about the brotherhood to love.

There’s a lot of good being achieved in the churches of Christ around the world, and social media and the internet provides a window into this good. You don’t have to be connected to many Christians online before you see pictures of camps full of children learning the Bible; pictures of brethren embracing at lectureships; pictures of events being held in and around church buildings; pictures of people being baptized and added to the Lord. The brotherhood abounds with evangelistic outreaches to the world and edifying in-reaches into the body of the saved. So often when someone asks for a faithful church meeting in ________ city on a message board, a response comes in, “Here are the contact details for a Christian there.” Are you looking for a good study resource? Ask the question online, and you’ll be pointed to scores of good websites run by faithful brethren. And on and on we could go. While we can’t claim any exercise of miraculous gifts like Jesus did, if we wanted, we could give a report on the brotherhood that is similar in tone to the one Jesus gave to John’s disciples: “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Luke 7:22).

Unfortunately, the brotherhood has never been as perfect as the Lord it serves. It wasn’t perfect in the ancient world, and it isn’t perfect in the modern world. And unfortunately, the internet also abounds with insights into the brotherhood’s imperfections. You don’t have to be connected to many Christians online before you see a totally different story to the one described above: pictures of sparse attendance and greying heads at some gatherings and events; false teachers gaining notoriety and followers; videos and blog posts that attempt to add to or take away from the Biblical text; comment sections filled with Christians arguing over the latest hot topic of discussion; news articles of churches digressing and falling away from the faith (with attendant praise from some in the comments section); clear evidence of Christians turning their back on the Lord and His church. If you dwell in that world too long, it has two effects: 1) the brotherhood becomes pretty hard to love; 2) your own corner of the kingdom of Christ seems darker, and its prospects seem poorer.
 
The fact is that while living in an information age can do a lot to encourage us, it can also do a lot to discourage and distract us. This is where Biblical principles need to be brought back into the picture. No, first century Christians did not have the internet. They still had ways of hearing bad news though and could be tempted to ignore commands like, “Do all things without complaining,” or “Rejoice in the Lord always,” or “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 2:14; 4:4, 8). We can be tempted in these ways too. Yes, like them, we do need to “beware of dogs” and “beware of evil workers” (though “the mutilation” seems not to be much of an issue anymore, thankfully; Philippians 3:2). You can’t know a dog if you’ve never seen one or had one described to you; a certain amount of awareness and discussion regarding negative subjects is necessary for faithful living. Sometimes, just as was recorded in Acts 15, vigorous discussion is needed to arrive at God’s truth. Please note though that these things were clearly never meant to preoccupy our hearts and minds, let alone our time.

So how can you love the brotherhood while being aware of its faults? First, realize that things are never as bad as Satan wants you to think they are. Even in the darkest times, there are still “seven thousand… whose knees have not bowed to Baal” (1 Kings 19:18). Satan knows when he forces us into the caves of our minds thinking, “I alone am left,” he’s won (1 Kings 19:10). Yes, there are false teachers, but the Bible warned that there would be: “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1). Yes, there are churches that are departing from the New Testament pattern, but that happened in the Bible too (just read Revelation 2-3!). Believe it: in spite of human failings, the church will never fail. Yes, “at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace,” and there always will be (Romans 11:5).

Second, thank God for church autonomy and Jesus’ headship over the church (Ephesians 1:22-23). The beauty of the Lord’s church is that it is never dependent upon people (cf. Daniel 2:44), and it is never dependent upon one place or time. While the message of false teachers can and “will spread like cancer” (2 Timothy 2:17) and while some groups may “depart from the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1), God’s design for the church prevents these problems from becoming universal ones. And, because of the church’s global mission, even when the Gospel goes “out of season” in one place and time, it can still be “in season” somewhere else (2 Timothy 4:2). We can’t pretend what is happening in one or even in many places is what is happening in every place or what will happen forever. No, God’s truth forever marches on!

Third, realize that the best days for the church are always ahead. Oh, I know that “evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse” and that “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (2 Timothy 3:13; 1 John 5:19). I’m not deluded about the condition or direction of the world. I simply know that nothing about the world can change the fact that the best day in human history will be the last day in human history, when Jesus returns to this earth in triumph and calls us to meet Him in the sky (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). What a day that will be! Until then, the Bible warns, “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For you do not inquire wisely concerning this” (Ecclesiastes 7:10). It is highly unlikely that you will see God’s opportunities in the future if you spend all of your time looking in the past. Exactly zero opportunities lie in the past, and the fact that we’re still here means there’s still more to be done before Jesus returns. We’ll work until Jesus comes!

There are many reasons to love the brotherhood. In fact, I’m pretty sure that if you will stop to count the blessings you’ve gleaned from the brotherhood, it will surprise you what the Lord has done for you through this glorious body of believers. Time and time again we see Paul pausing to give thanks for various churches and Christians (e.g. Romans 1:8; 1 Corinthians 1:4; Ephesians 1:16; Philippians 1:3; Colossians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:3; Philemon 1:4). Maybe we should imitate him, since he imitates Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1) who deeply loves “the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25).

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org