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Dear Friend:
Did you take the ice bucket challenge? Thousands did, raising over $100 million in one month to fight ALS, a degenerative disease that can only be described as evil.
There are many evils to fight in our world. Many years ago, Thomas Campbell wrote these words:
“That division among the Christians is a horrid evil, fraught with many evils. It is antichristian, as it destroys the visible unity of the body of Christ; as if he were divided against himself, excluding and excommunicating a part of himself. It is antiscriptural, as being strictly prohibited by his sovereign authority; a direct violation of his express command. It is antinatural, as it excites Christians to condemn, to hate, and oppose one another, who are bound by the highest and most endearing obligations to love each other as brethren, even as Christ has loved them….”
Our Stone-Campbell Movement began with a deep sense of the evil of division among Christians.
Do we still think division is evil? As evil as disease? Or do we assume that Christians get along today and take that for the unity Christ prayed for?
World Convention is all about fighting the evil of division. Or to put it positively, we are all about promoting a healthy unity among Christians. As a united, healthy body of Christ, we can fulfill Christ’s mission of love for the world. “May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:23).
This past year God has worked powerfully to give visible expression to our unity. Through World Convention, church planters throughout the world have shared their passion and wisdom. Believers have been encouraged and supported in the face of persecution. Christians in countless languages have been united in prayer and action for those who are hurting. Christians from our family have met together in national, state, and local gatherings worldwide. Those from our churches have sat at the table with Christians throughout the world.
So here is the challenge. You don’t have to pour ice water on your head (although you may if you wish). But I will remind you of the water that unites us, the water of baptism. And I challenge you to see division among Christians as an evil that must be eradicated. I challenge you to give to World Convention as a way (not the only way) to fight that evil. I challenge you to give as much this year as you gave to the ice bucket challenge. Or to give even if you did not take the challenge. And if you accept that challenge, then call out your friends to give.
In Christ,
Gary Holloway
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