From an evangelical perspective, the true Catholic church consists of all true believers everywhere and throughout history. We’ll all be in heaven together, regardless of the denomination. In that sense, we’re already one in Christ.
Throughout the New Testament, you do see many verses encouraging unity, even among those who have different views, but you also get encouragement not to associate with those who promote false teaching. Consider what Paul said in Galatians:
Gal 2:6-8
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
Downright heretics need to be excluded. It seems that everyone else is called to be like-minded, but inevitably, people will disagree on approaches. You even see this with Peter (also known as Cephas) and Paul, and Paul and Barnabas, and among ordinary church members.
Gal 2:11-13
When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
Acts 15:36-40
Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.
1 Cor 1:11-13
My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?
What’s interesting in this last example, is Paul seems to include those who say they follow Christ in the factions. I think I can see why he says this. You sometimes get evangelical groups that say, “we’re just Christians”, unlike all you Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, and so on. They might ask everyone to ditch their denominations and labels and get back to the New Testament church, where denominations, as we know them, didn’t exist. But generally, those initiating such movements have their own strong opinions. They want everyone to join their group. And pretty soon, divisions emerge, so these initiatives generally just result in one or more new denominations. Catholics often argue that this is precisely what happened when Protestants broke away from their church.
The divisions that Paul referred to occurred within a local church. But the principle applies more broadly. It can be tempting to dismiss all those who don’t share your own theological opinions. It’s much better to pray for them, if you can’t work with them. Even if they’re radically different, they might well be furthering the cause of the gospel.
When Paul was in prison, he mentioned some who were preaching the gospel out of bad motives, but he still rejoiced that the gospel was getting out there:
Phil 1:15-18
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
I would think that the calls for unity in the New Testament primarily relate to divisions and conflicts with those who are already working together in a church or in a missionary endeavour. The whole purpose of our corporate life is to encourage one another and spur one another on to love and good works. If a church is full of conflict and factions, then it defeats the purpose. I’ve seen plenty of examples of evangelical groups that split into two groups because they don’t see eye to eye, but as time goes on, they become friendly with each other. I don’t see many groups merging though.
Evangelicals don’t generally see the need for one single regional, national, or worldwide organization. Local churches or church associations have loose connections with other churches. Then, there are missionary organizations, such as TEAR Fund who are supported by a wide spectrum of churches. So that’s an example of cooperation between churches. And in practice churches cooperate in all sorts of ways.
What about all Christian denominations meeting to discuss their differences in the hope that they can be settled? Even if that happened (and it has been attempted), there would be those who might not agree with the outcome. With the web, we have an abundance of resources, and we’re all free to explore the various opinions and form our own conclusions.
In the Catholic church, you’ll get those who will be reluctant to cooperate with evangelicals for fear of watering down Catholic teaching. Let’s say you have an ecumenical prayer meeting, with no-one praying to Mary. Well, then, that might be seen as a Protestant prayer meeting rather than an ecumenical prayer meeting. And let’s say evangelicals and Catholics work together in an evangelistic crusade. Well, the evangelicals will be trying to tell lapsed Catholic people that they need to become Christians, and the Catholics will be telling them that they’re Christians already, but perhaps they just need to become more zealous as Catholics. And both sides might be slightly hoping to use the opportunity to win some of the other lot over. This kind of thing even happens sometimes when evangelicals work together. So, in some ways, it’s simpler not to try to incorporate too many different points of view in a particular initiative.
I sometimes think of this incident in relation to church cooperation:
Mark 9:38-41
“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.”
As things stand, whatever the differences, all sincere people within Christendom contribute to the promotion of the gospel. Much of what I learned about Christ, I learned as a Catholic. The same can be said for most evangelicals in Ireland. So, in that sense, Catholics are helping the growth of evangelical churches. And Catholics make use of resources originating in evangelicalism; for example, modern Bible translations and hymns. Many of the modern Christian hymns originate in evangelical churches, but even the older hymns that I sung at Mass all those years ago were often Protestant. And you do get Catholic churches making use of other evangelical resources, such as films, books and initiatives, such as the Alpha course. I saw it advertised in the North Cathedral in Cork recently.
Also, because many charitable organizations are secular nowadays, it’s much easier for people of different faiths to work together in the voluntary sphere, with people who might not even have faith. So, to conclude, there is no need for one worldwide organization with all churches under its umbrella. Many denominations and outlooks exist within Christendom. Thankfully, and hopefully, gone are the days when Christians went to war with one another for religious reasons. We might not be able to sort out our differences on this side of eternity, but we can be kind to each other and express our opinions in a loving spirit.
Hibernia Gospel 