Killing Christian Tribalism
KILLING CHRISTIAN TRIBALISM
Christian tribalism is the enemy of Christian unity—and only one of those virtues is Christian. The other (spoiler alert, it's tribalism) is a baptized form of pride wearing ecclesiastical colors.
And here is the truth.... There are many men I can disagree with vehemently and still call brother. Why? Because Jesus died for them!! Because even though we do not agree on head coverings, or infra vs suprlapsarianism, or even cessationism versus continuations (Or pick your squabble), Christian unity is not founded on uniformity of emphases or thoughts, not sameness of styles, or secondary convictions—it is founded on our shared union with Christ. Have we forgotten that we are all "ONE IN CHRIST?" Have we forgotten we are slaves? Brothers, wherever Christ has truly joined a man unto Himself, do we dare sever him in the name of theological preferences, no matter how noble we deem them to be???
And guess what, here’s what happens when tribalism takes over: The mission fractures. The gospel gets stuffed into the tiny box that fits into our pet distinctives. And the Bride of Christ is reduced to a house divided, clawing at her own members while the gates of hell stand unopposed.
Embracing a factious and factionalizing approach to building Christendom does nothing but splinter the Church, divide her into intersectional pockets of insular bickering, strip her of cultural influence, and rob her of theological authority needed to declare "Thus sayeth the Lord!" I mean, if we are reduced to poop-slinging over baptist versus presbyterian, why would the world take us seriously when we proclaim that there is ONLY ONE WAY TO THE FATHER and that is THROUGH JESUS CHRIST! This kind of behavior is ecclesiastical suicide dressed in confessional garb.
And let’s be clear: there is a balance. Unity and purity are held in tension. Unity without purity is a kind of ecumenicism that Jesus will spew out of His mouth. BUT, purity without unity is the kind of religion Jesus says is filled with dead men's bones! So... we need both unity and purity. And in our Reformed world (which is the world I am in), I see a lot of purity princes but not a lot of peacemakers who are going to inherit the earth.
Think about a few examples. MacArthur vs. Sproul. Paedobaptism vs. credobaptism. CREC vs. NAPARC. Ogden vs. Moscow. What are we doing??
Enough! Enough theological turf wars. Enough nitpicking over minor distinctives as if they’re the Athanasian line in the sand. Enough blowing holes in the hull of Christendom to win arguments on Twitter. We’ve become better at branding our little castles than we are in building the Kingdom, WHICH IS THE ENTIRE POINT!!! And, the saddest part, is that the world is watching. And laughing.
Worse than that—they are getting a totally false view of discipleship.
Because tribalism doesn’t just deform the Church. It disciples the world. It teaches the nations that our union in Christ is less significant than our denominational quibblings. It trains outsiders to believe that the gospel is powerless to produce peace among God’s own people. And it leaves our witness gutted and gasping for credibility.
Jesus didn’t say the world would know us by our flawless theological precision or our liturgical preferences!! He said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Not agreement on every detail. But love. Sacrificial, patient, Spirit-wrought love for those whom Christ has called His own.
And I know that there will be some who say, but we cannot have unity in heresy! AMEN!!! I agree. But what about unity among reformed baptists and presbyterians? What about love and charity between the New Christendom and Mere Christendom? Is that too much to ask?
We need to stop planting flags where Christ has built a table. We need to stop acting like our sect is the sole steward of orthodoxy and everyone else is a liability to the kingdom. Let’s debate sharply, contend passionately, and argue like men—but let’s also hug our brothers when the dust settles and break bread with those who bleed for Christ.
Because the Church is not a platform. She’s a people. Not a tribe. A temple. And the Lord we serve will not share His glory with the vanity of our little theological kingdoms.
Christian tribalism is the enemy of Christian unity. Only one of those virtues is Christian. Therefore, we must put to death and murder the tribalism that is fracturing us (Romans 8:13).
