The Non-denominational Christian

(For my podcast of my essay, click on the embedded file below):

Until a few years ago, the singing of Christmas carols seemed to stand alone as the great unifier of Christians everywhere.

The “non-conformist” Christian Isaac Watts sang side by side (“Joy To The World”) with the Methodist Charles Wesley (“Hark The Herald Angels Sing”). And the Austrian Catholic organist’s immortal song (“Silent Night”) often followed right after the Philadelphia Anglican Bishop’s beautiful tribute to Bethlehem (“O Little Town of Bethlehem”).  Two winters ago, the Russian Orthodox carol singing group that sang gloriously from their song sheets in my home had chosen songs that were Catholic, Methodist and “Non-conformist” in origin - and even finished off their inspiring visit by singing a magnificent, old Russian carol with that unique, beautiful blend of voices that graces liturgical singing in all Russian Orthodox Churches.

And then persecution came to the West again, just as it had visited the early Christians of pagan Rome (and later, those of Western Europe). Christians in our Western nations are not being thrown to the lions (yet) as in the Roman Empire or being chased after and slaughtered by pagan English druids, but Christians alone can now be mocked, imprisoned for speech or dismissed from work - and only because of their allegiance to Christ and His Kingdom. The other, physical forms of persecution are not far off and may even come during our lifetimes.

Without believing in “Ecumenism” or other names for one world government and rule, Christians in the West have been uniting like never before. Many people now forget that before the domino slide away from lockdown tyranny was ignited by the Trucker’s Freedom Convoy, governments of the West were threatening to isolate, imprison and “quarantine” their own un-injected citizens in purpose built camps. Many Christians from different backgrounds and denominations came together to fight the tyranny - almost all of them thought of all their Christian brothers and sisters as belonging to one Church, whose founder and leader and sustainer is Christ.

In the United States, the modern, pro-life movement had prominent Protestant support when it first commenced, but was for the first two decades, almost completely driven by Catholics. Catholic lay groups (with enthusiastic support from most Catholic clergy) organized in churches, schools, universities and pregnancy crisis centres, with a dogged determination to succeed and a complete dependance upon the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit. Evangelical Protestants joined the pro life Catholics with great enthusiasm in the 1990s - and since that time, Christian unity has been in glorious display, pushing forward together for the dignity and saving of human life. Both Catholics and Evangelicals believe of course, that man was created in the image and likeness of God and that every human life, including life in the womb, is a life for whom Christ died. The overturning of Roe v Wade by the present Supreme Court was a tribute to this great joint movement for life of Catholic, Evangelical and Orthodox Christians.

I do not wish in this essay, to offend the guarded sensibilities of my Christian readers who have been brought up to revere and protect the glorious traditions of their respective denominations. Many of those traditions have been validated and sealed by the blood of the martyrs and have helped millions upon millions in their walk with Christ.

And I am certainly not advocating an ecumenical understanding of the faith. I believe I am merely pointing out and describing a phenomenon that has swept through our Western nations like the “wind that bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.”

In perhaps history’s most ferocious persecution of Christians, the Bolshevik Communists of Russia killed millions of Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Evangelicals. Denominational differences did not matter to the persecuting authorities. They recognized all these denominations as belonging to Jesus and His Kingdom. They even chose an evangelical Russian Christian (V.S. Martsinkovsky) to publicly debate alongside his Orthodox brethren against the atheists the regime put up against them - the idea being to convince the public that atheism was a superior belief system. When the opposite happened and V.S. Martsinkovsky turned out to be the most effective debater, they deported him to Siberia, from which he never returned. The Christians of Russia were still standing and victorious when communism collapsed in 1991 - and the Orthodox Church is now enjoying a great and glorious revival.

There appears to be no doubt at all that the Founder of the Christian Church wills the unity of all believers. In the Gospel according to St. John, Jesus calls for unity several times (in chapter 17) and prays: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”