Cooperating 002

I'm still pondering the essay I need to prepare for my application to Seminary:

Q. How can Christians of differing theological viewpoints cooperate?

As I was considering my answer, I picked up a Manual of Interchurch Relations from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA). The small booklet gave a scriptural proof for an excerpt from the Covenant 1871 (found in the constitution of the RPCNA, section 4, page I-9). Here is the excerpt and below I'll give their summarized points:

That, 1believing the Church to be one, and that all the saints have communion with God and with one another in the same Covenant; 2believing, moreover, that schism and sectarianism are sinful in themselves; and inimical to true religion, 3and trusting that divisions shall cease, and the people of God become one Catholic church over all the earth, 4we will pray and labor for the visible oneness of the Church of God in our own land and throughout the world, 5on the basis of truth and of Scriptural order. 6Considering it a principal duty of our profession to cultivate a holy brotherhood, we will strive to maintain Christian friendship with pious men of every name, and to feel and act as one with all in every land who pursue this grand end. 7And, as a means of securing this great result, we will by dissemination and application of the principles of truth herein professed, and by cultivating and exercising Christian charity, labor to remove stumbling-blocks, and to gather into one the scattered and divided friends of truth and righteousness.

The numbers are my addition. They correspond to the following points, which were given to summarize the above paragraph:

1. The Church and Christians are one.
2. Denominational divisions result from sin.
3. The blessing of unity is to be looked for in the future.
4. Visible unity must be the goal we work toward.
5. Unity must be based on Biblical truth and order.
6. Fraternal relations are to be fostered.
7. Stumbling blocks are to be removed so that organic union will be secured.

I think these points make sense... I'm pondering them as I consider how we as Christians ought to cooperate, even though we do come from different theological backgrounds.