FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
OP / ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
Have you heard the phrase more often than ever, “We are more divided in America than we have ever been?” Appeals have been made over the airwaves during the year to those who go to Thanksgiving and Christmas meals with family members to be as civil as they can be, because the level of anxiety is so profound that a lot of people are just waiting for an opportunity to curse off one another.
The same appeals are being made to the churches of the USA, for it is being said they are experiencing their most significant divisions ever. In a blog, S. Michael Houdmann argues that “while church divisions have always been the case, but now, in addition to being divided from other churches, churches are divided within themselves. Solid, evangelical, Bible-believing Christians are sharply divided from other solid, evangelical, Bible-believing Christians. In recent conversations with pastors and friends with more ministry experience than me, it has been repeatedly confirmed that the division is significantly worse than ever.” (https://www.gotquestions.blog/division-in-the-church.html )
Houdmann further comments that “Whether it is Trump, social justice, masks, vaccines, or stolen election claims, some Christians are taking such tight-fisted and widely divergent viewpoints that they are no longer able to fellowship with those who disagree. Churches have split. Pastors have resigned or have been fired. Factions have formed. Vitriol has replaced discourse. Distrust has replaced peace. Most churches who have survived the last several years relatively unscathed have done so by avoiding these issues as much as possible.” (https://www.gotquestions.blog/division-in-the-church.html )
I do not know how great the conflicts and deep the divisions were in the churches of Rome or Corinth, but it is evident that there were divisions enough for the apostle Paul to make the appeals:
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. (Romans 12:3-5 NKJV).
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For, in fact, the body is not one member but many. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14 NKJV).
Paul’s point was that all who belong to the church and Christ aremembers of one body. He uses the body image throughout his calls for unity in diversity. Each part of the body is part of the whole. No part can function effectively by itself. However, one might think of themselves as head, hand, heart, foot, eye, ear, nose, or whatever part of the body; each part has an important role, meaning we cannot live in isolation. Let me repeat in outline:
- We do not live in isolation.
- We all live in one community.
- Our actions affect the people around us.
- We do not live in a vacuum.
- If one part of your body hurts, all hurt.
- We are responsible for each other.
- When we work together, we build up one another.
- When we work apart, we are like a body turning upon itself, like cancerous cells destroying the whole.
In effect, we need to let go of pride, competition, and resentment that drive us and recognize that our successes and blessings come from cooperation and collaboration. In fact, it is not just because of survival, but because the “love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 5:5). Or as Paul says, we need to follow the more excellent way (1 Corinthians 12:31), the way of love (1 Corinthians 13).
Yes, where love reigns, we will build community; where love is lost, we will live in divisions. My invitation is for us to pray that God will help us and all in the varied communities we encounter to love so that instead of the continuing social divisions, we can build better relationships in our homes, families, churches, and public spheres.
