Order in the Court of the King! (Unity Or Division? 1)

Grace Thoughts

Order in the Court of the King! (Unity or Division? 1)

I admit that I was a bit naïve when I left atheism for Christian theism in 1971. I spent months investigating the truth claims of theism, especially those of Christian theism. I became a Christian through the evidence I found that supported belief in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God come from Heaven to earth to seek and save the lost and destroy the works of the devil.

So, how was I naïve? I thought that all Christians would believe the same things I had learned during my investigation. I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that many Christians didn’t get along with each other. I found lots of divisions among Christians, in addition to a great deal of pressure on me as a young Christian to believe and act a certain way to please different groups of Christians. Why was that? Was there anything I or any other Christian could do to bring fellow believers together? Maybe. Let’s explore that idea for awhile.

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

Unity

The idea that fellow followers of Jesus Christ should be unified seemed like a ‘no-brainer’ to me as a young Christian. I loved everything I read in the Bible because I had confirmed the truthfulness of its claims. God wanted His people to be unified in glorifying Him and preaching His Truth. There was no doubt about it, so that’s what I expected to see in the ‘Church.’

Here are some of the verses I read as a young Christian that led me to that ‘conclusion’ –

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1

Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. John 17:11

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. John 17:20-21

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

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. 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. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:11-16

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Philippians 2:1-3

Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-6

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26-28

Imagine my surprise when I ventured out and met other Christians. I quickly discovered that many of them disagreed with each other and attempted to pull me into their circle so that I would agree with them and/or stand ‘against’ other believers.

Venturing Out

I use the term ‘venturing out’ because I was invited to speak at various churches and Christian group meetings. I was well known as a much-despised atheist radio talk show host in a large city, so people wanted to check me out when they heard I had become a Christian. I basically just shared my process of coming to faith in Christ through the investigative process. I was too young in Christianity to teach anyone, so I just shared what I knew to be true based on my investigation of the evidence. The one thing I knew was that ‘I once was blind, but now I see.’ God existed, the Bible was a reliable book of antiquity, and Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again. That much I knew.

I didn’t realize at the time that I had stepped into the world of ‘apologetics’ by investigating the evidence. I would later learn that believing and trusting ‘evidence’ as a Christian came with its own set of challenges. More on that later.

It was during those first couple of years as a Christian that I discovered fellow believers were not always ‘unified’ with other believers. They often spoke badly about others because of ‘doctrinal’ differences. Different groups would try to convince me they were right about certain things and that other groups of believers were wrong about those things. Some Christians tried to get me to do things that had little if any support that I could find in the Bible. Some said that if I didn’t believe the way they did, I wasn’t saved. Rather than talk about it, they often just walked away when I started asking questions. That seemed a bit rude, but as I said earlier I was a bit naïve at the time.

One of my mentors recommended that I attend Bible college to get some grounding in how to study God’s Word. Turned out to be a good idea. I learned many things that continue to support my ministry to this day. However, I still had a lot to learn. One of the reasons I decided to write this series is to share my journey toward unity in the faith. If it was important to Jesus and His apostles, it was important to me.

Division

Why were there so many divisions among Christians when Jesus and His apostles clearly taught unity among believers? If it was a matter of dividing about heretical teaching, I get that. The Apostle Paul was pretty direct about that issue –

Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. Romans 16:17-18

Notice that Paul addressed people who caused ‘divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which’ the Christians had learned. Paul told Christians to ‘avoid them.’ He said that these divisive people ‘do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.’ He also said they used ‘smooth words and flattering speech’ to ‘deceive the hearts of the simple.’ That sounds like ‘heretics.’

I agree based on the Greek words and grammar that Paul used to write Romans. He chose words carefully, being inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Paul told the Christians in Rome to ‘note’ (skopeó – look at, watch carefully, take heed, consider, beware) people who ’cause’ (poieó – make, manufacture, construct) ‘divisions’ (dichostasia – standing apart, standing separately, dissension, division, dissension) and ‘offenses’ (skandalon – scandal, trigger of a trap, the means of stumbling, stumbling block or stick, means of entrapment, obstacles) ‘contrary to the doctrine which you learned’ (para tēn didachēn hēn humeis emathete).

Keep in mind that the Apostle Paul had not yet visited the Christians in Rome when he wrote his letter to them. However, he knew several people in the church at Rome very well (Romans 16:3-15). They most likely had told Paul about what was going on in the church. They told him that the people had learned correct teaching about Jesus Christ. They also told Paul that there were people in the church who were teaching incorrect doctrine to cause the people to stumble. Why did the ‘dividers’ do it? Not to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘but their own belly.’ They used smooth words and flattering speech to ‘deceive the hearts of the simple.’

All of the words I see in Romans 16:17-20 tell me that most, if not all, of the people who were causing ‘division’ in the church in Rome were heretics. Their desire was not to serve Jesus, but to serve their own selfish desires. They used ‘smooth words’ (chrēstologias – kind sounding, plausible speaking speaking in a bad sense) and ‘flattering speech’ (eulogias – praise, adulation) in ways that would ‘deceive’ members of the church. How should we treat those kinds of people in churches? Paul wrote – ekklinete ap’ autōn – ‘turn away from them, avoid them, exclude them, reject them, have nothing to do with them.’ That’s how you deal with divisive people in churches who teach doctrine contrary to what is clearly presented in Scripture (heretics).

Here’s another one of Paul’s letters that addresses ‘division’ within churches –

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. Titus 3:8-11

Keep in mind that I’m starting this toward the end of Paul’s letter to Titus, even as I did with Romans 16. I strongly recommend that Christians study each Book in the Bible from beginning to end before making a final interpretation of the entire Writing. If you’ve done that, you can then proceed to interpret short portions of Scripture with confidence. If anyone questions your interpretation, you can discover what they know about the context. If they know nothing or very little, help them understand the full context of a Writing. That will often help the person understand that your interpretation of a small portion is within the larger context. If they oppose your teaching because of their unbelief, immaturity, or following after the wrong types of teachers, you can do what Paul told Timothy to do with people like that –

But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:23-26

As for Paul’s letter to Titus, you can read the full context of the letter in a series titled Living ‘Christian’ In This Present World –

Living ‘Christian’ In This Present World (Part One)

Living ‘Christian’ In This Present World (Part Two)

Living ‘Christian’ In This Present World (Part Three)

The letter to Titus begins with a call to appoint elders in every church on the island of Crete for the purpose of “holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). ‘Sound doctrine’ (didaskalia tē hugiainousē – teaching that is healthy, sound, pure, uncorrupted) should be the goal of every church leader. Paul’s reason for elders doing that was – “For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain” (Titus 1:10). Paul went on to tell Titus about what makes a ‘sound’ church (Chapter Two).

That’s the context of Paul’s letter that helps us understand why he wrote what he did toward the end of the letter. There were then, as there are now, people in every church, every denomination, every Bible college and seminary, who are divisive. In the case of the people living on Crete, these people were engaged in ‘foolish disputes.’ The Greek words are mōras de zētēseis (stupid, foolish arguments and debates). Know anyone like that in your church? If you do, Paul wrote that Christians should ‘avoid’ (periistaso – turn away from, avoid all contact, shun, reject, have nothing to to with) them. That’s strong language, but it’s how God wants to provide ‘order’ in His Church.

Paul said that people engaged in foolish disputes are ‘warped and sinning, being self-condemned.’ The Greek means they are ‘heretical’ (hairetikon – heretical, factious), ‘corrupt’ (exestraptai – perverted, turned inside out), ‘doing wrong’ (hamartanei – sinning, missing the mark God set), and ‘self-condemned (autokatakritos – self-judged). These fools actually judge themselves by their beliefs and practices. Elders are responsible to tell people in the church to ‘avoid’ the fools .. reject them, have nothing to do with them.

So, the two uses of the word ‘divisive’ deal with heretical teachers. However, what about other divisions in churches? Are divisions always caused by ‘heretics.’ Short answer, not always. However, the results of non-heretical divisions in churches can be almost as catastrophic. Remember, God has commanded His people to bring glory to His name and finish the work He has given us to do. Anything that takes us off that ‘path’ should be an immediate warning to us that something is wrong.

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

Next Time

It’s important that Christians learn the difference between ‘heretical’ divisions and ‘non-heretical’ divisions within churches, denominations, and Christian colleges and seminaries. One reason is that how we resolve the problem within the framework of God’s direction is an important part of bringing glory to God and finishing the work He’s given us to do.

We’ll look at how to recognize ‘non-heretical divisions’ in churches in the next part of our series, Order in the Court of the King!

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Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts