hi. i'm struggling with division.

Hello everyone! Recently, I finished up yet another semester of college! In one of my classes, we were assigned a writing assignment. We were to write a letter to a group of people about a topic we felt strongly about. I selected the divided American church as my group. My topic was unity. I have really been struggling with the great divide that I see occurring in our nation, not only politically but in so many other facets as well. So, I’ve decided to post little excerpts from my paper here (please excuse my self-plagiarism).

Jesus Christ created a community of believers. He has granted us a spot in the Kingdom of God. We have, through Christ, been adopted into the family of God. We have been given fellowship in Christ. We have been given a family of believers in Christ. This is not because of anything that we may have accomplished nor anything that we can accomplish. This gift is purely achieved through Christ Jesus.

“I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good news” (Philippians 1:27, NLT).

I want to repeat one key phrase in that verse, “standing together.” I am writing to you today because I have noticed a rift developing in the community. Throughout Paul’s letters, we see him urging us to live in unity with one another. Urging us to fall into one spirit and one body as we are called to do. We see, in the book of Ephesians, that there was once a great rift between the Jews and the Gentiles. We are able to clearly see a great rift among many different parties in the American church. But we read,

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. [...] He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death (Ephesians 2:14-16, NLT).

We are united together through Christ Jesus. Consistently throughout Paul’s letters, we see him calling us to one spirit. Why have we felt as though that was a suggestion? If we are fighting amongst ourselves, not showing one another the all-encompassing love of Christ, who will join in with us? Non-believers see the church as a hypocritical entity. An entity that preaches about loving one another, but does not seem to love one another when it comes to anything that may have differing opinions.

We see great rifts developing in our world. The Democrats and Republicans within our church seem to lack any love for the opposing party. During election season, opposing parties are at one another’s throats. Name-calling, moral-attacking, and tearing-down are at all-time high. Neighbors are pitted against one another because they do not support the same candidate. We see division among the different denominations within the church. If a church has made the decision to split, many people turn on each other. No longer is the community present that they had prior. Any existing relationships between people that disagree have almost completely disappeared. Terms such as “heretic,” “heathen,” or “false teachers” begin to circulate. We see a great divide occurring. We tend to demonize the other side, making them out to be the worst of the worst. But may I remind you, “be patient with one another” and “get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander [...]. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:2, 4:31-32, NLT). Rather than fighting one another on the basis of differing opinions, we are called to be patient, tenderhearted, forgiving. We have been given different gifts in order to achieve the unity in our faith that we so need (Ephesians 4:11-13, NLT). We are called to speak the truth in love, not speaking down to one another when we hold differing views (Ephesians 4:15, NLT). What does it look like to speak the truth in love? It can look many different ways, but it comes down to the fact that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We must love one another, always remembering that we are not here to further our own agenda. Rather, we are here to further the Kingdom. We must remember that we are not the judge of one another. That is a responsibility left solely to God (James 4:12). Keep fighting for truth to prevail, but remember that ultimately, we are not to judge one another. We are to hold one another accountable to the good truths that we know.

We are not here to further our own agenda. We are here to further the Kingdom.

We must remember that our fight is not against flesh and bone. We are placed here on this earth to further the Kingdom.We are given a special opportunity, an opportunity to be ambassadors of God’s love here on earth. We have been given many tools so that we can stand united against the darkness. We read in Ephesians,

...for we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. [...] Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. (4:12, 4:18, NLT).

Take note that it says pray for all believers. Paul does not specify to say the believers with whom you agree, no, he says all believers. In order to reach out to the non-believers, we must achieve unity amongst the believers. We must love one another. Christ died for all. He did not discriminate against those who lead a different lifestyle than him. In fact, he reached out to those who did just that. Christ descended in order to save those who could not save themselves. Christ dined with sinners, Christ lived his earthly life among sinners. He lived a life that involved him constantly being surrounded by those who did not live his lifestyle. But he set an example of love for us to follow. We are not called to judge those around us, we are called to love one another.

Church, I am calling you to live by Christ’s example. Live in harmony with those around you. Love them as Christ loves you. Forgive them as Christ forgives you. Speak the truth in love. Build a bridge across this rift that has developed and reach out to those around you, for our fight is not against flesh and blood. Embrace one another. Create a community that is one of love. We have been given the perfect example. We are to follow his loving lead.