My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul", another, "I follow Apollos", another, "I follow Cephas", still another, "I follow Christ." 

Is Christ divided?

I Corinthians 1:11-13, NIV (1978)

 

Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

Matthew 23:15, NIV (1978)

 

Is Christ divided? It's a good question because when He is, it likely means that we are sons and daughters of the wrong kingdom. Division can arise from numerous sources, but two of the main culprits are ignorance and misplaced loyalties. Ignorance because it is easy to mislead people who do not know the Word of God, and misplaced loyalties because so many people follow the religion of those they love and respect, such as their parents and favorite preachers. Since they have not studied the Bible, it is easy to mislead them because they cannot distinguish between the doctrines of men, which are fallible, and the teachings of God, which are perfect.

 

When Christ is divided, look out, for there are few things more dangerous than religious wars. I have been in the occupation of preaching and teaching for over 40 years now, and my observation has been that most will follow the people they trust over the One they should really put their hopes and trust in. This is understandable because most people who preach are sincere. I realize that there are a few prominent ones who would intentionally preach the doctrines of demons and men if it would give them more money or power, but such false teachers are rare. What is far more common are parents and preachers and Bible school teachers who are teaching the wrong things - often the doctrines of demons and men as well, not from improper motives, but because it's what they were brought up to believe. 

 

And it is harder to shake ourselves from a false teaching that we have heard all of our lives, than it is to be convinced of a Bible truth that we are barely familiar with. Another problem is that once we have come to believe a false teaching, it is difficult to set aside that bias when we are reading from the Word of Truth. By that I mean we often read the Bible with preconceived notions that skew and pervert our understanding. For instance, many are taught that a "little white lie" isn't really all that bad, but can actually be a good and noble thing when we use them to save someone's feelings. So, when we read within the Scriptures that lying is wrong, our brains automatically "edit" the truth and decide that it cannot be talking about these small "fibs" but only the really big lies.

 

We can see how easy it is to adjust the pure truths contained in the Bible whenever we come across things that challenge what we have been taught, so hopefully we can see just how vital it is to be on our guard against doing that very thing. We must always keep in mind that we are serving Christ, not Mom and Dad, and that we are trying to find out what God said, not what our favorite and most trusted pastor believes.

 

As we look out at the landscape of the modern day religious world, we cannot help but be distressed. Each community has its various denominations so we can pick and choose from among those which fit our beliefs and lifestyles. We often have within these denominations factions of people who believe they are Christ's favorites, and they look down on those who follow teachings other than the ones they believe. Before you know it we have suspicions towards anyone who believes differently than do we, and those feelings often turn from suspicion to animosity to outright hatred. We then start to support "our side" at all costs, and begin to glean the Bible's teachings for things that support our argument while at the same time minimizing those teachings that would seem to weaken our position.

 

And we get divisions to the point that we cease to concern ourselves with the salvation of others and start to reinforce our positions - much like an army preparing itself for war against a hated enemy... so what is the solution? Is it to become an "I'm okay, your okay" Christian? Is it to stop reading the Word because, after all, no one can really understand the Bible? Is it to just put up with false teachers because no one has their doctrines on straight? Is it to say that we are all going to the same place, just by different paths? We might be tempted to do this, but it is contrary to what God has always expected of His children. So, again, what is the solution? What are we to do?

 

Here is a plan that I believe you will find may work for you: You can begin to actually read the Bible! You can do so be committing yourself to put away all past biases and being determined to find out what God has really commanded. You can add prayer to your studies, humbly requesting God to help you find the truth. There will likely be passages that you do not fully understand, but that's okay - keep on reading! You will likely find the difficult passages are later explained by other Scriptures as you continue to read. Devote yourself to your studies, searching through the Word of God as a man seeking the path of salvation, rather than one preparing for a game of Bible trivia.

 

When you find things that contradict your beliefs, then you must discard those beliefs for the facts presented in God's Word. You will likely find that the truths contained within those sacred pages will even contradict things that your family and friends and even preachers have taught you. When you do, you must obey the clear teachings of God over the confident teachings of the loud voices of men that you have been previously listening to.

 

You will find the truth, eventually, but it will take time. Remember the words of Jesus in His sermon on the mount, when He said, "Seek, and you will find." 

 

One last thing: When you find out that there are people in your life who are wrong, do not treat them as an enemy. They want to please God and you want to please God, they want to get to Heaven and you want to get to Heaven. So, why not ride in the same boat instead of going to war with them? You will not convince everyone of the truths that you will find, but you still have a duty to seek and save the lost. In other words, we are to help one another along the way. We can speak of the things we disagree on, and we can study together to find the truths that only God's Word contains. We will not always agree, but we can all do our best, and we can all try to love one another enough to avoid foolish and silly divisions.

 

Christ died for His church, not yours, so do everything you can to find out what He has said will place you in that holy body. It is true that there will be those who just cannot get along with you or tolerate your beliefs. That's alright because Jesus warned us that His teachings would indeed result in divisions that would even extend to the family at times. Our task, then, is to avoid all unnecessary divisions, while doing our best to be obedient to God.

 

Is Christ divided? The answer is clearly that He is not, but people sometimes will be. Let's do our best to love one anther deeply from the heart, while at the same time seeking God's truths with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. Does all of this seem confusing? The maybe this will help:

 

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with all men.

Romans 12:18, NIV (1978)