Divided and Conquered - Part 3 - Conquered but not Destroyed

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So when I came up with the title of this series of posts about division within the church and loving one another (Divided and Conquered - Part 1; Divided and Conquered - Part 2), I was very well aware of its implications when it came to how it may be perceived by other readers.

I know many people chafe at anyone saying anything negative about the church, while others are exactly the opposite, taking every opportunity to take potshots at the church when they can - and I'm talking about Christians in both groups. I take neither view when it comes to addressing issues within the church, for on the one hand I feel it is very important that we stop sugarcoating and glossing over all that we're completely off-the-mark about, and sometimes stark and blunt statements are necessary to get the point across; on the other hand, I see no point in opposing something without seeking a way forward to fix the problem. I'm a firm believer that it's far better to be for something than simply against something else; the reason why a lot of 'negative' activism without concrete, pragmatic solutions comes across to me as wasted effort that fixes nothing.


With that said, I still stand firmly by my assertion that when it comes to this matter of the church being divided against itself, we are indeed 'Divided and Conquered' - and that so long as we continue down this path of remaining divided against one another, we will always remain a conquered people, enslaved by the tyrannical yoke of disunity and enmity, and limited in the effectiveness we could possibly have in reaching and helping others. For so much of our history, the enemy's strategy of divide and conquer has been way too successful, enslaving generation after generation of followers of Jesus with attitudes and ideas that have driven our forbears to oppose one another rather than love one another. No, I'm not being overly dramatic when I say that - what Jesus said in John 13:34-35 is that important when it comes to being Jesus' disciples.

But just because we are currently conquered doesn't mean that we are defeated. It doesn't mean we've been reduced to forever opposing one another until Jesus returns to complete his work and restore his creation. It doesn't mean we're stuck in this rut with no hope of ever getting out, and it certainly doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to reverse it all. In fact, if we bury our heads in the sand over this matter of division - either because we have no hope, or we have told ourselves that Jesus is coming back soon so it's not worth the trouble - we are surrendering to the enemy, and in fact  we're continuing to be compliant in dividing the church - especially if we know that's what's going on (which, if you're reading this and you follow Jesus, you are at least now aware of, even if you weren't before).

No, now that we know we're a conquered people in this regard, it's time to do something about it. It's time to overthrow this particular plot of the enemy and start loving one another again, even when we come from completely different backgrounds and teachings. I've hinted at some ways in which we can turn the tables on the 'divide and conquer' strategy against us in the past posts, and I'll rehash some of them, along with presenting other ways in which we can overcome our heritage of division and be the people that Jesus has always called us to be, the Body of Christ.

First, though, take a look at what Paul writes about the church being the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. While he addresses the church in Corinth (of which there were many groups who met, not just one single large group, though not so divided as the church today), it still rings true for the church today and throughout history, although we've been a rather dysfunctional body most of the time. So we need to learn how to be a body again, not in the sense of everyone piling into a massive building, but in the sense of understanding that we all have diverse and important roles to play, and should always love and respect those 'parts' that are not the same as we are.

Also, I want to note that we must be careful not to fall into two additional traps when it comes to moving forward into becoming the Body we were meant to be:

    1) The trap of thinking we have to dismantle everything to start all over again. It's very tempting to think that we might as well tear down, so that we can build something better, but what we often forget when we go there is that there are so many who end up getting hurt and alienated in the process, which then only causes more division and whatever is built is just as bad as what came before.

2) The trap of thinking we all need to do things the same way. Whether it's thinking everyone should just join 'denominational' churches and then those churches working together, everyone going to smaller home-based churches, or any other of a million ideas which include everyone being exactly the same as everyone else.

We should work with what we have, large and small communities of Jesus-followers alike, because in all reality, the church is people, not institutions, practices, or even leadership. The day-to-day lives of people are the real canvas on which God to paints his masterpiece, and as far as our relationship with one another goes, as long as we are loving one another and joining each other in community to help each other grow and support one another, much of what that looks like doesn't matter in the least.


So here we go with ways in which we can overcome the lies and heritage of division we have been gifted with - they are by no means exhaustive:

• First and foremost, these changes are a matter of the heart, and thus we have to first check our own hearts and ask God to help us see where we are divisive in our own mentalities and deeds, and then to work on that in our own lives and seeking God's loving transformation in our own hearts in that way. There are no shortcuts when following Jesus - I've found that shortcuts tend to do more harm than good in the long run, from my own attempts - so this is probably the single most important thing we can do to start overcoming division. If we want to see this change happen in the church, we have to be willing to see it happen in ourselves first. Whether it's thinking or talking badly about someone of a different denomination or group, or even thinking and talking badly about those in our own communities, it all has to go - and we have to remain on guard against those ideas creeping back into our own minds and hearts.
  
  
• We also need to be humble about our own views/beliefs/ways of approaching the Bible/etc. As much as we want to believe that everything we believe is 100% accurate, and as much as we want to believe that every idea with hold to is completely from God, there are millions of others with diverse ideas who also follow Jesus and often feel the same way about their views. It doesn't take a theologian to realize that somebody's gotta be wrong.
  
  Pride tells us that we can't possibly be wrong, and that others must be - but that's pride talking, and pride is not of Jesus in the least. Humility is essential to following Jesus, and so we must also be humble about the possibility that we may not be seeing the complete picture all the time, that everything we believe might not always be 100% true. This isn't relativism, this is humility. And humility is an essential part of following Jesus, and especially concerning our interactions with one another - like Peter said in 1 Peter 5:5:
  

  All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

  James also quotes the same proverb (from Proverbs 3:34) in James 4:6. Likewise, Paul's words in Philippians 2:1-4 are also very important to our interactions with one another:
  

  Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

  There is much we can learn from one another, and I have a firm conviction- one that I wrote a parable about (The Sculpture) -  that many of our divisions are based on bits of God's truth that each group has clung to, either rejecting or just being ignorant of other important parts of God's truth. This is the basis of a lot of our divisions, historically and presently.
  
  I'm not saying compromise everything you believe, but at least be willing to hear others out, consider their words, search the scriptures like the 'noble' Bereans did (Acts 17:10-11), test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21), seek God for clarity, and do all of this with great love and humility, remembering that those who follow Jesus are still our brothers and sisters, even if we don't always see eye-to-eye.
  
  And recognize that not everything has to be in perfect agreement - Paul talks about about the differences in opinions about a number of matters within the church in Rome in Romans 14, something that is vitally important to remember, especially as diverse as the church is. Sure, he's not talking about the most important matters, such as the gospel of Jesus, but there is a whole lot more leeway in differences in opinion revealed in the Bible than we often see tolerated within the church today. (Again, this is not relativism - this is the Bible.)

I have much more to say about this - in fact, I first wrote this post a few weeks ago, before life got VERY busy for me, and it was twice as long as this - but I will save it for another post. For now,  consider these words, and keep in mind that I'm not finished, nor that I'm trying to be exhaustive in ways to overcome division in the church.