Divisions in the Church

Divisions in the Church

We cannot receive a Savior’s message without a Savior’s life.

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).

In the Bible, Paul calls on the Corinthians to end their dissensions and share the unified outlook of the Gospel. Discord arises when we forget that we belong not to human leaders or institutions, but to Christ who was crucified for us. Indeed, the unifying word of the cross of Christ is the center of the Gospel and the power of almighty God’s salvation. God desires that His people be united in purpose.

None of us need to study this situation in Corinth in order to comprehend that this same scenario has been repeated in every generation of the Christian Church to this very day. We understand and acknowledge that we are as guilty of our divisions today as the early followers of Jesus were in Paul’s time.

Paul implies that a single individual yielding to the God who made him, and filled with the power of God designed for him, is worth far more than all the university degrees and man-made accomplishments. Man without God is a worthless creature.

We have asked ourselves why we have four Gospel writers. Perhaps just one of the disciples alone was not capable of giving us a completely accurate view of Christ. It required four writers to report his earthly life and ministry. God has designed that there be many teachers, many preachers and many perspectives. In the body of Christ at large there are scores who can make a contribution to the understanding of Christ.

There is to be unity among the members of the body of Christ. Paul says, because you are in fellowship with Jesus Christ, you are required to be in fellowship with one another. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

This is a very serious matter in a very serious time. We should take it before God as such.

So the message is that we should celebrate our common identity and mission while acknowledging and providing thanks for our individual ministries without pride or attitude of superiority. And this is the diverse unity we are all called to perform. This is applicable to individual congregations and also to the entire Body of Christ, divided into denominations and fellowships that are unique in their interpretation of mission and service. However they should be unified in purpose for worship, service and mission.

Our Lord Jesus presented Himself and His gospel message when He said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). His life cannot be found in us unless we consume His message. We cannot receive a Savior’s message without a Savior’s life. He made clear that His message was of no value without partaking of His person exactly as God sent Him. We cannot revise His message to placate our secular world. According to Jesus, many may follow Him but not all have His life in them.

I have often envisioned all 150 churches in Loudoun working in unison for the greater glory of God and operating through His will. Everyone would have a powerful desire to serve God, model Jesus’ teaching and provide an example to others so that they can serve God too! Through hard work and commitment each individual would supply an added measure of determination, skill and teamwork for glorifying God.

Brothers and Sisters let us continue to network among our churches and share our resources to better support this community. As Paul would say, let us greet one another with a holy kiss.

I ask each of you to assist our communities to enlist the active presence of God and find strategic direction and empowerment for accomplishing the goals of gospel ministry together in and through our Loudoun Churches. Even though we do not all attend the same church or agree on every point of doctrine, we can indeed pray for a movement of God for the visible unity of His whole church. Jesus desires us to come to “complete unity.”

Mark Gunderman can be reached at gunderman2001@aol.com

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