![]() Third, divisive persons create obstacles to hearing the true gospel with false ideas, or they elevate secondary matters to the place of primacy, resulting in the shipwreck of people’s faith. A discerning Christian should ask whether a person engaged in dispute has the goal of helping Christians in the unity they have already achieved. The god they serve, says Paul, is their own belly, and their mind is set on earthy things. Paul specifically says in Philippians 3 that he weeps over the church because some are enemies of the cross of Christ who have as a goal the destruction of the church (Phil. Pride makes the dispute about winning rather than helping believers walk in the unity of the Spirit (Eph. This unity achieved among believers who have walked together in the truth of the gospel, and all subsequent points of agreement, should be celebrated in theological disputes.ĭivisive persons do not care about the truth already achieved, but they instead use present disputes as opportunities to wreck the unity that already exists among believers. ![]() There is a great amount of agreement that has already been achieved in the faith of Christians when they stand back from any dispute. When Paul helped Christians in dispute, he first told believers to work together in what they had already achieved in gospel fellowship (see Phil. Helping Christians come together is not the goal of their engagement. Second, divisive persons serve themselves in theological dispute. Humility, without an unhealthy craving to fight, is a key identifier as to whether sincerity motivates the interaction. We should always ask if the person to whom we are listening has this evident goal of peace and unity in his disagreements. A key identifier of a divisive person is that he uses labels and designations not with the goal of helping believers to come to the truth of a matter, but instead to separate and conquer those with whom he disagrees. When Paul references the divide between Euodia and Synteche in Philippians 4, he called upon the church and her leaders to come alongside these Christians and “yoke them” together in what they had already achieved in gospel fellowship. The problem is that divisive people use these labels not as a way of working to understand a controversy, or with the goal of bringing brethren together in what are often complex theological disputes, but rather with the purpose of further separating Christians from each other. Some of these labels are certainly necessary to understand the nature of a controversy. In any theological controversy, designations and classifications are made in an attempt to determine the truth of a matter. This is a hugely important caution for our times. In 1 Timothy 6:4 Paul specifies that some people are full of pride, having an unhealthy obsession with fighting as they spend their time quarreling over words. ![]() How do we recognize divisive persons in the church?įirst, divisive persons have an obsession and unhealthy craving for controversy and quarreling. With this in mind, it’s important to provide an overview of the warnings we find in the Scriptures, the characteristics of those who seek to harm believers, and the instruction we receive in how to respond. Throughout the New Testament, we find no hesitation by the apostles to warn of those who were undermining the gospel ministry. In 2 Timothy 4:14, he specifically mentions Alexander the Coppersmith, who did him much harm in his efforts to preach Christ. The apostle Paul was constantly under assault by those who wanted to undermine the message of the gospel. This phenomenon is nothing new, of course, and the apostles provide a lot of instruction in how to handle divisive people in Christ’s church. I can’t think of a more appropriate caution at the moment than to call Christians to awareness regarding both to whom they listen and how they handle themselves before those who seek the ruin of the church. Christians have to be acutely aware that Satan uses cultural moments like this in the church to separate the body of Christ. As society is presently ripped apart with divisions on every issue, the church is likewise bombarded with divisive people who are using the current cultural divide to mimic the culture and tear apart the body of Christ.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |