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Where I attended Bible college in northwest Alabama is a hotbed of churches known for splitting over what some believers might think are fairly insignificant issues, especially when compared with the Great Commission of saving the world. For example, churches have split in two over whether to have a Sunday school program, take communion using one big cup or many small cups and allow food or drinks into the worship hall.
The story is told of one large church that was nearly cut in half over whether hell is a literal place or a figurative one in Scripture. “There ain’t no hell!” declared the newly formed church’s marquee. Just up the road was what remained of the old congregation, which defiantly wrote on its sign, “The hell there ain’t!”
Such things may sound silly – and they are – but it’s a big reason why there are more than 45,000 Christian denominations in the world today, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. More than 200 of them meet regularly in the United States; while many accept the faith of believers in other churches, some most certainly do not.
Why is that, when Jesus said in John 17:22 that he wanted His followers “brought to complete unity?” Many moons before, King David had a similar thought in Psalm 133:1: “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”
What happened? Part of it is we’re all human, and as humans we’re going to occasionally do dumb things that sow the seeds of division.
I’ve seen this firsthand. Several years ago, local leaders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – once known as Mormons – offered a truckload of canned vegetables to food pantries in Cherokee County. Multiple churches turned them down for no other reason than where the food was coming from. My church actually started a pantry using what came on that truck, which helped feed local families for months.
So where did we get off track? John may have the answer in Revelation 2:2-4:
“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.”
A church may be doing a whole bunch of things right – the Pharisees of the New Testament era come to mind here – but if they are doing it without love, they have lost everything. Paul said this in
1 Corinthians 13:1-3:
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
This shouldn’t be a surprise considering 1 John 4:8: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Jesus put love at the very center of the gospel in Matthew 22:36-39: “ ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
And just who are these neighbors? They are Democrats and Republicans. They are Catholic and they are Protestant. They are people who have lived here all of their lives as well as those who moved here as soon as they could. They speak all languages and come from all countries. They include every skin tone in the human race.
In short, they are anyone and everyone who is in front of us. And if you hate them while proclaiming to be a follower of Christ, which seems to be all too common nowadays, then you’re doing it wrong.
This Easter, may there be unity in your family and faith – and may there be lots of love in your heart. After all, judging people has never worked out well for any of us. As Matthew 7:1-2 reads, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or on Twitter @daviddBstroh.