I just read some statistics about American casualties in 5 wars that our country has been involved in. These wars are: the Civil War from 1861 to 1865 with 623,026 dead; World War 1 from 1917 to 1918 with 116,708 dead; World War 2 from 1941 to 1945 with 407,316 dead; the Korean War from 1951 to 1953 with 36,914 dead; the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1973 with 58,169 dead. Look at those numbers! One war, the Civil War, had 623,026 casualties. That is 623,026 Americans who died in that one war. That is more than the 619,107 Americans who died in World War 1, World War 2, Korea, and Vietnam combined! There may be several reasons for this difference in casualties. One reason could be the primitive medical treatment back then. Some believe that this large amount of deaths was God’s judgment on America for slavery and the way African Americans were treated. Another reason is that Americans were fighting and killing Americans, brother was fighting against brother. Americans were on both sides of that war fighting among ourselves.
The Apostle Paul was troubled about divisions in the church at Corinth. Paul had planted that church during what we call his second missionary journey. The story is recorded in
Acts 18:1-17. Paul came to Corinth in September AD 51 and preached and taught for over a year. At that time it is estimated that the population of Corinth was about 200,000 plus about 500,000 slaves. Rabbi Paul followed his usual plan of preaching first in the synagogue on the sabbath days until he was run off and then he went to a house next door and preached. His first converts were Jews by birth and by conversion and then later Gentiles were added as they heard and believed the Word. People from various areas of society, both free and slave became believers. He left there and sailed the 250 miles across the Aegean Sea to Ephesus, arriving there in February AD 53. After a stay in Ephesus he finished up his second missionary trip in the summer of AD 53. Paul started his third missionary trip from his home church in Antioch, Syria. Then in the fall of AD 55 he travelled back to Ephesus and there he received some sad news about the Church in Corinth which had just been established 3 or 4 years before. It was reported that there were divisions, cliques, and contentions among them. This both grieved and angered him and he wrote what we know as 1 Corinhians. In it he mentioned their divisions (
1 Cor. 1:10-17 and 3:1-9) and told them that because of the envyng, strife, and divisions among them, they were carnal and childish and acting like mere humans who had never even been saved or born again and they were acting like they did not even have the Spirit of God living in them.
How would the Apostle Paul feel about the Church today if he could see our multiple denominations, organizations, fellowships, and preachers’ unions? He told the Ephesians to endeavor or strive earnestly to keep or guard the unity that the Spirit produces among believers and reminded them that they all had the same Heavenly Father and had all been placed/baptized into the same Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit when they first believed on Jesus (ref
Ephesians 1:13; 4:1-6 and
1 Corinthians 12:12-14). How does Jesus feel about the divisions among us? His last night before His death, after He had washed their feet, He told His disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (
John 13:34-35). Then on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane where He would struggle to submit His flesh to the Father’s will and where He would be arrested, He prayed the prayer recorded in
John 17:1-26. In that prayer He prays for several things, one of which is unity among His followers so that the world would see the oneness or unity among believers and thereby be convinced that He had indeed been sent by the Father. How it must grieve Him to see our multiple divisions, our squabbling among ourselves, and our attitudes toward those who do not agree with us on evey insignificant detail. And how it hinders many from even considering Jesus when they see us acting like we do. We have majored on minors and have divided and scattered the Body of Christ and alienated unbelievers.
In
Galatians 5:15 Paul writes to some of the believers in Galatia and says: “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another" (KJV). In the Ampified Bible this says, “But if you bite and devour one another [in partisan strife], be careful that you [and your whole fellowship] are not consumed by one another.” Sounds to me like he was warning against civil war within the church where brother is fighting brother and they are destroying one another resulting in high casualties.
In
Proverbs 6:16-19, God speaks out very strongly against our divisions, sects, and exclusive cliques and organizations. He says:
16 These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
That word discord can also mean strife/dissension/contentions/disagreement/lack of harmony. Doesn’t this discord in the Church and lack of harmony among the members sound like the same thing Paul was speaking against to the people in Corinth and Galatia and also what Jesus was praying against in
John 17? Isn’t this a picture of our many denominations, organizations, and sects?
The late John Wimber (February 25, 1934 - November 17, 1997) said, “We have all been called to love the things Jesus loves, so we have no choice but to love the whole church --even the denominations whose beliefs we may not agree with or those parts we do not understand.” The Apostle John said, “If you believe that Jesus is the Christ --that He is God’s Son and your Savior-- then you are a child of God. And all who love the Father love His children too” (
1 John 5:1 TLB).
Today on Facebook I saw, "Someone said that the Church is the only army that buries its wounded. Also, that much of our spiritual warfare is just a circular firing squad."
I encourage you to love your brothers and sisters even though they may not all believe just like you do, think just like you do, worship just like you do, or dress just like you do.
These divisions and this strife and exclusion have just gone on for too long.
These are people that God has accepted based upon the cross and He has placed them into the Church without first consulting with us to see if we wanted them.
I do not want to exclude anyone that God has included, and I do not want to reject anyone that God has accepted.
Remember some of the last words Jesus shared with His disciples before His death:
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (
John 13:34-35).
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