Kingdom Divided
How many times throughout history have we heard of powerful kingdoms,empires, and dynasties, falling? Once powerful, mighty, conquerors, now nothing more than a puff of wind, swallowed up by the hurricane that is a new power. Alexander the Great led one such kingdom, but upon his death, his generals bickered and fought, dividing a once great kingdom into several kingdoms, easily crushed by the next empire in line. Rome, the nation who ruled for decades much of the known world, crumbled into nothingness once they also became divided, Emperors who could not hold power, for everyone wanted to be in command. Britain, France, Spain, all empires who fought to control the world, exploring new lands, then conquering them, only to find that they were too divided to remain in power. Each Kingdom or Empire was thought to be too powerful to be defeated. They greedily took as much as they could, until that greed became disdain, everyone wanting a piece of the Kingdom or Empire, until that disdain festered into a bitter battle for power. No longer united they each became a victim of their own making, falling prey to countries they once controlled. A kingdom divided is a Kingdom conquered.
The same can be said of the church. The church is supposed to be united in their love for God, following the teaching of Jesus Christ. Together we stand, divided we fall. Jesus himself speaks of this very thing in Matthew 12 verses 25-30 “25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. 30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
We see this theme again and again throughout both the Old and New Testaments. From David’s own sons fighting over power, to the Sadducees, God’s own people, fighting for power, feeling Christ, our Messiah, was a threat to their very comfortable existence. We need to be a united front, focused on spreading the Word of God to every nation, to the ends of the Earth. We have a mission set out by Jesus Christ, to share his love. Given the gift of the Holy Spirit to assist in this commission, who are we to waste this gift? Why do we squabble over things and allow these issues to divide us? Paul also speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 1: 10-17 “10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] 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. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas[b]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
As both Jesus Christ and Paul point out, divisions and disagreements in the church are preventing the spread of His Word. We are to be united, not allowing disagreements to divide us. Jesus compares this to Satan, for that is exactly who is behind these divisions, Satan. Satan wants us as Christians to be bickering amongst ourselves, for then he can conquer us one by one. To prevent this we need to look to our church leadership for guidance, pray, read our Bibles, talk to our pastors, and pray some more. We cannot let Satan weasel his way into our lives and into the church, stick to the Word of God, keep this at the focus of our churches. Disagreements have a tendency to get blown out of proportion and splinter churches.
Recently I have seen this in the handling of Covid measures. Many churches are following guidelines set out by the government, guidelines that many disagree with. The church then is put in the awkward position of either following these guidelines and being allowed to continue to hold services, or disregard the guidelines and risk being shut down completely. Fellowship was brought up as a main area that has suffered as a result of these guidelines. This is true, fellowship has suffered, but to blame this on the church for following guidelines is a mistake. During these Covid times we have all had to get creative in our personal lives, we take that responsibility upon ourselves. Why should fellowship and church lives be any different? If we can get creative to suit our personal needs, then can we not get creative in ways to fellowship with other Christians? Meet at a park, go for coffee, talk to each other outside of the church after the service. Why does it matter if talking inside the church building itself is not encouraged? Who says church is the only place to come together in fellowship? The only place to speak to other Christians? Get Creative! Do not lay blame upon the church and create divisions! Do not let disagreements on how to handle Covid measures splinter the church! We should not wish to be responsible for hindering the work of God! Stand united and stop bickering! Trust the church elders, deacons, and pastoral team to do what is necessary to ensure we are all kept safe, and able to continue to meet at church. Pray that they will be given wisdom in how to go about doing this, encourage them to pray and ask God for guidance. Do not let yourself get upset when every decision does not line up with what you feel is right! Did God say every decision He makes for us is going to be agreeable? Where in the Bible have things ever gone down like that? Name a place, I challenge you. No God makes decisions and guides our leadership teams. We may not see the bigger picture, but God does. He wants what is best for us, trust Him to guide your life. Do not let Satan take your eye off the ball, or you will take that ball straight to the eye! When we let Satan guide our paths, a painful lesson is sure to follow. Give God the power to allow the Holy Spirit to work among us. United we stand, divided we fall. A kingdom divided is a kingdom conquered.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave your comments below. I would love to hear your opinion on my posts!