Can't We All Just Get Along?

“Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

(1 Corinthians 1:10)

Nothing looks worse to a non-believer than believers who act like non-believers & nothing in a church looks more like non-believers than those who can’t get along.

The word used for “divisions” in this verse is the word, schisma; it means that there should be no open break, no fracture of the church. Division is caused by things like gossip, backbiting, bitterness, jealousy, ect… These things cause great divisions, divisions that sometimes are never repaired, which leads to church splits & fruitlessness.

I once wrote a letter to all the Baptist churches in Calhoun County…there were about 87 to 95 Baptist churches alone. I looked up the number of churches in Calhoun County, not just Baptist, but all…do you want to know the number listed? Two hundred & eighty six, now I’m by no means saying that all the churches listed were Christian, there were three I know of that were no where near Biblically Christian, but the other two hundred & eighty three, very well maybe. Think about it, two hundred & eighty three churches in this 612 square mile county…& we still aren’t affecting this county for Jesus, why? When the non-believers look to the church for something different than what they have…they normally only see more of what they have… strife. They see people that can’t get along to the point that they can’t even attend church in the same building or even work together for the same cause. So why would they want to know Jesus…if it looks as though He hasn’t done any good for those who call themselves by His name?

Philippians 2 tells us to, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” This “attitude”…He emptied Himself of who He was, was humble, became like a bond-servant & was obedient, even unto death…death on a cross.

What would happen in a county that had two hundred some odd churches that were filled with men & women who strived to honestly seek the mind of Christ every day of their lives? Why don’t we live it, and see.

Vern