Division

I want to bring to mind a source of division in and among the church today.  There may be many things that go on in the church today that cause divisions but I want to focus on one particular one that has been going on for many, many years.  This is the problem, people getting their eyes on people and off the Lord.  Many times we get our eyes on certain pastors, teachers or other people in our lives, when our focus should be on the Lord.  

Many years ago I went to a church where many people had their eyes on the pastor when their eyes should have been on the Lord.  I believe we need to respect the pastor but never should he be put on a pedestal and that is true of a teacher, a deacon or anyone else in the church or out of the church.  The pastor I am referring to ended up leaving that church because he knew how the people felt and he knew where their eyes should have been focused which was not on him.  Many times when that happens people will leave the church also, the problem was they were not there for the right reason. The pastor was such a nice guy most everyone loved him and came to church because he pastored there, so naturally when he left they left.

I have been in a church where one of the teachers left and many people went with him.  I have gone through a split in a church where many left because they had their eyes on a pastor when they should have been on the Lord.  I know a pastor that couldn’t keep his eyes or hands off other women and ended up splitting the church.  The sad thing was that even when the truth was known, and it wasn’t the first time it happened, he still wasn’t asked to step down.  Then it happened again and as far as I know he is still pastoring that same congregation today.  Pastors are there to feed and care for the sheep not to devour the sheep.  The people were so enamored with him it seemed like he could have gotten away with anything and still not be asked to leave.

Many years ago I had a friend that was studying to be a pastor but he hadn’t been delivered of alcohol and we ended up getting in an argument over a dog I owned at the time, he was so angry he went and got a rifle and pointed it at me and was going to kill me.  Thank God he changed his mind and swung the butt of the gun at me instead and missed me but he wasn’t done yet, he went in the kitchen and got a knife and stabbed at my stomach but I blocked it with my hand and in the process my hand got cut.  Then he went and laid down on his bed and went to sleep, I went and had my hand taken care of.  

I am not writing these things because I am down on pastors or anyone else, we all struggle with our own sin and not one of us is perfect, I am writing this to encourage you to keep your eyes on Jesus and not on people.  People will always let you down but Jesus never will, praise the Lord.  

Paul spoke about this problem in chapters one and three of 1 Corinthians. In 1:10-17 it says, “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.  For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.  Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Cephas,’ and ‘I of Christ.’  Has Christ been divided?  Paul was not crucified for you, was he?  Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?  I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.  Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.”

And in 3:1-9 it says, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.  I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it.  Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly.  For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?  For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not mere men?   What then is Apollos?  And what is Paul?  Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.  So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.  Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”  

As you can see this is not a new problem and it still needs to be addressed. Let’s make it a habit to ‘glimpse at people and gaze at the Lord.’  The Lord has given each of us certain gifts and talents, let’s use them to edify the church so that we bring glory to the Lord where it belongs, and focus our eyes on Him.  God bless you and yours and have a great day!!  PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord.