Long Division

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

These words were spoken by Abraham Lincoln in the house divided speech in a campaign for US Senator in 1858 in Springfield, Illinois. Do you know where he got it?

"25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.'" Matthew 12:25; Mark 3:25; Luke 11:17

In all 3 Scripture instances, they were spoken by Jesus. Jesus spoke them in the face of Pharisees accusing him of working miracles by the devil's power. Jesus proceeds to explain that it's not possible for Satan to drive out Satan and that the Pharisees were on the brink of some very deep spiritual accusations against Christ that were unforgivable.

Abraham Lincoln spoke these words about slavery. The United States was divided between the North that wanted to abolish slavery and the South that wanted it to remain legalized. Abraham Lincoln was saying that one will have to triumph over the other, because to remain divided would spell the end of the United States.

Both spoke these very true words in times of great difficulty. Nothing will stand divided. There is racism and hatred on both sides of the table. It's time we put differences aside and join hands. We can disagree without hate, racism and violence. There's simply no excuse for those things. The problem is that both sides decry that they have the 1st Amendment Right of Free Speech. True enough. I'll concede that point. However, I will quickly add that when that right of free speech includes threats of violence or actual follow through of such, that's where that right ends abruptly. Right to legally protest and demonstrate? Yes. Riot? Absolutely not. Harm others? Never. There's no excuse for that type of behavior. Any Christian who claims as such and partakes in such violence is in very dangerous spiritual waters. If your church never spoke of such things before all of this, then a conversation with leadership would be needed.

Here's the root of the issue. These problems have been hiding under the surface of the American culture for decades. Every once in a while it surfaces and then disappears again since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, we've seen a severe increase in the past 3 - 4 years. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist guy, but I believe there's more behind this spike than meets the eye. Ultimately, I'd say Satan is behind this spike in hatred and violence. I'd also say that the heart of man is corrupt. I'd also say that those in power want it that way (blame Obama, Trump, Soros or whoever you want to...no matter who it is, I'd say there's someone or multiple someone's behind it, I might even speculate that both sides are being funded and instigated by the same powers). Why do I say that? Because the masses are easier to control when people are at odds with each other. If you instigate fights, hatred and division, it's easier to lay down laws taking away our "rights". Ultimately, I believe the powers that be want a Socialist type of control over America. We've been headed there for the better part of 50 - 70 years now. The world has been moving toward a 'one world government' for a while now.

So by now you're probably asking, "Ok Ryan, where you going with this? What does this have to do with Christianity besides the obvious condemnation of racism, hate and violence?" Allow me to answer by saying this: I see the same types of division in the church. It's despicable. Abhorrent. Inexcusable. I've seen churches who've failed to have a leadership meeting for years, finally agree to a meeting only to argue about how to polish the communion ware. I've seen believers fight and argue in a Sunday School class. I've seen churches divide over people trying to love on others. I've seen people withhold attendance, money, etc. because a plaque with their loved one's name on it taken down or moved (those plaques drive me nuts, but that's another post for another time). I've seen churches take a conversation or words out of context only to gossip about it to everyone but the person they have an issue with. I'm not trying to bash churches. I'm shedding light on the fact that most churches deal with some sort of divide, whether great or small.

We cannot continue to stand divided. The reason our country is in the shape it's in is because we've failed to grow and disciple properly. Sometimes the fault lies on the leadership for not being proactive in developing disciples. Sometimes the fault lies with the congregants simply being lukewarm and not wanting to take the time to disciple or be discipled. We're coming to a precipice in our country where Christians are going to have to dig deep and get serious about their faith. This country isn't going to tolerate Christianity much longer. The church at large will have to go underground because it will become difficult to do otherwise. If this happened tomorrow, would you stand with Christ and the church having to go underground or would you simply follow the culture? What scares me the most is the fact that I think a lot of current 'church-goers' would simply fall away. I see a lot of lukewarm issues. Keep in mind that I only speak because of my own failures. I know all about lukewarm. I fought it hard in the past and still do in waves and valleys. The only cure for it is to dwell constantly on God through prayer, study, reading and fellowship with other believers. Do everything you do for the glory of God. If what you're doing isn't bringing God glory, then I'd suggest making changes. As you do, consult God in everything and seek His loving direction. You're never too far gone for God to stretch out His arm and save you. That's the beautiful thing about God. Christ paid the debt for sin if we'd recognize our shortcomings and accept His grace, knowing we don't deserve it. There's nothing you'll do on your own to pay the debt of sin you owe. That's why we need Jesus. God bless you as you seek His face.

If you'd like more information on Lukewarmness and the answers to it, please check out the link on the top left corner of my blog to my book, "The American Discipleship Problem: The Lukewarm Christian Epidemic"