Note: This is the second article in a series called Overcoming the Five Failures of Us. Previous articles are always available at http://www.webbweekly.com.
Revelation 2:1-7
To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Do you remember when Jesus found you? In that very first season of your new life in Christ, you experienced the love you had at first. We could use the song Yes, Jesus Loves Me as a pure expression of that first love. At that point, the love of Jesus – and the love you had for Him – was all that mattered. It was very simple and, real, and powerful.
And then something happened. We became aware of other Christians who had experiences, beliefs, and practices that were different than ours. As we learned, we encountered division on nearly every topic. Our faith got complicated. We sought out other birds-of-a-feather Christians for united fellowship. We became rigid in our traditions and preferences. We developed arrogance as we looked down on other believers and became more polarized in our views. We even competed with other churches to attract a crowd. We were determined to prove who was right and who was wrong, dividing ourselves more deeply. Over time, we fell in love with our dogmas and traditions and, worship styles and administrative methods. In the process — we fell out of love with Jesus.
It’s not just a church thing. Division is the primary failure of all humans. We can’t help ourselves. We complicate and divide in every aspect of life. We fight to prove we are better and right—and they are worse and wrong. We especially relish anything that makes the division easier to identify: skin color, age, ethnicity, religion, dogma, clothing, uniforms, symbols, labels, politics, masks…
My friends, division is the primary strategy of the evil one. We know this because unity is the primary strategy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Listen to how important unity is as Jesus prays for us in John 17:
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Unity among Christians is the miraculous proof that God loves us. I guess we can’t be surprised then that the Church is failing in the United States. If unity is the proof, then we’ve got a really big problem.
Divide and conquer is defined as to make a group of people disagree and fight with one another so that they will not join together as one.
We clearly see this strategy being utilized by Satan against the Church. We understand the goal of our enemy is utter destruction. Yet we are so obsessed with being right we are incapable of joining together as one to conquer the enemy of us all. It truly is our primary human failure.
Denominationalism is a luxury afforded to Christian cultures. When everyone is a Christian or holds to Christian values, it seems that resources can be used in partisanship and competition. But when existing in a secular or pagan culture, like the one we’re living in now, the Church cannot afford the luxury of wasting the precious resources of unity. There’s just too much at stake to fuss and fume over whose theological nuances are right or better. Secularization requires denominational churches to find full-throated (using the full power of one’s voice) unity together in the great confessions of the Christian Faith:
• You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God! Matthew 16:16
• Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father! Philippians 2:11
• Jesus Christ and Him crucified! I Corinthians 2:2
• The LORD our God is one LORD! Deuteronomy 6:4
• Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! Revelation 4:8
• You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will, they were created and have their being! Revelation 4:11
Christian, what miraculous work could we accomplish in and for the Kingdom of God if we served together in glorious unity? Sadly, I’m not sure we’ll ever experience our full miraculous potential unless we make some changes and begin celebrating our full unity in Jesus Christ.
