Division
Last year, we saw quite a bit of upheaval in our nation. While our country may be called the United States of America, its people seemed to be anything but united. We saw battling between people of different political affiliations, different perspectives about the response to the pandemic, different races, different socio-economic groups, and so on and so forth. It seemed like people would fight over any conceivable point of disagreement.
The former president in particular seemed to be at the center of much of the schisms that developed between the various people in the nation. While disagreements between people of different political beliefs have always been divisive, it appeared that Trump’s presidency affected people on an even more personal level. We are starting to hear more and more stories about family members and friends parting ways over their opinions on Trump and his ways. Some thought things would get better when he left the presidency, but in some ways they haven’t. We still see much of the bickering that plagued the nation all of last year and many of the years prior. The fighting has not stopped, and it doesn’t look like it will anytime soon, so maybe Trump wasn't the problem. Maybe he just brought light to problems that were already there simmering.
Staggering divisions like those we've seen recently can be hurtful. It is undoubtedly hard to have to leave behind someone you love or have known for a long time because of disagreement or the revelation of principles that can’t coexist. What kind of person could or would knowingly cause such division? Many look at President Trump as an evil person largely because they believe he purposefully used divisive rhetoric, which eventually led to the events on January 6th. However, Christians should know that Trump is far from the first person to be purposely divisive. It's actually pretty common in politics. However, there was a person completely unaffiliated with American politics that expressed the intent to be just as divisive if not moreso.
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” - Luke 12:49-53
Those words were spoken by Jesus himself. They seem strange coming from the one that is often referred to as the King of Peace. The Bible tells us to honor our parents (Exodus 20:12) and to love our brothers and sisters (1 John 4:21), so why would Jesus say that his purpose was to cause strife within families?
The answer to that question isn’t that much different from the answer for why Trump was so divisive. When a leader takes a hardline stance on certain matters of principle, ethics, or morality, it forces people to choose a side, and it also reveals that sometimes people who thought they were close are not always on the same side.
This is what Jesus was warning. He came to bring the Gospel to Earth and draw a line in the sand for those that would follow God and those that would oppose God. For Jesus, that line was deep and would undoubtedly create a fissure between some people that could not be crossed. He was right. The book of Acts details how Jesus’ followers were ostracized from the Jewish community for following Jesus. Paul often speaks about his role in that persecution and confirms that belief in Jesus can tear people apart.
Paul takes things even further when he instructs those that chose to follow Jesus to be purposeful about separating themselves from those that did not.
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:All this might seem to contradict the directive given to Christians to love everyone and spread Jesus’ message, but it doesn’t. It only requires acceptance of a hard truth. You can’t save everyone. Some of the people that you can’t save may be people that you love. All believers make a choice when they decide to follow Jesus, but not everyone who hears the Gospel will make that same choice. As believers, we are supposed to love and pray for others regardless of their choices, but the differences in choices may put us on different paths.
“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. - 2 Corinthians 6:14-17
We have to have faith that the division Jesus promised is all part of God’s plan, and that it will all work out for the best. Similarly, we can also pray that the division we see in our nation and the world at large will lead to something better than what we see now. It takes the heat and pressure from a tremendous amount of friction to turn coal into diamond. Perhaps, that is symbolic of what Jesus promised us and representative of the conflict we are seeing in the world today.
Chris Lawyer
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