Strife, Seditions, Heresies

Galatians 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Strife - factions, contentions

Seditions- disunion, dissension, division, sedition

Heresies choosing disunion creating sects.

Much is said about most of the items in the list of works of the flesh. The last three words are pandemic in the Body and not spoken to as much as they should.

No church split happens without these items being the cause. Most new plants are also in some way affected by these issues. These things are so common that we have become comfortable in them as if they are a normal thing and we even rejoice in a new church being started in town though there are already viable works.

Romans 15:20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:

21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.

O, that more men would follow Paul's example and seek out areas that have no viable Gospel witness rather than seek to cull some of the disgruntled or ill sheep from another flock.

Paul says that we are all to speak the same thing since we are of one Lord, one faith and one baptism having gifts given by one Spirit whose mission includes leading us all into the truth and there is only one truth per issue. The Word is of no private interpretation so the division we have is because we are not all walking the Spirit as He is one with the Father and the Son. They agree on everything so there is not one interpretation for one group and another for a different group. Regardless of your take on 1 Cor 11 and there is only one answer, Paul did say that he had no such tradition and neither did the churches of God. One ruling for all despite locality, local culture, etc.

The problem with American churches, though it is all over, is that we feel like we get an opinion. We are in a spiritual state of "I'm OK, you're OK" and we agree to disagree. We are not as adamant about contending for the faith or being Bereans as in the 1st Century. Even the Reformers did not reform enough and since then we have added untold numbers of theories and interpretations not based on sound doctrine.

Hence we have factions, contentions, division and heresies. We often think of heresy only in the area of false doctrines, but it really means to choose disunion creating sects. Indeed, the non-denominational movement created more heresy by division than doctrinal heresy before the movement.

True, false doctrine causes division and rightly so because unity can only be based on truth. Yet, a church with sound doctrine can also split over personal opinions or agendas. This is the heresy of sedition, which is a high crime in the secular world. If the world finds it heinous, do you think Jesus is happy about people who do it in His Body? It is His Church and He set the rules and had the Apostles inspired to write what the Body is to believe and how it is to function.

Those who cause disunion and split the Body into pieces to their own liking not only cut off a toe or arm, but they cause those parts to be cut off from The Head or at least keep them from receiving communication from Him. Indeed, this may well be why so many churches are dying because they were not created by Him or decided they were smarter than Him doing their own thing.

It is time to be reconciled within the Body or we have no hope of bringing reconciliation to the World. They are neither impressed nor fear a Body that has been blown apart by an IED or Independent Ecclesial Determination. I will say it two billion times if I have to that ten or more churches of the same faith in a town or reasonable drive area is not what Jesus prayed for when He asked that "they would be one as We are one."

Two of like faith in one town is one too many. Most of the myriad of churches in a town are twenty or less. Some might make thirty. A new plant that does not win new converts, but is only a new fold for wandering, ill or disgruntled sheep is not what God called. It was man called. If God called it then their would be an abundance of new sheep for His fold. A handful of sheep meeting together when there are viable churches in the area may well point to a form of pride or dissension that needs to be reconciled not praised.