Contentious Contenders
Christians Fighting Other Christians
By Todd Uebele
"27Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God." -- Philippians 1:27-28
The Sword of the Spirit is a powerful weapon. It can be used either offensively or defensively. It is powerful enough to tear down the strongholds of the enemy, yet many of those strongholds remain standing. That is because Christians have taken to hacking away parts of their own body. They fiercely fight against their own brothers and sisters in Christ, both hurting the body and allowing the enemy to grow stronger.
It's time to stop.
Christians fighting each other is nothing new. They have been doing it since Jesus ascended. However, the time has come for it to stop. We must not continue to fight each other. There are too many fronts the enemy has opened. We must "contend as one man for the gospel." Unity of the Church is essential if we are to be successful in carrying out the Great Commission. We must stand as one. We must be of one mind and work together if we are to win souls and increase Christ's Kingdom.
The Madness
When I was a kid, I loved hockey. My friend and I would put on roller skates and play right in his driveway. Growing up in NY, we had the Islanders and the Rangers. My friend was a die hard Rangers fan, and he would pretend he was John Vanbiesbrouck. I, of course was an Islanders fan, and I would pretend I was Pat LaFontaine. I still remember my very first hockey game. My neighbor took me after I spent the day helping her collect all the scrap wire from her electrical shop, I was in such awe, I could not speak the whole way home.
Hockey today is different than it was 15, 20 years ago. It is a much more tame, PG, Disney version of the game it used to be. One fan quipped, "Even checking isn't checking anymore. Players are terrified of the whistle: charging, roughing, tripping, using a four letter word. Yesterday a guy tapped his opponent on the shoulder and said, 'Excuse me, sir, but I'll be checking you momentarily. Please don't overreact.'" While I am not one to advocate violence in any way, fighting was very much part of the game.
The old adage "I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out" rang true. Even my friend's father (who was a very devout Catholic) pulled me aside one time when there was a large group playing in our local supermarket parking lot and told me, "I know you don't like to fight, but when you are playing, if some one gives you a shove, shove them right back. Make them get out of your way." That's exactly how it was, too. There was no malice, no hurt feelings it was part of the game. When the game was over you would give a "high five" to the same guy that knocked you down minutes before.
In hockey, it wasn't so much "violence" as it was part of the sport. People went to the game expecting a fight, and were usually not disappointed. Unfortunately, things are just the same when it comes to Christianity. The world sees us bickering and fighting and come to expect it. And the sad truth is, they are usually not disappointed. The fact is, the way the body is set up right now, we are set up for failure. Christians are the number one reason the lost stay lost. They look at the way we treat each other and think we are hypocrites. When we act no differently towards each other than the world does, why would anyone want to leave the pleasures of the world and become part of the Body of Christ?
The world sees us bickering over petty differences. The world sees us arguing over politics. When I first founded One Body Ministries, I made up my mind that I would never mention the word "politics," let alone talk about it. However, today I am and here's why: politics is one of the most divisive topics there is. Politics is worldly and we are to come out of the world. Let the world argue about which candidate is better, or which proposal is better. Christians should accept each other no matter which proposal or candidate they back. Does this mean Christians need to avoid politics, or never talk about it? No. It means that Christians should not castigate each other over political viewpoints. We are supposed to avoid foolish arguments:
23Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. -- 2 Timothy 2:23-26
Let's face it. What is more foolish than politics? Yet Christians will argue, viciously, over politics. Some even go so far to say their opponents are not even Christians! Conservatives will say that to Liberals, and Liberals will say that to Conservatives. They honestly believe that your political position makes you a better or worse Christian. What a joke! I mention politics because it is an extremely volatile subject. As Christians though, we should accept our brothers and sisters no matter what their political stance.
It is not just politics though. Christians will fight, argue, and bicker about anything! Churches have split over the number of cups used in communion. Our Body has broken apart over whether or not there should be a kitchen inside the building we meet to worship in. Christians have divided over whether or not their congregations use musical instruments in worship. Believe me, I could go on. However the point is not our endless, erroneous tendency to divide and split over and over.
The point is, we need to stop.
Our Church is broken. We cannot possibly be more divided and distant than we are now. We have split and divided and broken apart for too long. The time has come to reverse that trend and start with the healing. The time has come to turn our swords away from our brethren and towards the enemy. The time has come for us to stand firm, to stand as one.
That time is now.
The enemy has brought the fight to us. Look at everything that has happened in the past year. Christians were arrested in Philadelphia for preaching God's love near a homosexual rally. They were not preaching against homosexuality. They were not condemning it, or telling those in attendance they were going to hell. They were simply preaching God's love and singing praise songs. When the story made the news a video taken by a third party proved that. Still, the Philadelphia District Attorney said preaching God's love was "fighting words."
David Limbaugh, a conservative columnist wrote a book entitled "Persecution," about persecution that is going on right here in America. Not China, not India, but the good ol' U. S. of A. Senator John Cornyn of Texas released a report detailing over 50 pages of how Christianity has come under attack from groups like the ACLU, AUSCS, and the like. That report is available on his website.
In schools all over the country, the mere phrase "Merry Christmas" was banned. Any song that mentioned baby Jesus was banned from holiday performance, while Jewish Chanukah songs were permitted. It has even affected Easter! You cannot have a party with the "Easter Bunny" in our public schools anymore because you might offend somebody. People have been fired from their jobs just for posting Bible verses in their cubicles. When is it going to stop? Not until we stop fighting each other and take a stand.
We need to take the fight back to the enemy, and we can only do that if we stop fighting among ourselves. Madeline O'Hare, an avowed atheist who was instrumental in removing prayer from our public schools, is reported to have said at one time, "The Christian Army is the only army in the world that kills its own wounded." Sadly, that statement is all too true. Not only do we crucify each other over secular differences, but we also will pounce on our own the moment they fall.
The Method
Not only do Christians crucify each other over difference of opinions in theological "disputable matters," not only do Christians disparage each other for disagreeing on secular issues, we also shoot our wounded. Those who have fallen get pushed down even further. Those who err are castigated and judged. Who are we to judge our neighbor? Yet we do, and harshly.
A man was standing on the edge of the Sydney Harbour Bridge --about to jump. A passer-by tried to talk him down; he asked: "well, are you a Christian?" to which the man answered "yes." He exclaimed: "great, me too; what kind of Christian are you? Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant?" The answer was: "Protestant." "Me too; what kind of Protestant? Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal?" The man got excited: "me too; are you an initial evidence or a third wave Pentecostal?" "Initial evidence." "Me too; what kind of initial evidence? Are you a AOG, CRC, COC, CCC?" "AOG." Now, he got really excited: "Me too; are you Premillenial, Post Millenial or Amillenial?" The guy on the bridge said: "Amillenial" and with that the passer-by, becoming very angry, screamed: "Die, heretic!" and pushed him off the bridge.
While that might be humorous on the surface, the sad truth is it is very typical of how we are as Christians. I admit, I am no better. When I was younger, I definitely had a "holier than thou" attitude towards people, and I could never see how hurtful it was. The thing is, when people are "down for the count," they feel pretty bad already. They do not need our judgment, they need our love. It wasn't until I was wounded myself that I understood that; when I experienced Jesus' love first hand.
Unfortunately, it took me being wounded to understand that, but not everybody has to "be there" to understand. If we follow Jesus' example, and love like He did (like we should), we can help our brothers and sisters get back up. When people fall, they are hurting. The harder they fall, the more they hurting. What they need is our love. We need to give them as much love as we can. Again, it comes to following Christ. Jesus gave us the perfect example of the love they need:
"Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." --John 8:4-11
This woman had sinned. She broke the covenant of marriage, and the Pharisees dragged her out before Jesus and before the public there at the temple. Her sin was out there for everyone to see, and the Pharisees had judged her pretty harshly. What was Jesus' response though? It was two fold:
"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Here was a woman who had very definitely sinned. She was wounded and the Pharisees wanted to "shoot" her. But what did Jesus do? He told them in what must have been a very blunt way (Pharisees were perfect keepers of the law so for them to publicly admit they do sin was pretty hard on them) that they were sinners too, and he told the woman stop her sin. No yelling, no screaming, no judging (even though He is the Righteous Judge), and no condemnation, just love: "Go now and leave your life of sin."
How amazing is that? Jesus Christ, the only one who can judge us, did not cast judgment on that woman, but set her free. I have said this before and it is worth repeating: While the Bible does not explicitly say what happens with her, I feel confident in saying that she did leave that life of sin. Why? Was it because she was shamed by the Pharisees? No way. When people are judged and shamed, they get defensive and build walls around their sin. No, she left her life of sin because of the love that Jesus showed her. Jesus forgave her, Jesus acted out in love towards her, and I believe that she stopped sinning because of that.
We need to show that same love to people.
The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins. Not a single sin, not a few sins, a multitude! How, then, are Christians the worst when it comes to holding sins over peoples heads? Tell me, how is it that Christians are the worst when it comes to vilifying people of a different political persuasion? I'll tell you how; we have no love!
Jesus Christ is the epitome of love, but we have taken our eyes off of Him. For some reason, the desire to be like Jesus has been replaced by the desire to be "right." If we are going to make any difference in this world we need to change. We need to stop fighting each other. We need to stop being "contentious" and start contending as one. That means you need to show love to your brothers and sisters. That means I need to start showing love to my brothers and sisters. It means that each of us and all of us need to start showing love to our brothers and sisters.
What does this mean practically? Stop treating your brothers and sisters like the enemy if they have different opinions than you, whether it is political, secular, dogmatic or doctrinal. Do not argue with them and do not feel you always need to be "right." Humble yourself if you need to, but do not argue. Do not castigate or vilify them because they hold a different view. Accept them as they are, for what they are: followers of the same Lord and Savior. We truly are One in Christ. We just need to start acting like it.
CONCLUSION:
Whether it is over differences in politics, differences in doctrine, or differences in dealing with our own wounded, Christians love to fight. The Bible tells us not to (2 Tim 2:23-26), but we do anyway. This is noticed by the world and even aids them in their efforts to silence the Church. If we want the lost to become saved, then we need to start acting like we are saved ourselves. The Church is under fire, from within and without. The enemy is bearing down on us over many different fronts. The Body of Christ needs every soldier we have. We cannot afford to shoot our own wounded anymore.
When dealing with brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to use and extra dose of patience. I know first hand when a Christian hurts you, your first instinct is to hurt them back, at least mine is. We need to start taking the high ground, being patient with one another and loving our neighbors. If we are going to make a stand together, we must first understand each other. Therefore we must understand and accept our family in Christ. It will be impossible to stand against the enemy unless we do.
