Divide and Conquer...

June 24, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.” 1 Corinthians 12:14.

As humans we are used to battles. We were born with battle plans in mind to use in those sticky life situations. Our natural instinct tells us one of the best tools we can use to win: Divide and Conquer.

Unfortunately, this is not successful in a good sense. To win under this plan, you have to divide a unified body and then conquer it with your own. However, a unified body must exist prior to anyone wanting to divide and conquer it. There is nothing to divide if nothing is unified. Therefore, a unified body reigns supreme.

When Christianity began, unification took place on Earth that surpassed what many had known. Starting with a few people, it spread to the entire world with a common theme and purpose: Christ. However, at the moment a unified body began in existence there was also an enemy. As soon as he saw it he developed his strategy to break it: Divide and Conquer.

That is exactly what he did. He convinced man to create divisions in the church so that he could conquer the unification. Therein lies the divisions within the Body of Christ: Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, Assembly of God, and others including churches called non-denominational.

Those divisions do not stand against each other only, but each can have divisions within themselves. For example, there are Southern Baptists, Free Will Baptists, and Primitive Baptists, and there are many differences within the others as well.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you need to be a member of a certain one. In fact, those divisions are not even discussed. God would have no reason to and His message of a unified body in line with His instructions is repeated throughout the Bible.

Because God’s word was meant to unify the Body of Christ, the enemy decided that he would use it to divide. Just like when he tempted Jesus with scripture from the Bible told in the Book of Luke, he tempted man with the Bible as well. As the perfect Teacher of us all, Jesus knew what to do. Unfortunately, many of those on the Earth did not fare so well. In turn, divisions formed, and aligned themselves with different doctrines based on beliefs of what the Bible said. That does not mean they are not Christians. What it does mean is that others cost them one battle in the middle of a war.

There are many illustrations to prove this point, but to put it plainly some of the divisions have differences of opinion on baptism, spiritual gifts, and the like. There are many other fundamental differences including those who believe in “free will” and those who believe in “predetermination”. Also, there is a difference of opinion between some on the afterlife.

What God told us all thousands of years ago is that we are all, as Christians, a member of one body. There is one mind and that is God. Each member has a different function.

The creation of divisions may have been to divide, but like everything bad that the enemy tries to do, God turns it around for His glory and He always seeks to benefit the members of His body. Some of us need a quiet atmosphere to worship, and the Spirit knows as much. Some of us need to be free with our spiritual gifts, and the Spirit knows as much. Even if we are in different places we are all members of the same body. If you align yourself with one side and state the other is wrong, which side are you fighting on? The Body of Christ is what it is: it is a “Body”.

“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:14-26.

At the same time, the enemy has worked to convince others that “divide and conquer” was not an evil concept. To do such, he convinced man to create groups that appeared “unified” although they were full of evil and willing to kill or convince others to commit suicide. The focus shifts back to those “unified” and they get a bad name, and then divisions look like a good idea.

The enemy’s point behind this is simple. If he can make unification look like a bad idea, then divisions will continue to exist because people will seek them. Basic, common sense shows you the problems with this belief. Just ask yourself if divisions have benefited us historically. Did Hitler's division of Germans from the Jews benefit us? Did the “separate but equal” days where blacks and whites were separated benefit us? Of course not. The very things we complain about today, divorce, black versus white, men versus women are all divisions.

Still many Christians use the “do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers” scripture to differentiate themselves from others. The argument was if they thought they were correct then they had the right to judge other Christians. If we are not God, and we did not write the Bible, there are bigger problems there than one may realize.

Here is where Christians must remember that God only wants us to judge on matters that are out of line with His word, and that are not “disputable”. “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:1-4.

How many of you tear off your right arm with your left arm? You wouldn’t because it would cause the entire body pain. That is what God feels when we divide. Although we crave knowledge, we cannot know everything. God did not want us to know everything or the Bible would be much longer than it is already. He is an all-knowing God. Can you imagine every single part of what He can do contained in one book?

This is not to say that God is not turning around the church’s divisions to benefit us today. In fact, God has done a wonderful job to make sure that each division is, as He told us thousands of years ago about us individually, a part of one body.

People often ask me what church they should go to. My answer is always, “Where you are fed spiritually”. The point is that He knows what He is doing, and He is the only One who can take the biggest divisions and turn them around to fulfill His word. We are all members of one body, and each will find themselves, when they trust in Him and let the Spirit guide them, where they are most likely to flourish the most.

The key to remember is salvation. Jesus Christ died on the Cross to save us, and those who are in the Body of Christ agree on this point. Our division over our beliefs cannot take away from what He did for us. Thus, we are unified. The divisions are up to us. “If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:3-4. If we agree on salvation, we agree on Christ. Be careful who you judge who believes in Him.

I was raised in a Baptist church, went to an Episcopalian school, and searched my entire life to find a church that ignited my spirit. Growing up I was scared by churches I was in, including one where my grandfather was a Pastor. I visited over 20+ different types of churches from Methodist and Pentasostal to Catholic and Presbyterian. Many were wonderful, but I did not feel connected. I stopped trying, and years later decided it was time to try again. I was on the computer one Sunday morning deciding between three different churches, all different denominations. While mapping them online, a fourth church popped up, and I went to the website. After reading about the church and its statement, I decided to try it out. I had no idea it was a Baptist Church at the time and did not care, I just knew I liked the message and something was pulling me in that direction.

In the end God sent me to a church that had the right way of reaching me. That particular church that I found after 20 years of searching happened to be a Baptist church. Based on one of my past experiences, I knew that either God had a sense of humor or my grandfather talked Him into doing it. Either way, this particular church is now my home. It is not the title, it Holy Spirit’s guidance on where I was supposed to go to allow me to flourish and follow God.

The point is that He will do the same for you, and you may feel the same way in a Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Episcopalian or Catholic church. You may feel that way in a non-denominational church or any of the others in the Body of Christ. If you are learning to have a relationship with God and how to listen to the Spirit’s guidance in life, then that is all that matters. If you are doing it for everyone else, then problems will abound.

God desires mercy, not sacrifice. If you sacrifice your time to serve Him in order to please everyone else, then what reward do you need other than the fact that you pleased everyone else? “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1.

Would God rather have you talk to a few friends about Him and grow in your understanding than He would to have you dress up, go to church, and work to please everyone else? Yes. “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20.

The point is that God is always looking at our motives. If you do not go to church, He knows why. If you do go to church, He knows why. “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10.

He wants whatever you do to be because you truly love Him. “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6. You can shower your spouse with gifts, but if you are doing it because you want them to get off your back instead of doing it out of pure love, then what do you really deserve from it?

As members of one body, we are temped to try and make our part look as if it is really the only one doing all the work. When we think that way we discount the other parts and things get out of whack, so to speak. With only one brain in charge of the body, not only is that particular limb trying to take all the credit, but it is also discouraging other parts from doing what they are supposed to or causing them to work harder to prove they are right. Either way the focus turns to paying attention to the limb that started the trouble and working to please them or prove them wrong. At that moment the brain is forgotten and one part is working solely to make a point to the other. This is when people work to please man and not God. “We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” 1 Thessalonians 2:4.

The ease it takes to distract people from their common purpose is nauseating. What is more nauseating is the enemy’s skill in getting people to fall for the distraction. Imagine as one body what truly could be accomplished? Every Christian possesses the Holy Spirit and when united the possibilities would be endless. As for right now we are distracted.

If you wonder why people are staving, economies are recessing, and violence is increasing there is your answer. We have been taught to only look out for ourselves.

However, I cannot fear the loss of a battle when I already know the outcome of the war. I have a bet into Vegas on a football game with a million to one odds, and I have been told what the final score would be before the game even began.

Why would I let the enemy scare me of losing in the fourth quarter when I already know the outcome? Why would I fight with my teammates in the middle of a game against someone else about what color our uniforms are or what plays we should execute? I shouldn’t, we have a coach. We need to make sure we have talked to Him first because He calls the plays. We each play a different position, but are all on the same team.

Your enemy can divide, but he cannot conquer. Regardless of the differences remember one thing over all.

You won.