Conflict inside and outside the church (or, when to fight and how to do it)

one hit wonder.

Josh 22:9 “So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead...

the expression “the wrong side of the tracks”

in my college town - train tracks.

Divided the more well off folks and the poor folks.

this - apparently - is not isolated to my college town.

the south side - soot blown by wind - more poor folks tended to live there. northside - no soot.

There is diversity in Christ’s church - we all come from diff backgrounds. Diff stories.

some from the north side, some from the south side.

but each has their own adversity to overcome. wealth isn’t always a blessing, sometimes it’s a curse. and to be “poor” in this life could very easily be more blessed than the wealthy.

the early church was running for their lives, having their property stolen from them. They had great obstacles.

they were poor but they were blessed.

us today? - the biggest threat to us is our comfort. our complacency. our desires to fit in with the world.

we are rich - but yet...

no matter what side of the tracks, there is adversity, challenges, for you to overcome.

and they’ve been put their by God for his glory and your good.

Israel - faced the same situation.

After conquering the land, God divided it up among the tribes. God told them each where they would dwell.

and right through the middle of Israel? Ran the Jordan river.

for us we don’t think of this as a big deal, but they didn’t have bridges and simple transportation means like us.

there might as well have been an ocean there. Getting to the other side wasn’t simple.

and 2.5 tribes were assigned to that land on the other side. Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Mannassah.

Boom. Diversity. Diversity ASSIGNED by God.

LIFE WAS DIFF FOR THOSE 2.5 TRIBES

little or no access to the ocean and it’s trade. virtually cut off from easy access the temple.

and as a result, they thought differently. had different problems/challenges/threats/obstacles.

and their cultures, over time, grew differently.

here we see - that diversity can create division - and cause problems. in this case, a potential civil war...

Joshua 22:10 “And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.”

nothing wrong with building altars - patriarchs did it. There were rules for it, couldn’t be like the high places or the pyramids of egypt - but they could build them.

the issue here? “imposing size” - offensively big.

why does that matter? because the tabernacle was at Shiloh.

were they trying to build an alternative?

that’d be a violation of God’s command - and in the eyes of those on the other side of the river - it looked like compromise or apostasy.

rumors start to spread...

Joshua 22:11-12 “And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.”

rumors spread - and the church-discipline proceedings start. excommunication. but on a national level.

but before they marched out… somebody had some wisdom.

Joshua 22:13-14 “Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.”

sent a delegation - they decided to get the whole story.

maybe those on the east side of the river would change their mind - or maybe it’s a misunderstanding?

Prov 16:32 “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”

They send Phineas - a wise well regarded but zealous man who has proven himself faithful to the Lord over the years.

This could have gone sideways a lot of different ways...

they could have just believed the rumors.

Prov 18:8 “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.”

could have just flown off the handle in rage

Prov 29:11 “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.”

could have just condemned the east-siders and written them off

Luke 6:37 ““Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;”

Something as simple as perception or miscommunication can quickly escalate, even into full scale war.

but here - God is gracious - cooler heads prevail.

Josh 22:15-18 “And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord? Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if you too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.”

APPLICATIONS

Guard the good deposit

1 Tim 1:13-14 “though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

the west-siders had it right. They should have pressed in to see what was going on with this massive altar on the east side.

they were concerned with faithfulness.

and so should we be so.

But what happens when we don’t?

God judges. in v17 they reference the “sin at Peor”

Numbers 25 - many of the leaders of Israel rebelled against God, adn as a result the people did too.

they abandoned the sexual ethic God had given them and instead took pagan wives, even so far as involving themselves with prostitutes of Baal.

So, God ordered those leaders executed, publicly.

and sent a plague on the people, 25,000 died.

The people of the west-side look up “oh no, not again.” and there is a sense in which this must be dealt with before it spreads.

Rev 22:18 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,”

Prov 4:20 “My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.”

Prov 4:27 “Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”

In our day - what’s happening? Synthesis.

Americans at large are synthesizing the Bible with the doctrines of this world.

Don’t believe me?

This past week a representative of congress made a passing comment during her speech at a prayer breakfast that she skipped out on sex with her fiance so she could get to the prayer meeting in time.

member of a Christian mega church.

more and more pastors are falling for the homosexual agenda and softening their stance against sodomy.

or at the very least, afraid of the cultural mob, they fail to speak what is true and as a result their sheep fall away from the truth.

that’s how we get in the situations we’re in today, btw. it starts with pastors not proclaiming all of truth because they get shamed into silence.

then the sheep are lost. and they start to wander. because they don’t remember where the fence is.

APP #2 - Why did those on the west side care what the east side folks were doing?

Covenant. They were one people. One nation. And God judges covenantally.

Why did Israel lose the battle at Ai? because of one man’s sin. Achan’s sin.

In Adam’s sin we have all fallen.

The Bible teaches that God passes down the iniquity of the generations of the wicked for 3-4 generations.

but the righteous for 1000

25k died for the sins of a few at Peor

the plague ran through Israel because of David’s sin with Bathsheba

children suffer because of their parents sins all the time

citizens for the sins of their leaders.

why are we saved by the work of Christ when we weren’t even born yet when he finished it?

covenant. God doesn’t treat us as individuals. We are MEMBERS.

members of families, churches parishes, states, nations...

Those west of the Jordan know that they are COVENANTALLY BOUND to those on the east side.

they have to deal with this potential apostasy. the option to sit in silence is NOT a real option.

so… they deal with it.

Joshua 22:19-20 “But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord’s land where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’ ””

but then the East side folks answer...

Joshua 22:21-23 “Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself take vengeance.”

“guys - you’ve got it wrong! that’s not what we were trying to do!”

“and if it was, may God judge us for it!”

so why did they do it?

Joshua 22:24-25 “No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord.”

they did it for their kids.

the east-side folks built a big altar so that the west-side folks could see it and they would remember that they were all the same, they followed the same God.

they didn’t want the west side folks to cut off their chidlren from worship.

they were trying to guard the good deposit.

just like the guys who were coming over to engage them were.

they were tyring to do the same thing, isn’t that interesting?

Ssame intentions - different methods - different perception.

APPLICATION

There are boundaries between us.

social status, ethnicity, location, history...

groups of people as well, not just indivudals. churches, sub-cultures, etc.

and these boundaries can cause us fear “will I be cut off?”

and makes it especailly easier for those who would spread fear and division to do so.

and all those differences, boundaries, are obstacles for unity - but they can be great opportunities for diversity.

GOOD diversity.

how could any one of us individually fully image GOd? Not possible. it takes diversity.

In other words - compromise is a sin, thats true, but so is sectarianism.

if you refuse to deal with sin, you are sinning.

yes. that’s part of the reason Acadiana is in such a bad way.

but Sectarianism - escalating tensions - writing others off without wisdom and sober-mindedness is another reason the church is in such a bad way.

We should be ready to discipline, yes. But we should also be willing to sit back and be wise enough to not swing until we have all the info. And in the meantime, believe the best.

Which sin is worse? Failing to split the church over truth? Or splitting the church over miscommunication or slight differences?

i think at least we can all agree both are sinful.

BOTTOM LINE: if real persecution comes, the only shot the church as a whole has is if we can covenant together.

if we are weakened by doctrinal compromise… no good.

and if we are weakened by sectarianism… no good.

we won’t effectively be able to stand.

and that means? we need wise and seasoned rulers.

and we need to trust them.

Josh 22:30-31 “When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.””

Here’s what’s interesting.

often we think a threat to unity is only bad.

it’s not… in fact threats to unity can actually be an opportunity for strengthening.

and in Israel’s case, that’s exactly what happened.

They grew in wisdom by dealing with it righteously with the word of God as their guide.

May we be so even tempered.