The Major Divide of Christianity

Introduction

It was Karl Barth, the German theologian that once said, “Keep the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” Barth was speaking to the importance of reading and interpreting the current events in lieu of biblical truth. His advice demands that the preacher keep his ear to the ground in order to discern not only how the Bible should be interpreted, but how the Bible is interpreted by the world. For, there is a difference in how the Bible should be interpreted and how it is commonly interpreted by the broader world.

Today, I’m holding my Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. This is not simply a wise suggestion from Barth. This is seemingly the model accepted by the earliest messengers of Jesus.

John the Baptist preached against the marital status of the king

Paul spoke against the prejudices of the Jews and culture of the Greeks

Jesus addressed the political appropriation of Rome and her tax policies

…and all of it was done in the context of spiritual teaching and counsel.

The question I have been wrestling with this week is: How does God feel about His church? What is God’s report about the modern 21st century church in America? I am concerned about churches in other parts of the world, but I am left wondering about the church in America.

Just as there was a church in Ephesus, Galatia, Philippi, and Rome—there’s a church in America. As the primitive churches had their share of problems and discrepancies, we sure have our own.

God was not shy about addressing the issues of the primitive church. Neither is He shy about addressing ours. However, we often miss this point, because we may assume that if the global church is doing well, the American church must be doing well, because after all…we are (in our own thinking) the “global” church, or at least responsible for its success. Churches in Africa and Asia and the global south may be thriving, but what’s happening in America Is worth investigating.

What is the one thing, of perhaps several things, God would urge us to correct in the modern American church? What’s the one thing we might identify as a sickness?

I Don’t FEEL Sick

Have you ever been sick and not know it?

Last year was one of the most difficult years in modern history. During this unique year, I contracted the novel coronavirus, which was one of the most frightening experiences I’ve had in a long time. It wasn’t frightening because of the virus itself, but because of narrative centered around the virus. The doom of being infected was perpetuated on every news reporting network. The church was unsure of whether this was a judgment from God or just a matter of Babylonian-like consequence that everyone had to endure while hoping they were a part of the remnant that survives.

Nevertheless, I got through it. Yet, the most intriguing thing about the entire experience was that I never felt sick. I have what the doctors call a sinus drainage problem. It’s when my sinuses fail to drain appropriately, causing me to sometimes lose my voice or feel like I have a slight cold. But did you notice, I said, I didn’t feel sick. The truth is, I was sick. What I interpreted as a sinus issue was actually the coronavirus.

No fever. No shortness of breath. Nothing. But, I tested positive for the coronavirus.

I ate regularly. Went to work normally. I didn’t lose my sense of smell until AFTER the positive results.

My point is, many people don’t feel sick, but...

This was Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 1:4-5

1 Corinthians 1:4–5 NLT

4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge.

If we were to read these two verses with the rest of what Paul has to say in the first and third chapters, we would think that he’s addressing two separate audiences. The two circumstances don’t seem to correspond to each other. Like sickness without symptoms…Paul was telling the Corinthian church that they were in bad shape and they didn’t even know it.

How can you be sick and enriched?

Here’s what I will call our introductory principle from the text: Be careful you’re not so gifted and anointed that you cannot discern when you’re sick. Gifted people don’t have to pay attention to obvious signs of sickness. They are too busy being gifted, they don’t have time to pay attention. What’s worse is everyone gives you a pass for things you don’t see but they see and can point out as an obvious problem.

It’s like being encouraged by your manager to take one more shift while having an obnoxious cough and a raging temperature, which you insist is not enough to keep you home for the night. You may not see it, but your manager definitely sees that you are not yourself. But, because you are gifted and there’s a job to be done…he insists on what would normally be impermissible.

I’m sure if I would have been less busy, I would have noticed some distinction between my regular sinus problems and COVID-19 symptoms. But that’s what being busy and used does…it makes you numb to what is truly a problem in your life.

The Numb Church

I want to talk to you about the numbness of America’s church.

Thom Rainer is an expert on church growth and ministry. In his book Autopsy of the Deceased Church he explains that most churches are not able to see the erosion that is taking place. He describes this erosion as being slow and imperceptible. He continues to elaborate on why growth is noticeable. It is because it happens fast. However, a church can be dying and not even know it, because death, at least with churches, often comes subtly and slowly.

I wonder how much this fits America?

We are gifted and we have been impactful. But, has our giftedness hidden our sickness? Is the American church dying? I think we are on the brink of being dead, because it is clear to me that we are indeed dying.

What Has Killed the Church in America?

What has killed the church in America? There’s one sickness Paul talked about in his letter to the Corinthian church that is prevalent in today’s church. That sickness is division.

I want to talk to you about the major divide within Christianity. I want to share with you the things that are fracturing the church in America and causing the testimony of Christ to be diluted in a way that makes her effectiveness an impossibility.

Recently, I witnessed a conversation between Christians concerning the ongoing fight against COVID. Obviously, the world has not come to an agreement on how to address the current pandemic, and it shows even within the church.

Over a disagreement on how masks should be regulated, Christians began taking political sides—forgetting that their Christian devotion trumps political affiliation, and even when disagreeing, we are all commanded to live in brotherly love.

What happened in this conversation? What caused Christians to forget Jesus’ number 1 commandment: Love your brother as yourself? There’s one common strand of disease that leads to the sickness of division—wisdom.

Not just any wisdom, but more appropriately worldly wisdom.

Here’s point #1: Brotherly love and unity cannot exist in the midst of worldly wisdom.

In 1 Corinthians 1 and 3, when addressing the problem of division, Paul always goes back to a root cause—worldly wisdom. He starts in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 to demonstrate how God used the foolishness of preaching to destroy the wisdom of the world.

1 Corinthians 1:18–31 NLT

18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. 26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. 30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

Here’s another point: Since the world’s wisdom is brought to nothing, we can no longer find any grounds for unity in it. True unity must be based on the cross of Christ.

Therefore,

Unity built on who baptized you or what denomination you associate with will fade away.

Unity built on who you follow on Instagram is helpless.

Unity built on political parties and groups is insufficient.

A church that is basing their unity on these type things are simultaneously digging their graves, because their unity is being built on worldly wisdom, which is sure to pass away.

The Challenge To Be Unified

The challenge of the church becomes moving from a state of being into a state of action.

1 Corinthians 1:10 gives us two key words: division and united.

The word division is actually a noun, which describes the state of the Corinthian church. It means to have conflicting aims or objectives. It was a word used to describe a crack in a stone or tear in a garment.

However, the word united in verse 10 alludes to coming into a particular action. It means to put into proper condition, to cause to be in a condition to function well, put in order, restore. Much more, it is a participle, which means it is an ongoing process. It may as well be properly translated as uniting, indicating a process of constantly uniting ourselves to one another.

When we step back, we must consider what cracks exist in our stones? What tears are there to our garments that are prohibiting us from abiding in a condition that causes us to function well.

My last point is this: It takes nothing to exist divided. All it require is foe you to do nothing. However, it takes action to be unified.

Christians must work to be united, because it is a testimony to our unity in Christ. Here’s what Jesus said,

John 17:21–23 CSB

May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.