He Has You

The best way to end an argument is to not start one. “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (Romans 16:17 NKJV).

The devil is very pleased with how many Christians behave. He sits idly by as Christians attack one another with such ferocious words that he doesn’t even need to step in because Christians so willfully eat their own. Consider if you are that Christian the devil can count on.

God’s children will have unity when they simply follow the same Jesus. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27 NKJV).

Christians take their fleshly intellects combined with their worldly competitiveness and turn against one another, looking for any cracks they might take advantage of. They are more interested in feeding their prideful and arrogant ideas on faith than in loving their neighbor.

Don’t love your doctrine more than your neighbor. “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:14 NKJV).

We are all guilty of divisions, and we are all to blame for the disunity of the faith. We see our denominations as leagues and each church as a separate team, and we can’t wait to compete for the fans who might attend our weekly rallies.

Some people need to be delivered from their denomination. Jesus taught, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40 NKJV).

We justify disunity by the flag we carry of individual interpretation, all the while ignoring the very basic element of the Word, which is to love one another. We would rather die on the battlefield of doctrinal division than sit at the table and feast with those who even slightly disagree.

The Devil’s strategy to destroy is by simply encouraging disunity, that Christians would turn on one another. Stop justifying condemnation by calling it discernment. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV).

I learned an invaluable truth from a conversation I had with Dr Donal Warrick, a chaplain in a prison I served at. He told me, “If we can agree that Jesus is Lord, then we can talk about the rest.” Can you imagine the unity of faith in Christians who would commune on a foundation like this?

A denomination is a group of people that hold to their own unique set of imperfect doctrinal statements. “There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:5 NKJV).

I once witnessed the sweetest of visiting pastors scolded and run out of a church because he expressed a view in his message that did not sit well with the elders at the church. What I learned that day was that God’s children often choose to argue doctrines more than live them.

Put your rocks down; none of us has a perfect understanding of all doctrines. “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3 NLT).

When I was serving in the prison ministry, I would sometimes cover for the chaplain and preach at a Sunday service. Often, I would have the doctrinal question of division thrown at me. The doctrine they used didn’t matter, for I could see the devil working in their hope of creating division.

Don’t fall for the devil’s plan to turn Christians against each other. “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (Philippians 2:1-2 NIV).

So many pastors preach from the platform of division, separating their flock between those who would agree and those who would not. Why do people think they are always right and someone else is always wrong? It is only their fleshly pride that tells them so.

If you always think you’re right, you’re wrong. “Arrogant know-it-alls stir up discord, but wise men and women listen to each other’s counsel” (Proverbs  13:10 MSG).

I heard one pastor preach that those who didn’t agree with his position on pretrib rapture, that they could go ahead and stay behind if they wanted. His belief may be right, we don’t know, but his argument was a fallacious statement meant to convey his belief without using sound reasoning.

Just because it sounds good doesn’t mean it’s right. “…watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive” (Romans 16:17-18 ESV).

The desire to avoid divisions does not mean we must accept the beliefs of another. Rather, it means we choose to love our Christian neighbor even when we disagree with him. A doctrine lived is of far greater value to the kingdom than a doctrine only used to divide.

We are so afraid to be united to what is wrong that we are separated from what is right. “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10 NKJV).

If we would seek unity with the same energy we once used for division, the church would come together as a mighty force that would radically reach the lost souls that exist all around us. If we stop eating our own wounded, we just might restore them to become His greatest warriors.

Blessings to you,

Paul Balius