I have not written in a while.  I can make all sorts of excuses, but I am not.  Sometimes I just don’t have much to say, but lately I have become saddened by the division that is taking place.  I feel moved to speak.  Most of us have probably heard the phrase “divide and conquer.”  It is derived from a military strategy used all the back when the Assyrian nation conquered and divided Babylonian Empire.  That same concept is being used in the political arena to divide nations for political gain.  Why do I care?

Look around:  homes, neighborhoods, cities, states, nations, even the body of Christ is being divided.  I believe there is spiritual warfare happening and the enemy is very good at deceiving people to breaking apart instead of staying united.  The enemy knows that there is power in unity and it can further divide the body of Christ – he is taking away its power in Christ.  We have a broken nation, but no man is going to be able to fix it.  We need healing – starting with the individual, then our homes, then our neighborhoods, then our cities, etc.  Healing comes from the power of God.  Reconciliation comes from the power of God.

John 3:16-17 (ESV) – “For God so loved the world, the he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him.”  Jesus paid a high price to save the world.  In John 16:7 (ESV) – Nevertheless, I tell you the truth:  it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.   But if I go, I will send him to you.”  He is talking with the disciples about what is going to happen that he is about to give up his life to save the world and send the Helper (Holy Spirit) to be with them.  Acts 1:8 (ESV) – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  In Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit comes and the church is born.

Why is this important?  Jesus refers to the church as his bride throughout the gospels.  Paul refers to the church as the Body of Christ – that we are his hands and feet.  The early church was unity by the Spirit of God and the power of God flowed through it (healing, teaching, casting out demons, etc).  Jesus needs the church, her bride, to be unified.  He doesn’t want a broken bride.  He needs the church to be his hands and feet.  If you have a broken leg, it is difficult to walk.  If you break a finger, it makes using your hand a little bit more of a challenge.  What is my point?  The point is a divided church is a crippled church and cannot perform at its best.

The church is not the building in which fellow believers meet inside.  The church is the fellow believers.  People are the church.  The buildings in which they meet are just buildings.  Christ isn’t coming back for a bunch of buildings:  he is coming back for his people.  We as the body of Christ are supposed to be manifesting the fruit of the Spirit: love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Romans 8:6 (ESV) – For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”  1 Peter 4:8 (ESV) – “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”  Jesus said to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. paraphrase Matthew 22:37.  He also said to love one another as I have love you.

Let us stop being divided and start being united in the Love of God remembering what Jesus did for us. Let us be a light to a broken world and the same as it.   Let me end with a quote:

“Christians who cannot forgive have forgotten what they have been forgiven of.” – John Bevere