“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.” I Corinthians 12:25
Prior to I Corinthians 12:25, Paul had encouraged and explained how the body of Christ should behave and work together. He made it very clear that the body of Christ is one, and that it is composed of many, many members (I Cor. 12:13, 14, 20).
Each of the saved members is different, has a different purpose in the workings of the Lord (I Cor. 12:15-23), and should be used as it pleases God (I Cor. 12:18). No one is better than another, nor is one less important than another Christian. All, with their abilities, discernments, burdens, experiences, and God-given gifts (Rom. 12:6-8) are essential to having a strong, working body of Christ — the church.
However, in this body, are many that do not get along with other Christians! Their not getting along with other family members in the body of Christ often creates divisions or even the separation (“schisms”) of some from being busy for the Lord. These schisms cause many problems for many Christians and cause the body of Christ to be ineffective.
Schisms are caused by a multitude of reasons. It could be one that feels he is not accepted in a local church because “no one shook my hand when I went to the church.” Then there are those that think the preacher is too strict and “makes me feel bad about how I am living,” or “I don’t believe God would do what that church says will happen if I don’t get saved”; or even “that person doesn’t believe like I do, so I will have nothing to do with him”. There are countless reasons for one not being a fully serving Christian.
Except for deviance from what the Bible teaches, most excuses are not valid. We are all different, and there will be disagreements, hurt feelings, and discouragements, but we are all in the same spiritual family, and we must get along with each other.
When one part of the body of Christ (another Christian) is hurt or spiritually falls, it hurts other believers. When one cannot perform the task God called him to do, it affects us all.
This is one reason why Christianity has struggles and a poor testimony because not all members of the body of Christ are working properly together. Sometimes the “hand of God” is mad at the “foot of God,” and the body of Christ cannot move because the body of Christ is crippled when the two will not cooperate. When the “heart” of God is mad at the “ear” of God, the whole body is affected.
No matter what part of the body of Christ we are, we all need to bury our pride, not be envious, dissatisfied, or whatever it that is keeping us from getting along with the other members. We are all different, but there should be no division between believers. We are all on the same side. We believers are all in the same family. Get along with your “brothers” and “sisters”.
“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” I Cor. 12:26
I commented yesterday about helping a family member move to a new place. I want to tell you about the church God led us to. We are considered “Pacific Islanders” when we fill out forms about our nationality. We were the only “Pacific Islanders” in the church yet this church welcomed us from day one with open arms. They greeted us, talked to us, invited us to fellowships, gave us their phone numbers in case we needed help with anything and also some inviting us into their homes. They spoke with us and offered to help us with sincerity that really touched my heart. I cannot help but realize how God’s grace was upon us when He led us to this church when we were thousands of miles away from our home. This is truly a church with no schism, a church who really cares for their members and visitors alike. God, once again, showed us His grace, provision, and love for us when he united us with this body of believers. We may be far away from our physical home here on earth but we had one thing in common with this church and that is Jesus Christ in our hearts. We knew we were “home” with this church body! I am praying for you Bro. Brinkworth, and this ministry.
Amen. Good testimony of a good church. They accepted you because you were a “family” member. It is wonderful to a member of the world’s largest family.
Once, and elder Brother in a church became dissatisfied with a ministry of the Church. He decided that he would rectify this by attending that ministry at another church, essentially placing a vote of “no confidence” in that ministry. His absence would be very noticeable, and he was making no bones about speaking out about his dissatisfaction, which was that he was “bored” by the content.
This Brother is a mature christian and this is not typical for him. I would assume he was just going through a little valley and chose to focus on the wrong thing. I have done it before. What is interesting is that an elder, mature christian that cannot manage to sit through a few sessions that he considers boring, that are targeted at another age group or the majority of the group, knowing that they are all watching him and depending on him for an example. Shouldn’t it be possible for the Shepherd let a few mature sheep graze on their own a little bit while he looks after the sick and the lambs without having to worry about them wandering off?
So it is, schisms are so easily formed. This one was averted, thankfully. But this Brother exiting that ministry would undoubtedly have pulled others with him.
So sad the damage we can do when the flesh gets in charge, even for a short period of time.