Be a Champion for Unity
Paul says in Titus 3:10–11, "Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped, sinful and self-condemned."
Dangers of Division
Divisive people are toxic. One of Aesop's fables tells of four oxen who were such great friends that they always kept together when they were feeding. For many days they were watched by a lion who wanted to hunt them down. But he was never able to get one apart from the rest.
He was afraid to attack them because whenever he came near, they turned their tails into each other, and so whichever way he approached, he was met by horns.
But the lion got clever, and after much effort, he was able to make the oxen jealous of each other. Soon they were fighting. Instead of sticking together as they'd planned, they began to split up, moving far from each other. Then the lion attacked—and he killed them all one by one.
United we stand and divided we fall, the old saying goes. Or to use the words of Jesus Himself, "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall" (Luke 11:17).
So Paul was quite right to say that divisive people are a cause of concern. And sadly, it's happened so many times—divisions split churches down the middle.
Real-Life Reflections
When I was a candidate for the ministry in the Methodist Church, we had to stand before Synod and promise that if we left the church, we wouldn't malign the church and we wouldn't begin a ministry in the same area. And I think those are wise principles because they help to prevent division.
When I did leave the MCSA, there was some temptation to start a church in Benoni because I think some people would have followed me there. But would that not have caused an unfair division in the MCSA church? Instead, I've moved out to Boksburg and I'm doing ministry on this side.
Unity in Action
So consider your own position in your community of faith. Do you sow division or do you sow unity? Do you turn people against one another, or do you bring them closer together? Are you able to live in harmony with those who differ from you, or do you try to cause division by forcing your own views?
I like the way William McDonald described it. He said “a person who causes division usually has one note on his violin and plays it to death. He says soon he gathers around him a group of people with a negative outlook—and the rest he drives away. He will divide an assembly of Christians rather than abandon his position.”
Oh man, how the enemy loves it when we bicker and fight and get divisive! He's like that lion in Aesop's fable, trying to split us apart so that he can pick us off.
So friends, let's be champions for unity. Let's be committed to keeping our family of faith together, not causing division in any way. Let's stick together at all costs so that the devil doesn't pick us off.
Because, as David wrote in Psalm 133:1, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity."
