Religious Division
What would Jesus do about religious division? Which church would Jesus join? I ask it in relationship to Jesus because if people are serious about serving God, it has to be framed in that sense. All lay claim to being disciples of Christ.
What is the right approach to religious division? Should we just despair? Would it be right to compromise what we’re searching for, and work for unity? That is, is it right to become a part of some Ecumenical thrust and get everybody together by some sort of compromise?
What was Jesus’ attitude toward division? It’s imperative we come to know the mind of Christ so that our own sensibilities become like His. After all, it is God’s dream we be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). That’s our destiny. God is able to accomplish it in the heart and life of every person who will yield to His will. The mind of Christ includes a great deal more than what He said while He was here (John 16:12).
A lot of people feel that asking, “What would Jesus do?” is a vain exercise because His world was so different from our own. The truth of the matter is that Jesus’ day was not remarkably different than our own. His day was plagued with religious division. People would claim they’re serving God by saying, “We are serving the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Or even more specifically, “According to the words of Moses and the prophets...” None of them said, “We don't care what Moses said. We don't care what the prophets said. We’re just doing it our own way.”
In spite of the radical division that existed, they all claimed to be devoted servants of God, adherent of the words of Moses and the prophets, yet they were divided.
So, shall we therefore say that God's word in the Old Testament was somehow flawed because all these people could not get together and be of one mind? No, the inadequacy was not in the word of God by Moses and the prophets, but men were inadequate in their attitude and disposition. The failure was theirs, not God's.
The division in the world today is not the failure of God. It is ours.
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