This is positive I promise! Today I was blessed to have two meaningful conversations about religion – one with a distant relative I didn’t even know was a relative, until today, and another Facebook contact that shares the wandering spirit I have. In both conversations, the same topic came up – who is dividing the brethren?

There is so much division in the world right now, just watch the news! It’s always left vs. right, north vs. south, east vs. west. There are a hundred and one million reasons people decide to hate one another for, on a daily basis! Want a real treat? Join Facebook and just watch the divide go rampant.

My answer? You, me…the brethren are the dividers. More specifically, organized religions bent on proclaiming this message: We are right, you are not.

#triggered was the hot word for a long time. #snowflake became the antics of right wingers. Left wingers think all those on the right are #kkk. Are you Beavers or Ducks? (Oregon College Football) Blood or Crip? Liberal? Conservative? Agnostic? Atheist? We are putting labels on people like items in the supermarket, and then walking by deciding if we will put them in our cart or discard them.

33,000 Christian Denominations

Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: – Luke 12:51 KJV

Entire churches split over whether or not you believe in the Trinity. Churches split over whether or not you can wear wedding rings or makeup. Churches split over whether or not you can wear short sleeve shirts. Churches split over whether or not you can baptize babies.

Churches split over whether or not women can teach. Churches split over whether or not Tithes are required or are they just a free will offering.

Families split over what church they go to. Families disintegrate over scandals in churches that are hell-bent on proving membership to that church is more important than loving your children. Children disavow their parents because the leader of a church becomes God in their eyes, and the parents do not follow the leader or vice versa.

Why in the hell is this possible? Because Hell is at the helm.

While Church A and Church B were debating over who had the real revelation of God, there were people in the community ready to commit suicide, just wishing someone would show them a better way, to express confidence in them, to show unity, faith, love, happiness, peace…

While people sit spitting at each other over who is right and who is wrong, there is a young child crying in the night for someone to love her, wondering why mommy and daddy are fighting again.

While Preacher A flies on a jet plane, spending thousands of dollars for the lime light opportunity to prove why his Religion is superior to Preacher B’s, there are entire groups of people travailing for enough food and water to make it another day.

You know who the real Divider of the Brethren is? We are.

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. – Romans 16:17 KJV

Us organized religious folks who put on suit and tie and proclaim to be God’s Favorite Denomination.

Jesus didn’t say in Luke 12:51 he was coming to create and purposefully cause division – he was telling us that division would come because of his message – that people in those days would turn on each other, to save their own skin or to gain a profit.

Jesus said he was coming to shake up the establishment, the status quo. If you really want to tick people off, shake up their world! Look at the only people He judged – it wasn’t the adulteress or the harlot Mary Magdelene, it wasn’t the tax collectors or the publican, the sinners, it wasn’t the invading Romans and their pagan ways – rather, it was the Pharisees he condemned and judged – the ones who’s entire purpose was to go about judging and dividing people.

The established, organized religious sects were the real problem to Jesus.

Think about these bullet point questions;

• Do you judge, disfellowship or quite literally by action hate other people, because they are a different denomination/religion than you?
• Do you refuse to work with, help or support other religious activities (such as feeding the poor, sheltering the homeless, fundraising for children’s needs) because they attend a different type of church than you do?
• Do you think that all other so called Christians are sincere, but sincerely wrong because they attend a different type of church than you do?

The ones who answer yes are the dividers of the brethren! We must unify in the rallying cry of Christ! We must put aside our petty differences for the application of God’s message. Paul said in I Timothy 2:4, “Who wants all men to be saved”, speaking of the Christ! ALL Men.

The division came because of Christ, but not at the requirement of Christ. He didn’t come to create sects of Christians who would battle to prove who was the holiest! I had a conversation with a Oneness Pentecostalist (my former affiliation) whose church split because some of them decided to believe the Trinity was the right interpretation of the Godhead. (Oneness denies the Trinity)

How crippling was it to God’s work to have entire churches split over that? Think how many Sunday school kids just got displaced? How many families can barely suffer through Thanksgiving dinner over that bickering? How many brothers and sisters (biological) will endure strained relationships? How many prayers will be hindered?

You can think it’s right or wrong all day long (The Trinity), but James said Pure Religion before God was helping the helpless, not debating the Trinity. See my article on Pure Religion. I don’t want to debate anymore and divide who is right and who is wrong – I want to see God’s work done!

Jesus came to seek and to save the LOST! He came preaching hope, and love, charity, and kindness to one another. He allowed a harlot to wash his feet, and he raised the dead Roman soldier’s daughter! Just think about that… a Roman soldier – part of the invading and occupying armies of the pagan Romans who conquered the Jews…and Jesus healed a centurion’s daughter…

God bless you and those taking Christ’ message forward! Let’s help the hopeless, raise up of the downtrodden, feed the hungry, cherish the needy, shelter the children of need and do God’s work in this world, to truly be a LIGHT to HIS Kingdom – a salt that doesn’t lose its savor.

God Bless You!