There is an old hymn written by Joseph C. Ludgate titled “Friendship with Jesus.”  In this hymn, the refrain sings out the sweetness of being in fellowship with the Savior:

“Friendship with Jesus!
Fellowship divine!
Oh, what blessed, sweet communion!
Jesus is a Friend of mine.” (©Ludgate,1898.)

But what about our fellowship with one another?  How often have the hands of division ripped away the core foundation of our Christian faith by seeking to tear apart what Christ has established: fellowship among those who are recognized as being of Him; that blessed, sweet communion with one another?

Unity among the body of believers was so important that Jesus prayed, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me,” (John 17:21).  Jesus knew that if His disciples would ban together as one they could positively impact the world, helping many believe in Him.  Vice versa, if divisions and contentions prevailed it would not work to draw people to Himself, to His kingdom message; rather, it would repel.

How often are we fighting amongst ourselves, in our congregations, or even with different denominations because they serve differently than we do?

John, the disciple of Jesus said one day, “Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we fobade him, because he followeth not with us.  And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us,” (Luke 9:49-50).

Instead of rebuking the one who was accused of: “he followeth not with us,” Jesus set the record straight among His own disciples that they should not be focused on a reason for division. Jesus said, “For he that is not against us is for us.”

Too often great emphasis is put on how one group may do things differently as opposed to another group, or how one may work the gift that God has given them over another.  One may not care for the way another does something for God’s kingdom but Jesus Himself said, “For he that is not against us is for us.”  If someone is working to build up the kingdom of God, do not forbid them just because they are not following what you are doing.  Don’t forbid them just because they are not in your clique.  Don’t forbid them because they worship differently than you do.

There is no room for division in the body of Christ.  There is no room for infighting among the members of God’s family.  The Apostle Paul put it like this by saying, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:12).

In 1 Corinthians 1:12-13, attempting to squash division, Paul said, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.  Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?”

Over and over again we see the Bible proclaim unity among God’s people and division to be put away with. While we may have differing doctrinal beliefs, love must be the motivator for addressing those differences because Jesus also said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another,” (John 13:35; see also 1 John 4:20-21).  

Remember Jesus’ prayer that I quoted above, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou has sent me.” Is this why the world can’t see the Christ in us and believe because there is too much infighting?  Does our rejection of another who “followeth not with us,” push the world away from believing in the Christ we proclaim and follow?

Regarding the Scriptures, and seeing Jesus’ prayer, I would have to conclude that it can play a part.  Let us learn from our Lord and say, “For he that is not against us is for us.” Let us work to build up God’s kingdom together.  We are all fighting in the same war.  Let’s edify one another and not tear down.

Disagreements Don’t Need To End In Disaster

Text Free Image by Brian Merrill from Pixabay