Why is it that we, in the Body of Christ, must put up with divisiveness and mean-spirited conflict between factions of the Church? I’m sometimes sickened by the Internet railings of self-proclaimed guardians of the truth. What is it that allows some people to so freely express their beliefs in a way that ignores the many admonitions we see by Jesus and the New Testament writers to love one another?

The problem isn’t new. A quick read of the New Testament reveals the varied conflicts that Paul dealt with in the fledgling churches he had planted. Without a doubt, the most consistent sin that he had to address was divisiveness and quarreling. We see the same in the letter from James.

In my next few posts, I want to speak to this topic of unity, and God’s desires for our relationships. I firmly believe that, amidst his many strategies, the most effective schemes of the Devil have to do with creating conflict between God’s people—the very people who are supposed to embody something different in our world.

I’m grieved by this sin, and my heart weeps when I see those for whom Christ died living in conflict, unable to live out of the grace we find in the Gospel. How about you?

How wonderful, how beautiful,

when brothers and sisters get along!
It’s like costly anointing oil
flowing down head and beard,
Flowing down Aaron’s beard,
flowing down the collar of his priestly robes.
It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon
flowing down the slopes of Zion.
Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing,
ordains eternal life (Psalm 133:1-3 NIV).