If someone told me a few years ago that masks, lockdowns, Fauci, the jab and vaccine cards would be the thing that we are fighting most about I would have said they were crazy. I never thought that these would be the things dividing us. I am growing tired of seeing social media filled with posts about these topics and I am disgusted by the spin on both sides of the media.
I am tired of all these things but sometimes I get caught up in them just like most of us. It isn’t that these things aren’t important, they are important, but they are not primary. As a follower of Christ, I need to have the wisdom to see the difference between unimportant things, important things, and primary things. We should be focused on the primary things. So that leaves us with the question of what is primary for a follower of Jesus?
I think Paul answers this question for us in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
15 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…
The gospel was of first importance to Paul, or we could say that the gospel was primary. There are a lot of important things but only one thing is primary for followers of Jesus and that is the gospel. The gospel is what saves us, unites us, and gives us hope. The gospel is primary. Whenever Christians begin to treat important things as primary it divides us. Mature Christians should be able to disagree about important things while remaining united by the gospel.
I love this example of unity from Jesus in Mark 9:38-41
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
The disciples saw someone casting out demons in the name of Jesus and they tried to make him stop. The reason they tried to make him stop is because “he was not following us.” Some translations say, “he was not one of us.” The idea is that the disciples saw themselves as a team and this other person was not on their team. He was an outsider. The disciples immediately focused on the differences instead of the gospel. They were threatened by the outsider.
Jesus had the complete opposite reaction. He said, “Do not stop him.” I find it fascinating that Jesus didn’t ask any questions about this person. He didn’t ask what denomination he was or if he was a Calvinist or if he got the vaccine or if he spoke in tongues or how he felt about wearing a mask. No, Jesus said leave him alone if he isn’t against us, he is on our side.
The temptation for me and for all of us is to take things personally and make assumptions about the other person or group of people. As followers of Jesus, we should strive for unity. In our interactions with other followers of Jesus we should be looking for ways to unite. If we constantly find ourselves having disagreements and strife with other Christians, we should check our motives and pride. Some Christians have the false belief that it their responsibility to point out every fault they can find in other Christians or in the church. As followers of Jesus, we should be more encouraging than confronting.
2 Corinthians 13:11
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
I want to challenge you to spend some time with God thinking and praying through these questions.
- Would other Christians you know describe you as an encourager or a divider?
- How can you grow in your encouragement of others?
- Right now, in your life, is there anything causing division between you and another believer?
- Is the cause of the division an unimportant thing, an important thing, or a primary thing?
- Are you reacting appropriately based on the cause of the division or are you overreacting because you are taking it personally?
- Is God convicting you to work towards healing in a relationship you have?