Five Things That Will Destroy
Your (Home) Church
By Mark Driscoll
There are few things more tragic than a church divided.
Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if
you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Yet, too often, the
church is known by its bickering and dividing among itself, rather
than its love for one another.
When a church is divided, it’s easy to fall into the temptation of placing
blame on others, but the reality is that if your church is divided, you,
not the person who has “all sorts of problems and issues,” may be the
cause of the division.
Many don’t set out to be divisive in the church.
The seeds of division are small, but they can grow into a large
problem. As Christians, it’s important that we prayerfully examine
ourselves to see whether or not we are the cause of division.
Here are five signs to consider…
Read them. Pray about them. And if you find yourself as the cause of
division, then repent and make restitution with those you have
offended.
1. Pride.
Pride is an ugly sin, and proud people are ugly. Pride in the life of the
church ultimately leads to division.
If you think highly of yourself, delight in providing your opinions,
expect to be consulted about your opinions, and get angry when
they’re not obeyed, then you probably struggle with pride.
2. Heresy.
“Heresy” is quite the buzzword in the church. Many times, Christians
label other Christians as heretics because they disagree with them on
some minute, nonessential detail. That’s not heresy. That’s
disagreement.
A heretic is someone who believes the opposite of orthodox Christian
doctrine. A heretic is someone who doesn’t believe that there is one
God in three persons, that Jesus is God’s Son, and that Jesus lived
without sin, died on the cross in our place, and rose as our Savior.
These, among a few others are essential beliefs that must be adhered
to if you call yourself a Christian.
The allowance of heresy will divide, and even destroy, the church.
3. Legalism.
Legalists love to act like God by making rules. Not only do they make
rules, but they also wield rules as weapons to divide the church body
into separate parts.
Instead of honoring Jesus in their personal convictions, legalists
despise and even pass judgment on those who are not like them
(Romans 14:1-12).
4. Distrust.
When there is distrust among people in the church, especially among
leaders, division is certain.
On one hand, leaders have the God-ordained responsibility to be
trustworthy and above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2, 10; Titus 1:6). On
the other hand church members have a God-ordained duty to honor
and submit to their leaders, which requires a level of trust (1
Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Timothy 5:17; Hebrews 13:7, 17).
Leaders and members must work to ensure that they are relating with
each other in a trustworthy manner. The worst thing that can happen
is that you distrust leaders in the church and don’t pursue resolution,
but, instead, go behind their backs and gossip about them. This
creates greater distrust and division.
5. Traditionalism.
Tradition in and of itself is not a bad thing (1 Corinthians 11:2; 2
Thessalonians 2:15, 3:6), but when a method is elevated above its
intended function and is basically worshiped, it becomes an idol that
can divide churches.
If you oppose change to non-biblical tradition for no good or godly
reason, then your adherence to tradition will cause division.
Pursue the Unity of the Church.
As Christians, we are to pursue the unity of the church, but in our
pursuit, we don’t create unity. God does. There is “one body and one
Spirit ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). In Christ,
we are created as a unified people.
To pursue unity, we must continually pursue change. We are part of a
living church made up of living people. We must change in the same
way that a living person grows and changes, hopefully toward
maturity.
To pursue unity, we must listen carefully to the words of the Apostle
Paul, who said we must walk together “with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:23). The key word in this passage is “humility.”
A humble person is not concerned with seeking his or her own welfare,
personal gain or opinion. A humble person’s concern is with loving God
and others.
These are the two greatest commandments that you can pursue
(Matthew 22:37-40). And pursuing them will keep you from being
divisive, and able to be used by God to bring unity to his church.
(Pastor Mark Driscoll is the Preaching and Speaking pastor of Mars Hill Church in
Seattle.)