Why Do We Have Divisions?
What’s the problem with the church? Someone said, “The problem with the church is that it has people!” This is funny, I think. But the reality is that Christians in church inflict wounds and emotional trauma on one other. If we have been in church long enough, we experience recurrent problems of conflicts, quarrels, divisions and factions. These weaken the church, spread disunity, and displease God.
Why do we have divisions in church? Surely this happens for a multitude of reasons which are all rooted in our sinful pride, along with interpersonal, racial, cultural and prejudicial blind spots. But let’s look specifically at the church at Corinth and see if we might discover the cause of divisions there, and how Paul dealt with it.
Apparently, divisions occured in Corinth because members of the church aligned themselves with their preferred, particular leaders, including Paul, Apollos and Cephas (1 Cor. 1:12). In response, Paul began to explain to them how they should view their church leaders. More fundamentally, he described who and what a church leader is.
Is the Christian leader above the rest? Many think of a leader as someone who is highly exalted, elevated, or elite. But Paul says, “…men ought to regard us as servants of Christ” (1 Cor. 4:1). According to Paul, a Christian leader is a servant. Paul had already said this earlier: “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe” (1 Cor. 3:5).
But some Christians in Corinth did not view their leaders as servants. Rather, they elevated their leaders, regarding them as special. Then they formed cliques, divisions and factions based on their preferred leader. When some chose Paul as their leader, he was not flattered, but angry, and he rebuked them, saying, “One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:12,13)
Are you in or are you out? In following their preferred leader, they failed to see Christ as the ultimate leader and head of the church (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22). Their functional leader was another human being. Then trouble began as they divided themselves among Paul, Apollos, and Cephas. Paul stressed that a Christian leader, however great, is a mere servant, not a highly exalted or special or elite person whom they should side with or boast about. When this happens, their attitude becomes “Are you with my chosen top leader Paul, or are you with your ‘lesser’ leader Apollos?” In other words, “Are you in, or are you out?” Many damaging divisions in the church have arisen from this.
My supremacist view. I have spent my entire Christian life of 30 years in one church. I love UBF and its leaders, especially those who taught me the Bible, discipled me and mentored me. But without realizing it, I developed a supremacist view of my church and its leaders. Subtly, or even blatantly, I began to look down upon other churches. I despised mega-churches, thinking that people in them must be “nominal Christians,” whereas we in UBF were part of an elite corps equivalent to the Marines or the Navy Seals. I despised churches that were involved in social justice causes such as feeding the homeless, thinking that my own work focused on raising Christian leaders for the next generation was far more important.
I didn’t realize that I had an elitist mentality until one day, one of my kids said to me, “I grew up thinking that UBF is the best church in the world and the only true church in the whole world.” I was appalled and wondered, “Where the heck did that idea come from?” Then I looked in the mirror.
Jesus’ revolutionary view of leadership. Jesus said in Mark 10:42-45: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
In those verses, Jesus explained the difference between worldly leaders (like the Gentile rulers) and biblical or Christian leaders. Worldly leaders boss people around; Christian leaders serve others at the high cost of painful personal sacrifice. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest leader, because he gave his very life in order to love and serve wretched sinners. Yet many Christian leaders throughout history have led like worldly rulers, exercising authority over others in the church. Then it becomes unclear whether Christ or the church leader is the head. It becomes unclear whether the final authority rests in the words of the Bible or in the leader’s words and opinions.
The Christian leader’s main task. The task of the Christian leader is not to rule over the church. Rather, Paul said that the Christian leader has been “entrusted with the secret things of God” (1 Cor. 4:1). The ESV says, “the mysteries of God.” In 1 Corinthians 2:7,Paul mentioned “God’s secret wisdom.” Here, Paul is saying that a Christian leader’s main work is to reveal/proclaim/declare “Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Why? It is because “Christ and him crucified” is the focal point and key to all of God’s secrets and mysteries and wisdom, which is to save sinful man from eternal condemnation in hell (John 3:16; 2 Pet. 3:9). This can only happen through “preach[ing] the gospel” (1 Cor. 1:17). This is only heard from “the message of the cross” (1 Cor. 1:18). Paul’s main point in all of his teaching was to “preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23).
Because a Christian leader has been entrusted with such a great task, he must be faithful to this trust with all his heart and his life. Paul says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2). Like Paul, a servant leader does not try to control people in his church, but he is faithful to proclaiming the mysteries God had graciously entrusted to him.
Unless you are dead or dying… Over the years of shepherding Bible students, I thought that my Bible students’ attitudes and obedience toward my directives were a direct indication of their spiritual health. Once a member of my fellowship had a massive toothache that needed continuous ice pacts on his jaw to numb his pain. He asked me if he could be excused from worship service. I said to him, “Unless you are moribund and hospitalized, or on your death bed, you’d better come to church!” So he came with his ice packs and with palpable anger and distress on his face. Nevertheless, I was proud of my firm, absolute “shepherding” and “training.” I thought he was a promising, growing disciple, because he “just obeyed.” I used my position of leadership to make him do what I wanted, rather than embracing him, and patiently proclaiming to him the gospel of salvation. Looking back on some of the things I have done, I am shocked that anyone has remained in this church with me and my authoritarian style of leadership.
Autocracy and oligarchy. John Stott wrote an excellent book on Christian leadership based on 1 Corinthians 1-4 titled Calling Christian Leaders: Biblical Models of Church, Gospel and Ministry. Stott spoke throughout the world for 35 years and observed many church leaders. His conclusion? “…it is my firm conviction that there is too much autocracy [or oligarchy] in the leaders of the Christian community, in defiance of the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, and not enough love and gentleness. Too many behave as if they believed not in the priesthood of all believers but in the papacy of all pastors.” (I added “oligarchy,” which is not in Stott’s quote, but which I felt expanded and clarified the nature of authoritarian church leadership that Stott observed.) Sadly, our present-day church and its leadership model is not much different from that of the troubled Corinthian church.
The church in Corinth was divided because of unbiblical views of Christian leadership. Church members thought of their leaders as “super-apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5; 12:11). Some criticized Paul and tried to discredit him in order to exault their own leadership over him. They failed to honor Christ as the head of the church, and they promoted their own leadership and authority more than they proclaiming the gospel. In this way, they created and perpetuated divisions.
What have you experienced? Do we have problems with divisions and factions stemming from poor models of leadership? If so, what can we do about these problems that will promote unity rather than further division?
In my opinion, UBFFriends this is a good initiative. Through this UBF friends around the world can communicate one another and bring understanding among us. The above message from Dr Ben is very true to many of us. We really need to change our mindset of shepherding the sheep and our attitudes towards other churches and christians.
Making others to obey shepherd’s command by any means does not help him/her rather it kills their spirit. I have seen because of this very wrong attitude and way of dealing with sheep many people left the ministry though they do not want to. So I personally feel that the duty of a shepherd is to teach the truth of God’s word and make the sheep understand what is right and wrong; give freedom of choice to sheep to obey or disobey instead of imposing my authority upon the sheep.
Reading this post from 2010 I find it quite interesting that the same problem persists in 2015. Really nothing changed! The church I currently attend after leaving ubf two weeks ago, is not like this. Yes there are pastors and shepherds, but they never ever impose their will on the people who need prayer. They just pray Jesus and his Holy Spirit may guide. God hears our prayers for others and we should pray for our friends, bible students, etc. but let’s be careful not to cross the line into the area where our will is imposed on them. A shepherd, a human shepherd , has sin. No one is without sin except Christ. So what makes ubf think that shepherds have the right to guide someone into all decisions including marriage? Wow, it is interesting. I only been out of ubf for two weeks and already I feel ….God! Why have I been so blind?
Here are some mind-blowing facts. Is there any doubt the ubf top leaders have taken oaths unto death and will die defending the ubf status quo?
The same problems existed in 2010 and 2015.
The same problems existed in 1976, 1989, 2000 and 2011 (all 4 crisis/reform movements)
Check out the crazy discussions back in 2004/2005 when I was defending ubf on the Voy forums: Brian as Mr. ubf :)
And get this… I was contacted in 2012 or so by a Korean man who claimed the SAME problems with authority and abuse existed in 1958! That is THREE YEARS before ubf was officially launched in 1961.
Great post! The gospel is NOT what we do for God, but what God DID for us. So that absolutely NO ONE CAN BOAST!!! This authoritarian form of leadership is not sustainable in any ministry. People will feel burden that they didn’t live up to a certain standard. On the other those who feel they live up to this misguided standard, will just become proud and arrogant.
Exactly. No one can love up to this standard. Jesus died giving us undeserved grace. Our debts have been paid in full. How can we live with the mentality that our works will win our salvation? This is not Christian
One of the most interesting verses in 1 Corinthians regarding divisions is the one you quoted — “One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:12,13)
The most interesting thing to me is that Paul includes those who say, “I follow Christ” among those DIVIDING THE CHURCH! What’s going on here?? I grew up being told that we were “Christians only,” no prefix or qualifiers. But the truth is – when we forget that we all come with biases and refuse to acknowledge our heritage and our differences, we will say “We follow Christ, and that makes us better than the rest of the Christians who follow (Luther, Calvin, Piper, etc). Sometimes saying, “I follow Christ” can be in itself the most self-righteous and dividing thing to say to other Christians, who are obviously trying to follow him too.
It seems the kind of unity Paul is calling for is one of “unity in diversity” rather than conformity under one “banner.” That true community comes through the process of dealing with actual conflict and coming through loving each other more now than we did before we faced our differences. That “actual community” is better than pseudo-conformity. Learning to step off our soap boxes and build one another up is for me a powerful picture of the Gospel.
This is such a fantastic post, and I appreciate your spirit in healthy leadership and spiritually nurturing church systems. There is so much of the kingdom of man present in church – but I am convinced that there are also echoes of God’s Kingdom – and that gives me great hope.
Thanks, Mark. At the recent Lausanne conference, Tim Keller said that if we Christian leaders truly want to evangelize the cities of the world with her multiple diverse cultures and nationalities, we should decide that we will ALWAYS have conflict because of our cultural differences. Also, we should always be working toward some kind of mutual understanding. Otherwise, we will just increase our own tribe of cultural Christian preference.
Sometimes, without realizing it, I surely “impose” my cultural preference in the name of Jesus and the Bible over others, and surely others of a different culture do the same to me.
‘It seems the kind of unity Paul is calling for is one of “unity in diversity” rather than conformity under one “banner.” That true community comes through the process of dealing with actual conflict and coming through loving each other more now than we did before we faced our differences. That “actual community” is better than pseudo-conformity. Learning to step off our soap boxes and build one another up is for me a powerful picture of the Gospel.’
yeah, we don’t need to try to mold each other, we need to encourage one another as we commonly seek God & He individually molds us (some the same, some different..)
How do we look at someone? What is our perception of them? Because soon actions follow our ideas. One person once came to St. Augustine and said, “The church if filled with hypocrites, adulturers, sinners, and corrupt business people. So why should I join it?” Augustine agreed and said, “Yes, it is just like a prostitute. But that prostitute belongs to Jesus, and will one day be his bride.” Simply I, Gideon Sherwin, always have to lead, so I love teaching math in a high school telling students what to do all day. So to cowork with me is a tricky thing. But over the years I have learned especially recently, Embrace others weaknesses and study the Bible until I know who I am (a sinner), so when I look at others they look beautiful. I am not saying ignore sin. But trust God, he will train!! My training is 1356 miles away from Chicago, and at times I felt like the loneliest person in the world. But God has his ways and he disciplines, and he did to me until I can see Jesus! I love coworking with terrible wretched ex sinners, because their attachment to God is so strong. Even though I do not understand them I must “be quiet” and let God do His work. I am a proud man but God is GOOD!
Amen (me/all of us too:)
Great article!
As a second gen of UBF missionaries I struggled with this a lot.
A few months ago this issue of leadership and being God’s chosen servant came up. It was suggested (and kind of forced at the same time) that I should be involved with something. It wasn’t something I wanted to do but I prayed about it anyways. When someone asked me if I was going to obey, I said I don’t know because I don’t know if its what God wants me to do. I was told that I was being disobedient and that since the leader is God’s chosen servant, I should do what he told me to do.
This disturbed me and bothered me. Am I really supposed to follow a MAN and his direction from my life when I didn’t feel any conviction from the Lord?
Thank God because HE made it clear for me as to what I should do with my future. I became aware, though, of the problem of following certain leaders and/or pastors. It leads to division because people are not all alike.
This was a good reminder for leaders everywhere to be more aware of what they do and how they participate in God’s mission.
Hi Hannah, Thanks for sharing. I think that a “tough” exemplary model for any Christian leader to follow is Luke 15:12, where the seemingly “weak” father simply “gave in” to the unreasonable childish demand of his younger son. This is really God’s attitude toward all of us sinners, and that surely this should be the Christian leader’s attitude toward others.
Sometimes, as a leader and father for several decades, I forget that I actually do not have any superiority, or advantage over any of my children or Bible students. So I can never demand or insist that they “just obey,” but that I should always respect their freedom of choice, even if they use their freedom to sin, and that I mainly pray with fear and trembling that the Holy Spirit works in them, and leads them closer to Jesus.
‘I was told that I was being disobedient and that since the leader is God’s chosen servant, I should do what he told me to do. This disturbed me and bothered me. Am I really supposed to follow a MAN and his direction from my life when I didn’t feel any conviction from the Lord?’
seems believers get old testament treatment (which may be helpful for new believer to get started or sinful life under control) but then we need new testament treatment (Holy Spirit guidance thru prayer/scripture/good example/good counsel/encouragement)
we must not have ongoing old testament treatment which constricts/deforms us & corrupts leaders with inordinate influence/power/benefits
Dr. Ben, I couldnt help but laugh when I read the tooth ache story! Glad it wasnt me with the tooth ache, I would have been like “what dude?!? are you crazy?! Give me some pain pills and Ill be there doc!” But Im sure he forgives you buddy. Great article! Jesus is the True Shepherd, when we “under shepherds” realize that is what we are, we will be much better off!
Amen.
Why do we have divisions? Satan.
What can we do about it? Join the Arch-angles in fighting against satan for the Glory of Christ and his kingdom.
Sometimes leaders might point to certain examples of obedience to human leaders in the Scriptures to justify demanding obedience to themselves. Probably the most prominent one is Heb 13:17, but people could also appeal to David’s respect for Saul as God’s anointed, even when Saul was obviously off his rocker and not following God at all!
I think it’s wrong for leaders to use these verses and examples to enforce obedience to themselves, just as it is wrong for a husband to point out to his wife that the Bible says women are supposed to submit to their husbands. (You might say it’s also not helpful for a woman to point out that her husband isn’t loving her as Christ loved the church.) Instead we should each do our best to do God’s will given our own positions and roles in relationships, and pray for each other to also follow God’s will.
But there is something to be said for submitting to one another in the Lord. The Biblical principle, it seems to me, is that submitting to authority is good UNLESS it contradicts submitting to God’s authority. A willingness to put aside our own way in non-essential matters in order to work together with each other is not always a bad thing, as long as all parties are being accorded genuine respect, which includes respect for each person’s freedom, as people have mentioned. If we can’t submit to each other at all, how can there ever be harmony in a community?
The problem emerges I think when leaders start demanding submission to themselves from others and stop focusing on their responsibility before God to humbly serve those under their care. I think it’s a very good point – and one we in leadership positions need to think about seriously – that we should be doing our best to help others to obey Christ (“teaching them to obey everything I [Christ] have commanded you” – Mt 28:20).
If people only learn to obey their human leaders, but not to deeply and radically be obedient to Christ, they will not be able to stand up in the time when their faith is tested, because their faith will be based on imperfect human beings. In that way, human leaders can even become idols. Everything that hinders us from fully devoting every aspect of ourselves to Christ himself should be removed, and this should be our concern and prayer for each other. God is a jealous God! May God help us to understand what it means to help people be obedient to Christ, beginning with ourselves.
Amen!
Amen!
‘The problem emerges I think when leaders start demanding submission to themselves from others and stop focusing on their responsibility before God to humbly serve those under their care. I think it’s a very good point – and one we in leadership positions need to think about seriously – that we should be doing our best to help others to obey Christ (“teaching them to obey everything I [Christ] have commanded you” – Mt 28:20). If people only learn to obey their human leaders, but not to deeply and radically be obedient to Christ, they will not be able to stand up in the time when their faith is tested, because their faith will be based on imperfect human beings. In that way, human leaders can even become idols. Everything that hinders us from fully devoting every aspect of ourselves to Christ himself should be removed, and this should be our concern and prayer for each other. God is a jealous God! May God help us to understand what it means to help people be obedient to Christ, beginning with ourselves.’
Amen. HALLELUJAH!
Well said, Andy. In addition to citing Heb 13:7 and David’s respect of Saul as the Lord’s annointed, you could add God punishing Miriam with leprosy for disrespecting Moses, and God punishing Ham for disrespecting Noah, and countless other examples where God honored his chosen servant.
But as you aptly pointed out, this does not mean that the Christian leader can demand unqestioning obedience and respect from his subordinates, just as a Christian husband must NEVER demand his wife’s submission to him. Rather, the husband must love his wife like Christ loved the church, until her joy is to willingly submit to her husband because of his love and gentleness.
Likewise, the weight of responsibility is not really in the obedience of the younger, but in the Christian leader being humble like Jesus, until the “sheep” hear their shepherd’s voice and are willingly happy to obey.
Yes, surely, the church is called to respect her leaders. But our leaders are also sinners, which means that they are not infallible, and should also be subject to accountability to a board of elders to prevent autocracy, which invariably kills the spirit of the church.
As Stott said in Calling Christian leaders, his observation in every continent where he has preached is that church leaders are often like the Corinthian church leaders who expected to be regarded as elite elevated “super-apostles,” whose word and directives are law. If this happens regular church members soon feel like disempowered followers of men, who are not allowed to take the initiave freely by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As a saying goes, “Where there is control, church growth stops” and vice versa.
‘Likewise, the weight of responsibility is not really in the obedience of the younger, but in the Christian leader being humble like Jesus, until the “sheep” hear their shepherd’s voice and are willingly happy to obey. Yes, surely, the church is called to respect her leaders. But our leaders are also sinners, which means that they are not infallible, and should also be subject to accountability to a board of elders to prevent autocracy, which invariably kills the spirit of the church.
As Stott said in Calling Christian leaders, his observation in every continent where he has preached is that church leaders are often like the Corinthian church leaders who expected to be regarded as elite elevated “super-apostles,” whose word and directives are law. If this happens regular church members soon feel like disempowered followers of men, who are not allowed to take the initiave freely by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As a saying goes, “Where there is control, church growth stops” and vice versa.’
unfortunately religion has often done bad in the world, though trying to do good; but a new age has come:
true spiritual leaders of any part of the body of believers must grow up in Christ/be enabled by Holy Spirit to lead humbly/usefully (sad it took 2000 yrs to catch on..);
elders must wisely advise/oversee in Christ’s way (for it is Christ’s kingdom, not man’s)
followers/believers must take initiative with Holy Spirit help; devil has used disempowerment of followers to destroy churches/families/individuals; helpless people can’t make much progress in life, nor avoid human pitfalls;
when religion has failed to follow Christ’s ways, it has left followers looking back toward world & too often getting too involved in world/suffering same pitfalls as world:
truth be told, many churches developed false faith in selves,
wishful thinking, health, wealth, overextension; for example churches like the Crystal Cathedral lost value just as my house lost value (we believed world’s lie that property has real/lasting value; in reality it only has emotional/comparative value to the area condition/economy at the time), or we experience divisions/setbacks when we thought we could conquer the world with the gospel;
now we must break free of all that binds us & encourage one another to ‘go with God’; it won’t be easy, because the failed parts of religions have made us helpless &/or wounded &/or proud &/or &/or mentally ill &/or in debt &/or conflicted &/or etc; in addition that has led our children to grow up weak or proud or whatever, which has led them by college age to experiment with alcohol or relationships or whatever; religion as we know it has mostly failed to help us grow up in Christ/2000yrs has been lost since Jesus showed us the way & Holy Spirit has been trying to help us, if we only listen/tune in..
but now, at the end of the ages, we have one final golden opportunity (with God’s help) to cast aside all that hinders us (the many parts of religion & world that have failed us so terribly so far) & go beyond:
go with Christ, go with Holy Spirit: change our churches into true worship/prayer/sharing centers: siblings in Christ looking up to God with Holy Spirit help (with leaders, like older siblings, only guiding);
worship service with praise/short monologue message (not ‘the answer’, which only God really knows) with time/opportunity after to dialogue & refine/discover God’s meanings together (more like interest group sessions were at summer conference)
prayer sessions to seek Holy Spirit guidance/help
sharing sessions: testimony (not bragging for self/superior/organization, rather encourage by example of how God worked/can work); bible learning (not teacher/student, rather fellow students of Holy Spirit/siblings in Christ); daily bread (not serving the chosen, rather growing together in Christ & repenting/believing newly every day individually & collectively)
HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
In my own experience in terms of obedience, I tried my best to obey the rules of our Church. I feel good when I please the leaders. But through the example of Noah who faithfully obey God and Jacob who struggles with God, I learned that I must struggle with God and obey him more than the leaders for they are also a bunch of sinners and Jesus, our Lord and Father is the one who should be pleased and glorify. Rulings or ways of the Church and the Bible is what I consider manuals of our use, purpose, and right direction. If I weren’t so sinful, I would ignore the word of God. I will live in my own ‘right’ way. But because I do not know the way and I fear being trapped in my evil ways, what can I do to get out of it?
Regarding the divisions, in our own time, divisions happens when one gossips or one hated the other or one destroys the other. The Church is supposed to be a good spiritual environment for which the Holy Spirit could freely move. Divisions happens when one disagrees with another and like you said in your article, having the “elitist mentality.” I also have that same feeling which I am eager to overcome. I know my faith is young and there is much more in my spiritual life that I need to learn.
Thanks for your article. I liked it very much.
Thanks, Noah, for sharing your struggle to see your obedience as being before God, as you struggled to obey your church leaders. From knowing you over the last few years, I believe that the Holy Spirit has opened your heart to have a personal conviction of your own sin before God (John 16:8).
Thanks also for being honest about struggling to overcome the “elitist mentality.” Personally, I know that my default is “I’m right and you’re wrong!” (every time) Such an attitude destroys relationships, whether it comes from the laity or the clergy. Before God, we are all wrong, for all have sinned (Rom 3:10-12, 23), as you correctly said that even church leaders are “a bunch of sinners,” just like everybody else. This is painfully true, especially of myself. The only reason I or anyone can ever be “right” is only by the grace of God (Eph 2:8,9; Tit 3:5; 1 Cor 15:10).
In almost 5 years of my staying here in bible house I can’t deny the fact that I didn’t quarrel to
someone or to anyone since then I’m also a sinner who’s easily irritated and sometimes no self
control. In short it was them or me it’s not the case still I have no right to point anyone because
God said “love one another as you love yourself. Also I see is that family should overcome
what we so called three “C”( compete, compare and complain ). How can we do that? We must
learn to focus only to Jesus.,ask yourself..why do I need to do these things?For Jesus,..Why do I
need to go fishing? For Jesus..Always keep in mind that what we’re doing is not worth to Jesus
compared to what he had done to us. “He died in the cross for all of our sins”so nothing is to
brag about and boast, we are all sinners before God. Don’t think.., I’ve done great things than
him or shall we say I’m prettier than him so I deserve things more than him. In God we are all
the same. Yeah! before it’s more likely the way I think and even now. I always wanted to take
advantage with my co-workers which is not suppose to be, specially in getting the attentions of
shepherd William and shepherdess Sarah since they were like our parent to us. May God help
me to struggle in Him and not by man.What am trying to say is that in God we are all the same
that is why on the cross their was the horizontal line which symbolizes us and the vertical line
which is symbolizes Jesus. Meaning the center of our heart, mind and soul should be in Jesus so
that their is no divisions in the family. Please pray for me that I may repent before God.
Thank you Dr. Ben for the message
Thanks, Matthew, for sharing how you strive to live vertically before God, and not horizontally before people.
A problem with the church in Corinth is that they saw their leaders humanly as super-apostles and as special elite elevated people. Through out history the church has inclined toward “hero worship” of their preferred church leader, thus obscuring that Jesus is the only True Head of the church. Paul himself would have none of it when he rebuked anyone in the church for communicating, “I follow Paul.”
Keep on “ventilating vertically.” Otherwise, you will be huffing horizontally!
‘Through out history the church has inclined toward “hero worship” of their preferred church leader, thus obscuring that Jesus is the only True Head of the church. Paul himself would have none of it when he rebuked anyone in the church for communicating, “I follow Paul.”’
THE MAIN REBUKING LEADERS NEED TO DO IS: “DON’T FOLLOW ME, FOLLOW CHRIST, WITH ME”
HALLELUJAH
I’ve been in UBF since 5 or 7years old i think and I was one of the first CBF here in UBF Philippines. I’ve seen alot of struggles from different people how they lived inside the church. Actually one sheep said to me that no matter what happen she will not leave the bible house nor run away but after her shepherdess rebuke her she run away. Other people said that the reason of my stay and the reason why I serve the Altobar’s family was because they were my relatives but I also asked my self if this is my reason but when I looked back in the past I know in my heart that I really love Jesus and it is my thanks giving to shep. sarah for helping me to know Jesus personally. Through this I came to know the grace of Jesus , how he love and save me from my sin. serving others like altobar’s family, ubf family and you is like serving Jesus. I believe if they have known this grace there will be no division but love and care for everyone. thank you very much dr. ben for everything and for this encouraging article.
In Christ,
s. grace
Hi Grace,
Thank God for his grace to you, which communicates grace to others and to me as well. Surely, when grace prevails, our hearts are softened. But when human authority and seniority prevails, it becomes an unspoken and expected rule of law coming from the top to the bottom that cannot be questioned or discussed in any healthy, open or transparent way. Your ministry is lovely because your leaders lead by example in love and grace and transparency.
Ben
‘Surely, when grace prevails, our hearts are softened. But when human authority and seniority prevails, it becomes an unspoken and expected rule of law coming from the top to the bottom that cannot be questioned or discussed in any healthy, open or transparent way.’
YES, PEOPLE MUST EXPERIENCE GRACE OR WE CANNOT EXPECT THEM TO FOLLOW OR HANG AROUND;
THE TRUTH IS LACK OF GRACEFUL AUTHORITY CAUSES ALL DIVISIONS IN CHURCHES, FAMILIES, SOCIETIES, ETC; BUT LEADERS/REGULAR MEMBERS CAN ONLY BE GRACEFUL IF THEY’VE LEARNED SUCH WITH HOLY SPIRIT HELP/HAVE FRUIT OF SPIRIT (LIKE KINDNESS/PEACE)
WE CAN’T MAKE OURSELVES DO SO JUST BY WISHING IT (NOR SHOULD WE BLAME OURSELVES FOR FAILING TO BE HUMANLY ABLE TO DO IT), RATHER WE MUST SEEK/HAVE HOLY SPIRIT HELP.. HALLELUJAH
I read the article once again and was thinking of this topic for a while. I want to add one more comment now. I think that the division is the only solution when there no atmosphere of constructive opposition in the church. So if any opposition is strongly suppressed at the very end there are just two ways for those who are disagree with the leader. One way is just to keep silence and follow suppressing your true feelings and opinions, in spite of what you do really believe and feel. The other way is to keep your opinion, to keep what you actually believe and…leave.
Or the third way is to build this constructive opposition culture.
‘I think that the division is the only solution when there no atmosphere of constructive opposition in the church. So if any opposition is strongly suppressed at the very end there are just two ways for those who are disagree with the leader. One way is just to keep silence and follow suppressing your true feelings and opinions, in spite of what you do really believe and feel. The other way is to keep your opinion, to keep what you actually believe and…leave. Or the third way is to build this constructive opposition culture.’
FOR ME: NO MORE SILENCE (SILENCE IS DEVIL’S DECEPTION FROM PIT OF HELL TO KEEP US SPIRITUALLY DISABLED/USELESS)
FOR ME: I LEFT CATHOLICISM, I LEFT UBF A COUPLE TIMES, I LEFT OTHER CHURCHES IN-BETWEEN (LIKE BAPTIST, ASSEMBLY OF GOD, ETC); REALLY I WAS LEAVING HIERARCHY/OPPRESSION/CONSTRICTION/DENOMINATION/CONTROL/JUDGEMENT/EXCESSIVE EXPECTATION/UNREALISTIC IDEAS/FALSE FAITH EXTREMES/ETC
FOR ME: THERE IS NO LONGER ANY OPTION BUT TO CONTINUE AS PART OF CONSTRUCTIVE OPPOSITION OR EXAMPLE CULTURE WHEREVER/WHENEVER I’M AT (UBF/OR WHEREVER GOD LEADS, JOB, NEIGHBORHOOD, ETC)
Thanks, David. I basically agree with your statement that “division is the only solution when there (is) no atmosphere of constructive opposition in the church.” I also agree with the 2 sad and unfortunate options you mentioned when a dissenting voice is suppressed from the top or from the leadership at large: either keep silent, or leave. As I heard someone once express it to another: “Are you in or are you out?” not gently, but angrily. The 3rd way you mentioned is obviously ideal and optimal. In your words, it is to build a “constructive opposition culture.”
But how do we practically even begin to do this when the 1st 2 options has been the SOP (standard operating procedure) for so long?
This is the work of the Holy Spirit. That is what giving us hope. Like Joe said in another article, both – leaders and those who are disagree should be humble enough to carefully listen to his witnesses. And each of us (I) should be faithful to Bible teaching – to struggle in order to live Christian life in both – truth and mercy, justice and love, courage and humbleness.
Once Joe raised up a question about Luke 17:3 or like this. And I always felt like sinner b/c of this passage. I thought and still somehow thinking – how to do this if in our community we are not used for practicing such relations. But it is really clear that Jesus gave this direction to me personally and will ask from me personally why I did not fulfilled his command, why I did not use it if he gave me this right and this command? Could I tell him – we were not used for doing this? I don’t think so. It is just one example. And so it is my responsibility to find out in the Bible with Spirit help what is true Christian life and to live according to it.
And I don’t think it is just UBF problem. Not at all. Like Stott wrote – many-many churches have it. So I really need to learn how to obey Jesus and Spirit. And yes I need to learn how to live true Christian life (how I understand it – Phil. 3:16) in the define church. (I should add here if it is possible…)
Thanks, David. I remember Joe sharing on Luke 17:3, and perhaps also Matt 18:15-17, where if there is any issue or problem, you should never blame others, but take personal responsibility to pray and deal with the issue or problem, whatever it is.
However, I realize that this is so difficult to put into practice, for many reasons. It takes much agonizing struggle, prayer and humility to do so. Otherwise, we will just withdraw in frustrated silence, or leave, as you suggested, or blow up when we can’t take it anymore.
Also, if you are younger, or junior, or the “sheep,” or not the leader, it is very difficult to speak up. I’ve often asked myself, “Why?” Others may disagree with me, but I’m thinking that UBF has such a strong and dominant culture of patriachy and hierarchy, that you cannot question your leader or the person “above you,” without being viewed or regarded negatively by the church at large. Still, according to Luke 17:3 and Matt 18:15-17, you are responsible to deal with the issue or problem, even if you feel like dying to bring something up that your seniors do not like.
exactly
Why do we have division?
I believe, division in churches happens because the church itself is made up of sinners. It is not buit for those people who do not commit sin and were in fact, it does not exist except Jesus Christ.
We are sinners. We have different personalities, opinions, and beliefs. We have out own interpretations in the Gospel that is why others neglect the teachings and live accordingly in their thoughts and perspective in life, etc.
Member for a church look “ideal” fellowship rather than “real” fellowship without knowing that their is no perfect church. But, it is okay to look for “ideal” fellowship? Dietrich Bonhoffer, a German pastor says “disillutionment with out local church is a good thing because it destroys our false expectations of perfection.
This beliefs or disillusions makes us immature to God.
As a member of a church, we are obliged to protect the church not to destroy it. And protecting the church is one of our purpose why we live here on earth. Each member of a church is important, one has unique characteristics and job to do. and if all members do their job and no members is meslead by htier selfish thoughts, the church will bocome strong. Like the Holy Trinity (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit); all are different but ONE!
Rick Warren wrote about protecting the church in his famous book (the purpose driven life). You can read it, its on day 21 of his book entitled “Protecting your Church”. i hope it will help those who struggles in their fellowship.
God bless to all.
When a Christian leader develops Autocratic power over the church, the members will rebel. They will be scattered and the Holy Spirit may never work. They will establish a church of their own or will find another ministry of which they would think is better than yours. For example, if a leader force ‘marriage by faith’ and the member doesn’t even understand, a leader should not condemn or judge the sheep who rejected it, otherwise the sheep will think that you are manipulating him. Does God forbid us to have free will? Being a leader takes a lot of prayers for himself, for the church and its members otherwise the “secret” or shall we say the “mysteries of God” will never be revealed and only the Holy Spirit can make us understand. It is the Holy Spirit that works. And when we make the gospel known to them, it should be out of love, humbleness, and by the grace of God. In this way we can protect the church and restore broken relationship. For a Leader of the Church, he must be faithful for God entrusted him with this great task.
‘When a Christian leader develops Autocratic power over the church, the members will rebel. They will be scattered and the Holy Spirit may never work. They will establish a church of their own or will find another ministry of which they would think is better than yours…It is the Holy Spirit that works. And when we make the gospel known to them, it should be out of love, humbleness, and by the grace of God.’
HALLELUJAH
Hi Mark,
Your thoughts are welcome here, as always. I appreciate your spirit. So I want to ask you to take a time out for a few days or so in order that others can comment. Right now your comments are repeating the same things while stifling the other dialogues that are starting to take place here.
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sure; sorry, just saw this (i go in waves when not too busy at work:)
dr ben had referred back to 3yr old article & it was still so timely/exciting when i clicked into it, i guess i got carried away with another blitzkrieg (that’s the half-german coming out in me:); anyway signing off for now
Thanks, Noah. Absolutely no autocrat should ever “force” or “manipulate” anyone to marry by faith.
I’m thinking that “marriage by faith” as UBF has practiced it the previous decades will be “modified” in the coming decades, which is really not a bad thing. Our “methods” should never be absolute. But in the Philippines, where you have an open and transparent ministry of love and trust amongst yourselves, it still seems to be regarded as something lovely by your members.
I liked what one of your children said, Ben, about UBF being the only true church. I felt _exactly_ the same way about the church in which I was saved. And when (many years ago) division arose in that church, I was deeply troubled because I did not know where to turn. The division threatened to shake the very foundations of my faith because I, like a child, only knew the love of my ‘mother’ – the church in which I had been saved. So I was like a child who has lost his mother. But I remain grateful to this day because God provided a way for me to overcome this difficult challenge to my faith – I was able to reach out to one of the original missionaries who had preached the Gospel to the ‘founding fathers’ of the church. With great humility, he took responsibility for not clearly teaching the ‘founding fathers’ how to avoid division – in this case, by keeping a healthy interaction with other movements of the Gospel – other Christian churches. Since he had been a missionary for many years, and had like Paul ‘planted’ many churches, from him I began to see that the one true Gospel does indeed exist in more than just one church!! Praise God that He taught me this at this critical juncture in my life of faith! (I highly recommend one of his books, by the way: “God’s Eternal Purpose: The Making of Man in God’s Image”. It contains a very clear, concise presentation of the Gospel.) Another resource that helped me see the ‘historical’ perspective of the Gospel is a book by E H Broadbent, “The Pilgrim Church”. It is an excellent history of the Gospel for the past almost 2000 years.
What I learned from this ‘life history’ lesson was that one way to avoid divisions is to have a sense of history of the Gospel (and the many movements of the Gospel over the past 2000 years), and to develop and nurture strong Biblical relationships with other churches.
Thanks, Bill. Now I have Broadbent’s book to add to my list of “too many books to read.” Sigh! :-)
Sorry to hear about your experiences with a church split/division. At the same time, it is encouraging to hear of the pioneering missionary who humbly took personal responsibility. I have to agree that reading and studying about the history of the church/gospel over the past 2,000 years surely helps us to be humble before God and man, whenever conflicts and disagreements arise in the church, since this is understandably, yet sadly, not a rare or unique event in the church. As you said, “nurturing strong biblical relationships with other churches” would be excellent.
As Joe’s current series of articles have suggested or implied (especially part IV), openly addressing the (cultural) conflicts between the pioneering missionaries and the indigenous converts/leaders would surely also help resolve conflicts in UBF that have been happening, but which have for the most part been hushed up, or the departing party being caricatured. Sorry, Bill, I need to learn how to say things better.
Is Dick York the author of God’s Eternal Purpose…, and the missionary you reached out to? I was expecting an older missionary and an older book, but at Amazon, it was just recently published in 2007.
The description is convicting: “The Making Of Man in God’s Image. It is an unfortunate fact that within contemporary Christianity there is a segment that seeks to provide”biblical” principles for success in the pursuit of one’s own agenda. This is an oxymoron, or more humanistic than Christian. It contradicts the “cross” by which the flesh is crucified to make way for God’s plan in the believers life. Having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof.”
‘I liked what one of your children said, Ben, about UBF being the only true church. I felt _exactly_ the same way about the church in which I was saved. And when (many years ago) division arose in that church, I was deeply troubled because I did not know where to turn. The division threatened to shake the very foundations of my faith because I, like a child, only knew the love of my ‘mother’ – the church in which I had been saved.’
my dad used to call the catholic church the true one descended all the way directly from the apostles; of course the baptists in the next little town said catholics were going to hell due to statue worship etc; in chicago i briefly encountered a small baptist church where the pastor said they were ‘the baptists of the baptists!’ (even southern baptists didn’t really follow the bible like them:)
mostly religion gone awry steals our joy; OH HOLY SPIRIT, GRANT US JOY EVEN IF YOU MUST “REIGN IN” RELIGION TO GET ALONG & TRULY FOLLOW YOU;
GRANT OUR CHILDREN (EVEN IF ADULT AGE NOW) TRUE SPIRITUAL JOY (TAKE AWAY ANY & ALL DAMAGE INFLICTED BY CONTROLLING/DISCOURAGING ‘RELIGION GONE WILD’
HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
p.s. one of the things you will find in the writings of the missionary I mentioned in the previous post is his Biblically consistent view that each local body of believers (church) should be governed by a “plurality of elders”. This can be seen in various ways such as Acts 14:23 where Paul and Barnabas “appointed elders … in each church”, or in the governance of the early church in Jerusalem, or historically in the 70 elders of Israel in the wilderness. The rationale for this “plurality of elders” can be seen in Peter and Paul’s lives – without this, elders can go astray. In fact this principle of a “plurality of elders” in each local church is exactly the reason that this missionary taught that churches – movements of the Gospel too – need to have healthy, vigorous interactions with each other – lest the body of Christ go astray. In short, having multiple elders in each (local) church is a form of protection for the church, and for the elders themselves.
Thanks, Bill. I fully agree with a “pleurality of elders.” I had blogged about the verse you quoted in Acts 14:23 – http://westloop-church.blogspot.com/2010/12/paul-indigenization-policy-acts-142223.html
A true pleurality of leadership is surely spiritually healthy. Without it, autocracy or oligarchy rules the day. Surely, this happens in other churches as well, but I’m wondering what you think about the strong and seemingly overpowering influence of paternalism, patriachy and hierarchy in UBF? Likely, those who are used to it being the norm or accept it as the norm, won’t think that we have paternalism and hierarchy as unhealthy, and will even quote many bible verses and stories to support what we have termed “spiritual order.”
Hi Ben. Thanks for your thoughtful responses. To be honest, I love the Korean culture, language and people. Certainly Korean (Asian) culture is more patriarchal, that can’t be denied, and so naturally this is reflected in the church. But to be perfectly honest, it does not bother me. Why not, you may ask? Very simply because I am quite confident in my own standing in Christ, and even if someone ‘orders’ me to do something, or expects certain behavior from me, it’s OK – as long as it does not violate my conscience, I have no problem submitting in this way. Why? Because as I said, I am completely confident in my identity in Christ. I am in Christ, and He in me. As John says in his letter (1st John 3:1), I am a child of God. Thus I don’t feel threatened by patriarchal expressions of authority. If I think that responding to a particular expectation or request would violate my conscience, I don’t do it; instead I talk about it with the person or persons involved, and attempt to resolve any differences in our understanding of the Scripture. I think this is the only real way to address issues like this – person to person (one on one :) – because this is the first step in the method outlined by Jesus in Matthew 18:14-16.
Related to this is the question of God-ordained authority in the church. Recently, we’ve been studying the book of Acts, and I was struck by Paul’s response in Acts when the High Priest ordered him to be struck – in violation of the holy law of God! Without realizing it was the High Priest, Paul responded by accusing him of violating the law of God. When informed that it was the High Priest, Paul beautifully submitted to God, acknowledging his own ignorance, citing the proper portion of the law when it comes to respecting God’s ordained leaders. So what I take away from this is that even in situations where we violently disagree with God’s ordained leaders, we are to respect them. In such situations, I believe the appropriate Biblical response is to first go to our brothers one-on-one (including leaders who are brothers) just as Jesus taught in Matthew 18. This is the only real way to preserve, nurture and grow relationships, which are the foundational bedrock of the church – starting with our relationship with Jesus.
Thanks, Bill, I look forward to your infrequent, yet quite insightful and meaningful comments, which I have always enjoyed reading.
I do agree with you that your confidence in your personal standing with Christ has has surely enabled you not to be intimidated or threatened by “patriachal expressions of authority” in the church, which as you say is common in Asian and Korean churches, and perhaps in some American churches too. The reason I express some concern about this is that it would not likely be as easy for a much younger Christian, when he is being confronted by an older paternalistic, patriarchal Christian.
For instance, if an older Christian man in his 40s or 50s says to a young Christian man in his 20s, “I will introduce you to a young Christian woman to marry,” it may be hard for the young Christian to overcome that paternalistic, patriachal pressure, even if he disagrees, or does not like it.
In a much more serious and tragic instance, a young Christian man committed suicide when his older shepherd forbade him from leaving the U.S. when he wanted to return to his home country. Of course, this young man had deep unresolved inner issues in his soul, but I think that a contributing factor, or perhaps even the “last straw” was his inability to overcome the persistent objection of his older shepherd and Bible teacher, since he strongly wanted to leave the U.S.
Also, in the Bible, God seems to have wanted to do away with this paternalism and patriarchy common to fallen man by choosing the younger over the older in many instances: Abel over Cain, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over his 10 older brothers, Ephraim over Manasseh (Gen 48:13,14), David over his 5 older brothers, appointing young Timothy as the lead pastor over the church in Ephesus (1 Tim 4:12), Jesus commending the “younger” tax collectors and prostitutes of entering the kingdom of heaven before the “older” religious leaders (Matt 21:31).
I think that God does this through out the Bible because grace is no respecter of age. No older person is ever more worthy of receiving grace compared to a younger person.
What do you think?
hi, dr. ben! (following your direction to read and write)..I agree with what you said, divisions happen when we forget that Jesus is the head of the church, when men’s strengths lent by God were exalted by mere creations. I think the same thing happens when we forget that it is all by GRACE that God has entrusted us responsibilities in the church..1 Cor.1:12-13 was very memorable to us, in our ministry in UP Manila because in some way, we have experienced division in our ministry, when one of our fruitful former shepherdess decided to leave the ministry..I think the 4 C’s (comparing, complaining,..I forgot the other two :) ) were also culprits..Because of that, we lost some of our sheep..However, we praise God that He has kicked us back to our mission field :)
hi, dr. ben! Following your directions, here goes my 1st comment..I don’t know if it’s stupid or not..I hope it will make sense.. :)
I agree with what you said that divisions happen when we forget that the head of the church is Jesus and we are just servants.. Same thing happens when we drift away from GRACE..1Cor.1:12-13 was very memorable to us, in our ministry..One of our former shepherdess decided to leave the ministry and I think the 4 C’s (complaining, comparing, competing, criticizing) were the culprits. We lost some of our sheep because of that. However, we praise God and we believe everything works for the good..Now, we’re back at our mission field..
Hi Ayra, I always praise and thank God the Father for the grace of Jesus and for the marvelous work of the Holy Spirit whenever I visit you guys! I thank God for the grace of Jesus in your heart, and that you use your multiple talents in music, dancing, studies, work and serving for the sake of Jesus and his kingdom. In my 30 years as a Christian, I’ve never personally witnessed and experienced a spiritual revival of the magniture and duration that has been happening in your midst. The reason that UP (University of the Philippines) Manila has experienced the severe persecution you experienced is because God is working mightily and Satan is very angry.
Your comments are anything but stupid. I say extreme and stupid things like “stupid” to make a point, and the point is to be courageous and bold to read, digest, discuss, write and comment. Because I often say extreme things, I am always in trouble, and very often being rebuked by my wife!
Thanks again for welcoming Christy and I, and for serving us far beyond what either of us deserve.
Hi Ben. Dick York is indeed the missionary, but the book has been out for a long time – it must have been republished recently because I’ve had a copy for going on 15 years, and Dick, together with Molly Holt’s father (Holt Ministries in South Korea, active in adoption) and one other (Norwegian, I think) missionary, was used by God in a powerful revival that took place in the early sixties. He is probably in his seventies now.
Thanks, Bill.
Just a thought: I’m wondering if you might wish to submit an article to UBFrineds based on York’s book, and/or relate it to your experiences of a church split, which surely has shaped you and given you much wisdom in regards to life and church and people. I have to confess that I have somewhat of a selfish reason for suggesting this – then I may not have to add York’s book to my ever increasing list of “too many good books to read.” :-)
Hi Dr. Ben, this is not a comment but we just want to say thank you so much for visiting us again and again, as God leads you. When you and Cristy left going to the airport without any of us accompanying you we were so worried but in our heart we just prayed that God may protect you. Thank God for using you in helping us understand the word of God. We are all refreshed and encouraged. May God grant you more wisdom in understanding His words. And thank you for bearing with all our noisiness, hot weather and our mosquito friends roaming anywhere. God bless. Brothers and sisters from Philippines.
Thanks, guys. Christy and I had a great time of fellowship with all of you. Remember the 3 prayer topics to read, speak English, and repent of inferiority. Even though you did not make a comment, please remember the 3 prayer topics and make a comment. =^.^= (This may be a Filipino cat!)
My take on this is that it is very much true. I, at times, find myself thinking that my church is better than others and that if they didn’t go here, they wouldn’t be saved or something like that. And I thank God that He made me realize that there is no better church. The leadersare human as well, sinful as any other, imperfect as any other. And we have to realize that Jesus really is the only ultimate leader, the perfect leader, balanced in his mercy and justice.
People sometimes get carried away, saying in their thoughts, “his preaching is boring, ours is better,” or that “our leader is more fun than him” but in the end, it doesn’t really matter since, like what you had said, like what Paul had said, is that, Jesus is the only true leader and that there is no need for such divisions because it’s more of a sign of spiritual immaturity on our part.
and, practically speaking, i have encountered in churches that are competitive in terms of their discipling in that they see bible study as a competition on whoever gets the more “sheep” is the better discipler which is much disappointing and silly. Teaching your sheep God’s word is not for your glory, it’s not for your own self-praise or something like that but it’s for God and not for you. In our life as Christians, the star is not ourselves but it’s God, it’s Jesus.
Thanks Dr. Ben for the articles, it was fun to read :D
Thanks, Kyra. As I become an “older” sinner Christian, somehow the paternalistic and patriarchal sentiment in me begins to subtly creep in, which causes me to feel that those who are younger, or junior, or “less accomplished,” etc, ought to acknowledge my seniority, years of service, faithfulness, etc. Intellectually, I know that all that I am and all that I have done I owe entirely to the Grace of Jesus (1 Cor 15:10). But the devil has a way to arose pride in my heart to make me feel different from what I know in my head.
Thus, the fact that Jesus (not the human leader) is the Only Head of the Chruch is refreshing and humbling (Col 1:18; Eph 1:22), for it causes me to feel completely equal with everyone, even with my own 4 children, and now even with my 1 grandson. If anything, I am lower and less than them, because though I know more, yet I still sin, and even sin more! How much do I only need Jesus.
I agree with you Dr. Ben that the task of the Christian leader is not to rule over the church you mean the people inside the church because Paul who was one of the best servant leader did not try to control people in his church but he is faithful to proclaiming the mystery God has graciously entrusted him. Now i realized that like you Dr. Ben I practice autocracy to control people especially my sisters and the shepherdess here in bible house to go fishing and do things i think right in the eyes of God. But whenever i practice my autocracy i realized that i inflicted bad testimony to them because i show them how impatient i am by rebuking them harshly like telling them how unthankful they are , that i am not gentle and do not trust God. Like what i did yesterday February 24 when rachel and liza refused to go with me in fishing and said that they were not in good spirit i showed my autocracy to them. Rachel is right when she said that if i wanted to become a good example to them i must do things prayerfully and make decision of faith even with or without them i must go to fishing and be faithful to God. I wanted to repent this sin i have and learn through this experience how to become a leader. I pray that i could have a gentle heart, full of patience and complete trust to wait for God to work in people’s heart. Thank you Dr. Ben for your heart to help us see our sin as a leader. God bless…
Thanks, Minda, for your beautiful honesty. I am quite moved and touched. When I remember my life as a shepherd, I mainly tried to control people and to make them do what I wanted, as I had shared. Once I threatened my sheep that if he did not repent, God would give him a brain tumor, AIDS and the Ebolo virus. Actually, he became worse and left the church for over a year. But in spite of my horrible unbiblical tactics, God later changed his heart and he became a God fearing, godly Christian, husband and father.
I think that the temptation of autocracy is very great. Even Jesus’ own disciples tried to be greater than the other disciples (Mark 9:34; 10:37). Jesus, our Lord, is truly the greatest, because he humbled and lowered himself more than any man (Phil 2:5-8).
Thank God, Minda, that God has made you a good “atae” for all your sisters. Maybe you can use your autocracy a little bit to encourage them to keep on commenting! =^.^=
In addition Dr. Ben in my comment.,Divisions in the church happens because people in it fail to see
Jesus as the center of worship and praise. People tend to make big name for themselves and be the
center of the universe. In each sinful act we cause divisions in the church. It is because we lack of
something, people in the church don’t see the grace of Jesus in their lives. I too always fail to see
Jesus grace in me, how He’d save me from my sinful life. Like what you said in everything their is
beauty,and if we see this beauty with each other their is unity. Like in UBF family each has it’s own gift
and uniqueness if we use it for the glory of God surely God will Bless it and instead of division we
become “one”.
Thanks, Matthew, for sharing the beauty and the grace of Jesus to you. I believe that to the degree that we personally experience the grace of Jesus in our heart, we can’t extend grace to others, instead of causing a division.
For Jesus to extend grace to me, he had to take the punishment that I deserve. If I am moved by Jesus’ grace to me, then I should never take revenge on others for their sins.
The father in Luke 15 was so hurt and wounded by his 2 lost sons. But he suffered tremendously inwardly, and only estended limitless grace to his 2 self-centered, selfish sons. Though I have only failed again and again, I pray to learn the heart of this father through out my life.
Oops, sorry for this serious typographical error. It is not “we CAN”T extend grace to others,” but “we CAN extend grace to others.” May God have mercy on my subliminal, subconscious sin!
I think one reason we have divisions in the church is because instead of having relationships with our fellow church members based on the unfathomable faithfulness and enduring love of Jesus Christ and his gospel, we Christians end up defaulting to our own minute, earthly “sense” of what Christ’s love and faithfulness is and replace it with our own idea of what a “dedicated,” faithful” disciple of Jesus should be based not on the Holy Spirit of God working in us but based on our own experience, emotion, cultural and moral senses, etc.
Actually I have a great follow up to my comment above. And I’m very glad because it’s very fresh in my mind because it just happened to me yesterday. It is a perfect example and illustration to the kind of leadership I described in my previous comment.
I had been attending a church for about a year and a half. And as I atteneded this church I became increasingly skeptical and uncomfortable with the doctrine and the leadership of the main “pastor”. So after a year and a half of this spiritually unedifying, confusing dare I say “unbiblical” doctrine coupled with controlling leadership, I left. And just yesterday on March 5 I got a phone call asking me to come back to this church and participate in a sort of annual program/skit that they have. The pastor asked me if I would do it and I answered, “I’ll try.” And to this response he said, “I don’t want to hear I’ll try, either “yes” or “no.” Out of obligation I said “yes.” I then realized that once again even only during a brief phone conversation I had been put back inside this strange world of what I call “in” or “out” leadership. Or in this particular case, “yes” or “no” leadership.
This is a prime example of when the leader is the head of the church instead of Christ. Either it’s the leaders way or the highway. This type of leadership is a problem for me personally and I do not want to be a part of a church that has leadership like this.
‘I believe that we need to go back and RELEARN how to LIVE under the pure GRACE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in order to break the divisions built by patriarchy/ hierarchy and too much FORMALITY in the church!! I guess… WE NEED to “PREACH the GOSPEL to OURSELVES” everyday!=)’
Hallelujah
Hi S. Ben!! I was reading today a sermon of Spurgeon and surprisingly I found the answer to your question: “WHY DO WE HAVE DIVISIONS?” After reading your article, I thought long and hard about this question. And I haven’t really found a satisfying answer that could quench by curiosity until I read Spur’s sermon! From his sermon I could say that we have divisions because:
1. TOO MUCH personages (church leaders or elders) in the church—”As for patrons, presidents, vice presidents and secretaries, had not Christianity been Divine it could not have lived under the load of these personages who sit on her bosom! The vessel of the Church has such an awful lot of top-hamper that I wonder how she can be navigated at all!” Spurgeon
How can we have UNITY? I agree with what you wrote in one of your articles that we should:
>”Regard Bible students as friends, or even as peers and as trusted colleagues and partners and equals, rather than as “sheep.” It is sad when some Bible students have felt as though their shepherds and Bible teachers treated them like sheep, even after they have been in the ministry for years. We remember Jesus’ words of genuine affirmation when he said to his disciples who would soon abandon him in a few days, “I no longer call you servants… Instead, I have called you friends” (John 15:15).
>Overcome the natural paternalism, patriarchy and hierarchy inherently present in all of us. If we don’t, it will seem as though we favor some, not on the basis of grace, but on the basis of tenure, seniority, or some arbitrary partiality, which will inevitably communicate favoritism, control and manipulation.
How can we have UNITY if we put TOO MUCH EMPHASIS on the distinction between young sheep, shepherd, elder shepherd…aka “personages” as Spur puts it!
2. TOO MUCH FORMALITY in the church—“When shall we get at the work? If there should ever come a day when Brothers will go forth preaching the Gospel, simply resting in faith upon the Lord alone, I, for one, expect to see grand results! But at present, Saul’s armor is everywhere! When we get rid of formality in preaching, we shall see great results! But the Churches are locked up in irons which they call armor. Why, dear me, if we are to have a special service, one Brother must have it conducted in the Moody method and another can only have Sankey hymns! Who, then, are we that we must follow others? Do not talk to us about innovations and all that—away with your rubbish!” Spurgeon
How can we have UNITY?—Spurgeon said “Let us serve God with all our hearts and preach Jesus Christ to sinners with our whole souls—the mode is of no consequence! To preach down priestcraft and error, and do it in the simplest possible manner—by preaching up Christ—is the way of wisdom! We must preach, not after the manner of doctors of divinity, but after the manner of those UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT MEN IN THE OLDEN TIME WHO HAD BEEN WITH JESUS AND LEARNED OF HIM! Brothers, some of you have too much armor on! Take it off! Be simple, be natural, be artless, be plain-spoken, be trustful in the living God and you will succeed!Less of the artificer’s brass and more of Heaven-anointed manhood is needed! More sanctified naturalness and less of studied artificialness!” Spurgeon
I am one in mind with you when you said that:
>”Let learning occur out of the rich INFORMALITY of life, and not just in formal Bible study settings. This is in keeping with Deut 6:7-9.
>Be honest, open, and transparent (HOT) in all our interactions. If we are not, others will speculate and think of all kinds of hidden agendas, real or imagined.
I believe that we need to go back and RELEARN how to LIVE under the pure GRACE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in order to break the divisions built by patriarchy/ hierarchy and too much FORMALITY in the church!! I guess… WE NEED to “PREACH the GOSPEL to OURSELVES” everyday!=)
Thanks for very nice comment from heart, Arlene.
Thanks, Arlene. Spurgeon explained a weak top heavy divided church (in his 19th century English) far better than I did (in modern 20the century English)! Do keep sharing the gems you find from “Spur.”
Thanks also for requoting what I wrote regarding friendship, partnership, informality, and overcoming paternalism, patriachy and hierarchy, which are really deadly man-centered creations that stifles freedom, liberation, and varied individual Christian expressions.
I am encouaged that Spurgeon identified these very exact same problems in the church in England 150 years ago!
Also, in Apostle Paul’s epistles like 1 & 2 Timothy we can find solutions to disunity or division in the church because that was a problem that the Ephesian church faced during Timothy’s lifetime. Also, I think in any christian fellowship or ministry this problem can be common. So, we need to constantly remember God’s grace in our lives through Christ. We need to grow in his humility more and more. I wanted to say more but my daughter keeps on begging for my help. Lord be with all of you.
-S. Gideon Klijian
I think divisions in the church happen because both the sheep and the shepherd lost their FOCUS from the CENTRALITY of the CROSS of JESUS!! When the shepherd depends more on his/her “sophisticated experience” as a Christian and on his/her training/qualifications/church position (authority) in doing the work of God (shepherding sheep) rather than through the GOSPEL—what Jesus accomplished on the CROSS for both the sheep and the shepherd—then divisions occur because now the work of God depends more on the sheep’s obedience/disobedience to the shepherd and this in turn depends on the shepherd’s PERFORMANCE in shepherding!! But God said “My ways are not your ways…”…hence I pray that may we learn to UNLEARN ALL our human faulty ways and begin to focus on GOD’S infallible WAY—that is everything by GOD’S GRACE alone! Paul who could have boasted in ALL his qualification as a shepherd and the authority he received from Jesus as an apostle HUMBLED himself and said “For I resolved to know NOTHING while I was with you EXCEPT JESUS CHRIST and him CRUCIFIED“—the GOSPEL (1 Corinthians 2:2)
A JOKE: A man was stranded on a deserted Pacific island for years. Finally one day a boat comes sailing into view, and the man frantically waves and draws the skipper’s attention. The boat comes near the island and the sailor gets out and greets the stranded man.
After a while the sailor asks, “What are those three huts you have here?”
“Well, that’s my house there.”
“What’s that next hut?” asks the sailor.
“I built that hut to be my church.”
“What about the other hut?”
“Oh, that’s where I used to go to church.”
In nature, where there are bursts of life there are divisions. Think of the embryo. Think of variations in animals species. Think about a terrarium. Think of a large family where kids are growing in independence. If there was no burst of life, then there will be no divisions. It is how we deal with the divisions that matters.
‘In nature, where there are bursts of life there are divisions. Think of the embryo. Think of variations in animals species. Think about a terrarium. Think of a large family where kids are growing in independence. If there was no burst of life, then there will be no divisions. It is how we deal with the divisions that matters.’
true: parents must let adult children (who feel ready) go live their own lives; church group must let regular members (who choose) go spread God’s good news somewhere/somehow
Hi Kevin, How we handle divisions and conflict as Christians is surely crucially important, as addressed in this book: If You Bite & Devour One Another: Biblical Principles for Handling Conflict.
John Armstrong shared on the Mon meeting you were not able to attend that Christians should ALWAYS grieve whenever divisions occur, because it reflects poorly to the watching unbelieving world. Armstrong emphasized this because 1 person seemed to be justifying the division between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:39-40, since God continued to work through Paul, and likely also through Barnabas since Mark eventually returned to Paul. But Armstrong, who strives for “missional ecumenism,” is firmly against justifying any division in the church, since we Christians should always strive for “complete unity” (John 17:23), just as the Father and the Son are one (John 17:22).
I agree that once we understand some reasons why we have divisions, we ought to be asking “How do we deal with the divisions?” The exodus of leaders from UBF this year has been described like the pain of divorce from both former and current members. We all feel the pain. Yet what disturbs me the most is the unwaivering desire to “praise God” and just “move on” and get back to “the real work of student ministry”. I too would like to “move on”, but I am far too burdened to let this go. I wish we would all accept that dealing with division IS the ministry.
p.s. I am SO thankful to hear about the Monday meeting, Ben. No one has dared speak such a thing to UBF leaders for decades. John is truly brave. Such meetings may never impact me, but may truly change things for the future.
Well, I shouldn’t say “no one” :) Quite a few (like you) have said such things, but I’m not aware of anyone outside UBF saying such things.
‘I wish we would all accept that dealing with division IS the ministry.’
i think this even expands to all worldwide believers: the body of Christ has been so often disjoined/misaligned in history (not just by world, but by one another/denominational differences/etc), that i think we (believers) have only begun to ‘grow up’ into Christ’s one body..
Very intriguing thought on the subject of divisions:
“Division is the curse and judgement of God. A curse divinely implanted can only be divinely removed. This dis-unifying factor keeps the world safe from itself.”
(source: http://johnharmstrong.typepad.com/john_h_armstrong_/2011/11/the-dangerous-poison-of-sectarianism.html)
Indeed, we need divine intervention.
maybe the real question is: why don’t we have unity?:)
answer: because we have not all submitted to Christ by seeking Holy Spirit help..
why don’t we have more divisions?
man operates religion like business & wonders, gee, why are we divided;
us smart people act pretty stupid sometimes, don’t we
that’s what we need, a good laugh at all man’s silly foibles:)
why divisions? (dah! ‘no-brainer’ question:)
Indeed, Mark,the answer is a no-brainer for some of us. However, the answer is opposite of what many think the answer is.
How do you prevent divisions? Some would preach “avoid conflict”. But the opposite is true. Avoiding conflict is what causes the divisions in many cases. What is needed is not conflict avoidance, but conflict engagement in a healthy way. Jesus did not avoid conflict. Jesus approached conflict and found resolutions.
Speaking of division and conflicts listen to what Patrick Lencioni teaches:
“Consensus is a four-letter word to me”
–Patrick Lencioni
agreed:) i was thinking some ideas/actions of org/some ldrs in past would not only facilitate, but maybe even necessitate divisions (my sarcastic/social work system fixer side showing)
i hate it when sincere followers get blamed while real problem is unchanging system/group beliefs & practices
Agreed Mark. So let’s stop talking about what is bad. Let’s start learning about what is good and move on:
THOSE WHO DIVIDE, SHALL BE DIVIDED:)
(DIVIDE & CONQUER IS A TACTIC FROM THE PIT OF HELL WHICH HAS BEEN JUDGED..
SENTENCE IS COMING)
Great videos, Brian, especially the one by Lencioni.
@Mark: “Why don’t we have unity?:)” In my opinion our humility is lacking, including my own. Our condescension toward others is also lacking, so that we come across to others as being quite condescending, rude, patronizing, cheesy and disrespectful.
Our humility and condescension is poor because the gospel of Christ’s humility and condescension does not capture and captivate our soul, but remains rather superficially and shallowly on the surface.
my dying breathe shall be: repent:)
anyway niceness has not/never will work with such people, gotta fight fire with fire on earth, niceness only works in heaven where people care to listen:)
WOW EDU ISSUE IS SO LIKE UBF ISSUE (NU-UBF CONNECT AT HIP?)
Will Farrell wants to ban all fraternities: Is he on to something?
In the wake of the racist video that surfaced from the University of Oklahoma’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter, many are again questioning whether the exclusive Greek life system should be banned.
Christian Science Monitor
By Rowena Lindsay
13 hours ago
Since several brothers of the University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) chapter were caught chanting racist slurs earlier this month, many have spoken out against the antiquated practices of Greek life, including comedian Will Ferrell.
Taking an uncharacteristically serious approach, the “Old School” star said that, despite having had a positive experience as a brother of Delta Tau Delta while at the University of Southern California, he thought the whole system should be abolished.
“When you break it down, it really is about creating cliques and clubs and being exclusionary. Fraternities were started as academic societies that were supposed to have a philanthropic arm to them. And when it’s governed by those kind of rules, then they’re still beneficial,” Farrell told Entertainment Tonight.
Colleges and universities promoting diversity have tried to control the influence of exclusionary Greek life in a variety of ways, from integrating women and taking away frat houses to suspending or banning Greek life activities all together.
Although University of Oklahoma has not suspended all of its fraternities or sororities – as University of Virginia, West Virginia University, Clemson University, Emory University and Amherst College have all done in the past year – the school is currently investigating its Greek life system in response to many reports of racism that have surfaced in the wake of the SAE incident.
However, this trend is nothing new. Elite colleges in the Northeast have been doing way with Greek life since the 1960s in an attempt to curb the fraternities’ control over the social activity of the schools and make it safer for women and minorities.
Banning fraternities and sororities, which have their origins among wealthy elite, is not practical for all schools, however. Even the small liberal arts schools experienced push back from wealthy alumni when transitioning away from the Greek system, causing a drop in donations. For schools where Greek life is much more culturally engrained, it could be financially prohibitive to get rid of it.
The North-American Intrafraternity Conference argues that banning fraternities inhibit freedoms of expression and association guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
“NIC is against the unilateral suspension of fraternal organizations because it’s not the right way to address the issues the community is facing,” Pete Smithhisler, the group’s president, told NBC. “Suspensions of groups is just putting band-aids on the situation.”
Fraternal members often say that Greek life provides a home away from home, a sense of community for young people living on large campuses where it’s easy to get lost and forgotten. They are major boosters of athletic and other campus community events, including philanthropic activities. But, they complain, the media often only focus on the misbehaving frat members.
While reports with accurate statistics on incidents of racism and sexual assault on college campuses are nearly impossible to come by – and fraternities are certainly not solely responsible for a so-called rape culture – multiple studies have shown that men in fraternities are more likely to commit rape than men not in fraternities.
Schools that have banned fraternities have found that the community aspect of Greek life was easily replaced by other campus organizations and activities.
According to Earl Smith, a professor at Colby College, the number of women in campus leadership positions swiftly rose after the school choose to ban fraternities. Middlebury College has also been pleased with the long-term affects of not having Greek life on campus.
Doing away with fraternities has also made campuses more inclusive.
“We’re pleased that Middlebury decided some time ago to make our residential life system inclusive of all students,” Shirley Collado, Dean of the College, told Newsweek. “I think that Middlebury is stronger and more diverse.”
(OOPS, MEANT CONNECT AT WALLET..:)
I rushed for a fraternity but decided against it. People like them for differing reasons, but for me I didn’t need drinking friends, and already had enough friends without needing to pay the huge fee. It remains, that many college students are looking to belong when they get to college and it doesn’t take much to pull someone in.
true spiritual leaders of any part of the body of believers must grow up in Christ/be enabled by Holy Spirit to lead humbly/usefully (sad it took 2000 yrs to catch on..); elders must wisely advise/oversee in Christ’s way (for it is Christ’s kingdom, not man’s) followers/believers must take initiative with Holy Spirit help; devil has used disempowerment of followers to destroy churches/families/individuals; helpless people can’t make much progress in life, nor avoid human pitfalls; when religion has failed to follow Christ’s ways, it has left followers looking back toward world & too often getting too involved in world/suffering same pitfalls as world: truth be told, many churches developed false faith in selves, wishful thinking, health, wealth, overextension
now we must break free of all that binds us & encourage one another to ‘go with God’; it won’t be easy, because the failed parts of religions have made us helpless &/or wounded &/or proud &/or mentally ill &/or in debt &/or conflicted &/or etc
but now, at the end of the ages, we have one final golden opportunity (with God’s help) to cast aside all that hinders us (the many parts of religion & world that have failed) to go with Holy Spirit: change church into true worship of God by siblings in Christ (leaders only being experienced guides/encouragers)
why don’t we have more divisions?:)
Thanks, yellowblossom, for your fresh new voice: “Reading this post from 2010 I find it quite interesting that the same problem persists in 2015. Really nothing changed! …let’s be careful not to cross the line into the area where our will is imposed on them. A shepherd, a human shepherd , has sin. No one is without sin except Christ. So what makes ubf think that shepherds have the right to guide someone into all decisions including marriage?” – See more at: http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/11/04/why-do-we-have-divisions/#comment-18488
Exactly! You ask questions that some people just do not want asked! Because many, like you, have posed and asked such very important and relevant questions, they have sadly been accused of causing division in ubf.