Christian Civil War?

When I was a kid, I really looked forward to summer time. I don’t know about you, but for me, summer time was the best! We’d often head up to my Grandparent’s cottage in Central Michigan, where they lived on a small (but long) lake. Appropriately, it was called: “Long Lake.” We had several fun summers of building sand castles, skiing, fishing, water tubing, swimming, and just taking the boats out for leisurely ventures.

Perhaps my favorite memories were centered around Independence Day. Up at the lake, Independence Day didn’t constrain itself to the fourth of July, but really lasted all month long. After a long day of work and play, families would gather on their beachfront lawns and set off fireworks. Because this lake was not being very big, you could see many family’s different fireworks displays. As a small child, I remember “ooing” and “awing” at the various presentations, but as I got older, things… changed…

There began to arise a spirit of competition between families; who could do the biggest, bestest, baddest show on the Lake. I remember very well that it started simple enough. The North side of the lake (of which, we were a part) against the South side of the lake.

We would each take turns shooting off our fireworks. Our neighbors to the east were first, and then the folks across the lake from them. Then it would be our turn, and the folks across the lake from us, so on and so forth. And we’d cheer for the folks on our side, and we’d jeer for the folks across the water (though, if I can be honest with you, the house directly across from us had some really nice stuff!).

There was never an official “winner” declared. Just a bunch of people yelling in support for their favorite teams. Before much longer, eventually the warring sides dissolved, and the result was a very anarchistic “every man for himself” sort of battle. People would set off their fireworks, and instead of hearing “OOO!” “AAAAHHH!” You’d hear: “BOOO! “AWFUL!” When, in reality, every display was actually pretty fantastic!

Before long, people in the community began to realize the toxicity of the activity. So, everyone agreed that we’d go back to just enjoying each other’s displays. By about my senior year in High School, everyone had buried their hatchets, and re-joined in America’s real favorite pastime, watching fireworks while eating marshmallows on the beach.

Why do I tell that story? Sometimes, a little friendly competition can be fun. Even healthy. But there are times and situations where it causes way more harm than good. I’ve noticed that competition seems to be something we’ve really invested in as a culture lately.

Of course, there’s the upcoming election, and a wealth of sharply dividing opinions on the candidates and opinions there. It’s NBA playoff time, and everyone’s rooting for their favorite team to take out the others. And even in our movies, we’re putting beloved superheroes against one another. Batman vs Superman, Iron Man Vs Captain America, which has gotten my attention, when I feel like I should really be focusing my energy on Finding Dory.

I bring this up because I see competition working its way in our churches. And of all the things Jesus wanted us to be, competitors in a competition is not one of them. The Holy Spirit equips us for many things, but being combatants in an arena is not a part of his spiritual gifting.

People seem to be at war in churches across the country over issues like worship music, worship service elements, leadership politics, Biblical translations, right on down to how we dress and behave on Sunday mornings.

The trouble with this is that we’re tearing ourselves apart as opposed to building the kingdom up. We convince ourselves that we’re right, that this is how Jesus would really want things to be, but we bust ourselves apart from the inside. People on both sides of these issues need to remember that Jesus’ prayer was for us to be unified. To be one, even as he and the father are one (John 17:21).

This is, in part, why I’ve chosen to focus our attention as a church, as Plum Creek, on the book of Acts, and analyzing how a healthy church operates. Where everyone was devoted to the apostles teaching, to the breaking of bread and to prayer, and everyone had everything in common and gave to those in need (Acts 2:42-45). Where they were one in heart and mind, and didn’t consider anything to be their own, but shared with each other (Acts 4:32). God blesses this sort of behavior, and the church grew exponentially as a result (Acts 2:47). 

What we need to remember is that no matter how much we may prefer something to be one way, or that something not be another, we need to remember that Jesus’ desires for his church trump ours. And his primary desire is that we be one. If we can’t find a way to settle our differences, then we should expect things to get more chaotic rather than less. We need to remember that Paul gave us that Spiritual Armor in Ephesians 6 to combat the world, not each other.

We need to step together, and we need to keep in step with him. Let’s seek his will for the church, and not our own.