LET US ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER
Dan Rogers, III

(Since this piece was rejected by a “non-cooperative” journal that had described the author as a liberal who had departed from the faithful, I thought you would be interested. It is one more sign of the changing scene, even among our extreme right wing.—Ed.)

Today the body of Christ stands divided. Surely no one will deny this deplorable fact!

Paul’s description of the division in the congregation at Corinth in the first century describes the division in the body of Christ today. As he points out in 1 Corinthians 1:12, then the saints were divided into factional groups centered around preachers, with one faction claiming to be followers of Paul, while two other factions were following Apollos and Cephas respectively, and to top it all off, there was even a fourth faction claiming to be followers of Christ.

Today, the factional spirit which was so evident in the congregation at Corinth in the first century, not only continues to exist, it thrives. Brethren variously belong to such factional groups as the non-institutional faction, the one cup faction, the non-Sunday school faction, the premillennial faction, the instrumental music faction, and the mainline (institutional) faction, to mention only a few. As was the case in Corinth then, so it is now that the end result of all this factionalism is “quarrels” among brethren (l Cor. 1:11).

Today, as the battle lines are drawn between the various factions, the names quickly begin to fly: “Liberal,” “Anti,” “Legalist,” “Libertine,” “Institutionalist,” and “False Teacher,” to mention only a few. The members of each faction go out to do battle with and slay the foes of some other faction, all the while claiming to be simply doing what God has required of them, contending earnestly for the faith (Jude 3).

But wait a minute! Something seems to be so terribly wrong! Is each faction really contending for the faith, or is it being contentious for its particular interpretation of the faith, which mayor may not be correct? Rather than speaking what we believe to be truth in love (Eph. 4:15), it seems that there is a biting and devouring, and a provoking and envying of one another (Gal. 5:15, 26). Instead of fighting against Satan and the forces of sin—instead of fighting against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12)—we fight each other. Rather than being concerned about taking the gospel to the lost, like the Pharisees who traveled over land and sea to make one proselyte (Matt. 23:15), so we spend much of our time and effort in trying to convert someone from an opposing faction. Indeed, we seem to rejoice more over a brother who is proselyted from an opposing faction to our particular faction, than over ninety-nine lost sinners who move in obedience to Christ (Heb. 5:9).

Brethren, it is past time that we stopped fighting each other, and started fighting our common enemy, Satan. We need to forget about proselyting brethren out of one faction and into another, and start thinking about converting the lost to Christ. It is time that we forgot about our factional parties and started thinking about God’s house, the family of believers (Eph. 2:19; Gal. 6:10). It is time we broadened our circle of fellowship from just our own particular faction, whatever it may be, to include all that are in the circle of God’s Fatherhood.

As Jesus so warns in Mark 3:25, “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” Today, God’s house, the body of Christ, is divided against itself, and will continue to be as long as we continue to promote factionalism. Factionalism is one of the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:20). It is sin, and those who practice this sin “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21).

Therefore, let us turn from the sin of factionalism. In the words of Abraham to Lot, let us recognize that, “We are brethren” (Gen. 13:8). As brethren, let us conduct ourselves toward each other as the Bible teaches that brethren should. In spite of our differences, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Rom. 14:19). “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another . . .” (Rom. 13:8). Let us “. . . be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Eph. 4:2). Indeed my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us put aside our factions, and let us “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Rom. 15:7).