Thursday, July 8, 2010

Divide Or Conquer

"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." - Jesus (Matthew 12:25).  

I've seen a disturbing thing this week.  A Christian homeschooling mom posted a picture of her kids on their front porch with a bunch of boxes.  She explained that this was their homeschool curriculum, which had just arrived in the mail, and that her kids were so excited to receive it that they wanted to start school right away!  She closed the post by inviting readers to write in with the curriculum they used in their homeschools.  Well.  I have never seen such a response to a seemingly innocent question.  This was posted on Saturday, and there continue to be several responses a day.  The really surprising thing to me was the direction these responses started to take.  People actually started berating each other for their choices of curriculum, or, in fact, schooling, as some public school parents also weighed in.  The saddest thing was that the most abusive of these responses came from the people who were the most openly Christian.  What??!!!  I can only imagine the fun that Satan (whose name was invoked more than once, by the way) is having with this.  In fact, I'm sure he enjoys everything that divides the church.  


Paul said in Colossians 3:11, "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free:  but Christ is all, and in all."  


Jesus said:  "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34-35).  He also said:  "Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged:  and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matthew 7:1-2).  


If we, as Christians, continue to focus on our differences, we will fail.  We are the Bride of Christ, people!  That means ALL of us.  Not just those of us who do everything exactly the same way.  In Christ, there is no Baptist or Methodist, no Catholic or Greek Orthodox, no conservative or liberal, no homeschooler or school-attender.  Jesus said that all men will know we are His disciples IF WE LOVE EACH OTHER!  When people who don't know Jesus look at us, is that what they are seeing?  I'm afraid that any non-Christians reading those blog comments did not see love.  They saw judgement and division.  Notice that Jesus did not condemn the people who came to him with their faults and weaknesses laid out, asking to be healed and forgiven.  They were forgiven freely, without having to do anything but ask.  Those with infirmities were healed.  It didn't matter who or where they were.  The people that Jesus argued with were the Scribes and Pharisees.  Why?  Because they were Jewish?  No, so were the other people (and Jesus, of course).  Because they were in charge? No.  It was because they thought they knew better.  They thought they were right.  They judged the other Jews.  They tried to make others follow their rules and their interpretations of the scriptures.  They tried to out-God, God!

"Every kingdom divided against itself will be brought to desolation."  God's kingdom cannot fall.  God WILL win in the end.  The question is, will it be because of us, or in spite of us?  Let's present ourselves as a spotless bride, with a perfect wedding dress.  Not one that's been clawed apart by our own hands.

11 comments:

  1. Amen! I just had this same discussion with someone the other day.

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  2. Hi Robin,
    Wonderful post. I so agree. I have treated the worst by Christians in life. It amazes me how people at church treat each other.
    Thank you for this post.
    Blessings,
    Elizabeth

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  3. Amen, Robin. I clicked over here from Courtney's and I too was shocked at how such an innocent subject turned vicious. And the fact that he ugliness came from Christian ladies was even more disturbing. I am bookmarking your blog as it looks like a nice blog to visit.

    Blessings,
    Yvonne

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  4. Hi, thanks for this, very well said! I too came from Courtney's blog, and I guess I am one of the ones that might have been "too strong". I was just so disturbed by some of the comments I felt the need to come to Courtney's defense!!! I hope I didn't stir the pot, or cause anyone hurt feelings, if so for that I am truly sorry.

    Blessings,
    Karen

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  5. Hi, Terri and Elizabeth, and welcome, Yvonne and Karen. Thanks for stopping by. Karen, I agreed with your positions on Courtney's blog. I was ready to defend her, also. I actually tried to comment earlier, but couldn't get it to go through for some reason, so I wrote on my own blog instead! LOL. It probably worked out for the best, as I was able to think things out more clearly and write more generally. I think this is definitely something that we all need to be conscious of when dealing with others, both for our relationships, and our witness.

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  6. Ladies, I have emailed and admonished the offender privately and lovingly, and she has assured me that she wrong. I hope this helps. I have asked her to publicly apologize. Pray with me that God will lead her to do so. She actually thanked me for admonishing her.

    I can't stand to see the Body of Christ bite and devour one another. It must hurt Jesus' heart so badly.

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  7. Hi, Stacie. I'm relieved to hear so many Christians who are committed to each other. Thank you for dealing with this biblically, and speaking directly to the person in love. It's a lesson I have a hard time remembering! - Blessings, Robin

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  8. Thank you for this post :-) If there is one thing God has been teaching me lately - it's been a lesson in grace...I need to reflect more of God's grace in my life and I have a long way to go. I am SO thankful I have received it freely from Jesus - May God be glorified despite my flaws!!
    Much Love,
    Courtney
    Ps. I'm also learning some humility...God's keeping me on my knees where I need to be!

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  9. Hi, Courtney, thanks for visiting - I agree, grace is a very hard thing to grasp, both for ourselves and for others. I have to be careful not to judge people who judge -lol! Grace and humility would seem like the perfect combination to balance us, wouldn't it?

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  10. Hi Robin-

    I' guessing I'm that Christian you are refering too. My concern was not with the curriculum and not about anybody's personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

    The issue is this: When a family enrolls into a virtual academy through a the government school system, they are not homeschooling. They are counted as enrolled in a alternative education program. Yes, they are schooling at home; but not "homeschooling" in the original traditional context of the word. The issue I had was with the context of "homeschooling" and that is all.

    if you wish to share some more of your thoughts about me, you may do so privately by emailling me at homeschoolingahandful {at} gmail {dot} com

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  11. Hi, Kimberly, I'm glad you wrote. I wasn't actually talking about any one person. It seemed to me that there were several people arguing back and forth. I was just concerned about the direction the posts in general were starting to go. Thank you for leaving your e-mail. I would love to talk to you!

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Thank you for leaving your comments - I love to hear from you! I read each and every comment before publishing it, so bear with me if there is a slight lag between when you leave your comment, and when it appears on the blog. I will get it up as soon as possible so that everyone can enjoy your thoughts!

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