“The decrees of God are birth and death. In between those limits man makes his own distress or joy. It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God.”
Pick a side and live with the consequences. The ensuing division is not always bad.
The past few years I have spent too much time lamenting the division that has engulfed the world. I have decided to let go of my frustration and lovingly accept the choices my friends and others make to separate and divide. I am doing this because I believe the division we are witnessing is God’s plan. God has been separating things from the get-go and it is late in the game.
‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…And God said, “Let there be light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.” Genesis 1:1-4. Mankind was created in the midst of an epic heavenly battle. The Earth is ground zero where HE alone determines the beginning and the end. Between creation and destruction, birth and death, division is inevitable AND part of His plan.
We think of division as bad because we believe there is more strength and power in unity. The problems come when unification is based in wrong and evil choices. Choice is a freedom that comes with great exhilaration and even greater consequence. History is replete with proof that division can create a breakdown in God’s order and the results can impact generations.
Eve chose to buy a lie told by Satan while Adam chose to keep his mouth shut and go along. Germans chose to give the reins of power to Hitler and not fight back. On the other hand despite many wrongs, America chose to fight racism with a civil war and years later with laws for civil rights. Division and picking a side is wired into our DNA AND God’s plan for mankind.
We have a tendency to think of division as wrong, or evil, but I propose we remember it can be divine. Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law — a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.'” Matthew 10:34-36. Christ came to divide but He didn’t divide based on whether you were a Republican or a Democrat, black or white, Russian or American, vaccinated or not.
Christ reminded us there always has been and always will be an underlying division in the world. The division lies in our choice to follow the God of creation or…not. Everything and anything that comes before or in place of Him is wrong. The maxim to submit every choice to Him is difficult but fundamentally essential. The whole, ‘no other gods before me’ can manifest in love of anything, even family. “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;…” Matthew 10:37.
Every choice can create a division and dilemma to follow God’s way or the way of the world. James grew up in the same house as Jesus and lived out the division between an earthly kingdom and God’s Kingdom. After Christ died, James emphatically identified the choice of picking a side when he said ‘…don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.’ James 4:4.
The world is a stage in the final act of division between good and evil, God and Satan. This division has manifested itself in choices for generations. When people pick a side based on anything other than God’s Word on a subject they often try to identify why they made the choice they did. Placing blame anywhere other than with ourselves is a weak and lame attempt to shirk the risk and consequences of a possible bad choice.
The headlines are replete with examples of blame for bad decisions. Riots and property destruction blamed on a systemically racist people or country. Hatred of a media network and the people who watch it because of a bias towards opinion they don’t agree with. And the always contentious, abortion is a choice because it’s my body (Jesus said our bodies belonged to Him, not us).
The division, ensuing anger and hatred in our world is felt and seen by many people. I believe the anger we currently see is a result of choosing the way of the world and not God’s way. We must remember, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it’s own….That is why the world hates you.” John 15:18-19.
As for me, I cannot change anyone’s mind and I will not try. I respect the right for everyone to pick their own side and make their own choices. I ask you to respect mine as well and not mandate what sides I pick.
The next time ANY of us find ourselves bending towards division with a person or position, seek and acknowledge where it originates. Determine if it is the side of the world or of God. If we profess to be a Christian, remember the letters in red…”This is my command: love each other.” John 15:17.
Parks, a very good blog. Your words match a lot of what I’ve been thinking and it’s helpful to have the topic well articulated. This is not to say that every disagreement shouldn’t be debated and that we shouldn’t try to forward our own points of view, but at some point you’re correct in that we also need to be OK to respectfully “agree to disagree”. That’s a phrase that I generally don’t like, but is sometimes necessary to dis-engage on a topic and keep a respectful relationship going. And I fully agree (even if my actions/words don’t always support) that, in the end, staying connected with God’s Word is the most important element for all of us to determine the positions we take and defend.