Strife Within the Church
Why is strife so common in the home church movement today? What has the devil done that has caused so much dissension and how will it be remedied? These are certainly questions that we should be asking ourselves, and there is not one simple answer.
I believe a good share of the problems we see today are the result of a common misunderstanding. Many today are confused about the difference between inspired counsel and inspired law or doctrine. You may be asking, “Can that really be so very important?” You may not think so at first glance, but in fact, the consequences of this misunderstanding can, and are, causing great harm in many churches and families today.
Let us begin our study by first looking at a lesson that Jesus taught in the eighth chapter of John. In this chapter is recorded the very familiar story of the woman taken in adultery. “Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
Judge Not
It is clear that Jesus did not condone this women’s sin. He instructed her, “Go and sin no more.” But rather, this story was given to teach us a lesson. So often we are quick to judge someone, while we ignore the sins (sometimes even the very sins of which are condemning another) that dwell within our own hearts. I wonder, if Jesus was with us in person today, observing all the strife that is within the church, if he would not again stoop down to write in the sand all the faults and shortcomings of those who are condemning their brethren for not dressing or eating or doing something in the way that they feel is correct.
Today, the scene of this pitiful woman is repeated again and again, only with different circumstances. Brothers and sisters are brought before our private “judgment seat” and condemned for wearing the wrong clothing or eating the wrong food, while we commend ourselves for being such godly Christians. God’s prophet warned, “The ruling, driving, storming spirits need to take their hands off and turn their attention to themselves. Their own destitution of the Spirit of God is the reason of their unquiet, censorious, condemning spirit.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 12, 285.
Think back in your own experience, how many divisions have you seen in churches and families because of this condemning spirit? It is breaking up churches and families everywhere in the world. And so the devil delights, for it is his game plan to divide and conquer homes, churches, husbands and wives. It is his goal to do everything he possibly can to stir up strife, suspicion and fanaticism to divide God’s people, for he knows that united we will stand and divided we will fall.
When Should We Separate?
Should we separate ourselves from a person or group of people that do not eat, dress, etc., exactly as we think they should? Let us look more closely at this subject of separation and unity from an inspired outlook, and notice why there will be a true need for separation in the last days.
“As trials thicken around us, both separation and unity will be seen in our ranks. Some who are now ready to take up weapons of warfare will in times of real peril make it manifest that they have not built upon the solid rock; they will yield to temptation. Those who have had great light and precious privileges, but have not improved them, will, under one pretext or another, go out from us. Not having received the love of the truth, they will be taken in the delusions of the enemy; they will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, and will depart from the faith.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 400, 401. [Emphasis supplied.]
Are there times when there should not be a separation? “A house divided against itself cannot stand. When Christians contend, Satan comes in to take control. How often has he succeeded in destroying the peace and harmony of churches. What fierce controversies, what bitterness, what hatred, has a very little matter started! What hopes have been blasted, how many families have been rent asunder by discord and contention!
“Paul charged his brethren to beware lest in trying to correct the faults of others they should commit sins equally great themselves. He warns them that hatred, emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, and envyings are as truly the works of the flesh as are lasciviousness, adultery, drunkenness, and murder, and will as surely close the gate of heaven against the guilty.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 244. [Emphasis supplied.]
Separate from Unsound Doctrine
It is perfectly appropriate, and necessary, to sever ties with a church that is not teaching sound doctrine. But is it appropriate to leave a church that is teaching sound doctrine, but where some may be dressing or eating a little differently than we think they should be? These types of issues (where the questions concern inspired counsel not law) are splitting up churches all over the world. Could it be that in fact the real problem is that we are cherishing the age-old sin of pride that Lucifer had in heaven.
“He sought to gain control of heavenly beings, to draw them away from their Creator, and to win their homage to himself. Therefore he misrepresented God, attributing to Him the desire for self-exaltation. With his own evil characteristics he sought to invest the loving Creator. Thus he deceived angels. Thus he deceived men. He led them to doubt the word of God, and to distrust His goodness. Because God is a God of justice and terrible majesty, Satan caused them to look upon Him as severe and unforgiving. Thus he drew men to join him in rebellion against God, and the night of woe settled down upon the world.” The Desire of Ages, 21, 22.
What is Counsel?
Before we study a Biblical example of the difference between counsel and law, let’s look at the simple dictionary definition of the two words. Counsel is “a mutual exchange of ideas. Advice.” Law is “the rules of conduct established by an authority or any rule expected to be observed.” Webster’s New World Dictionary. And we know that God’s divine laws are “immutable, unchangeable, eternal.” Maranatha, 177.
In the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, God made a distinction between counsel and law. In the instructions given to Adam and Eve regarding the tree of knowledge there was both counsel and law. The law, if disobeyed, would lead to death.
“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom had had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” “And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17. [Emphasis supplied.]
Counsel vs Command
God told our first parents that they were not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they would die. “Adam and Eve were permitted to partake of every tree in the garden save one. There was a single prohibition. The forbidden tree was as attractive and lovely as any of the trees in the garden. It was called the tree of knowledge because in partaking of that tree of which God had said, “Thou shalt not eat of it,” they would have a knowledge of sin, an experience in disobedience.” Confrontation, 12.
In the following quotations, see if you can find the counsel that God gave which Eve ignored. “Eve had wandered near the forbidden tree, and her curiosity was aroused to know how death could be concealed in the fruit of this fair tree. She was surprised to hear her queries taken up and repeated by a strange voice. ‘Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ Eve was not aware that she had revealed her thoughts in audibly conversing with herself; therefore, she was greatly astonished to hear her queries repeated by a serpent. She really thought that the serpent had a knowledge of her thoughts, and that he must be very wise.
“She answered him, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’ And the serpent said unto the woman, ‘Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’” Ibid., 13.
“Eve had overstated the words of God’s command. He had said to Adam and Eve, ‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ In Eve’s controversy with the serpent, she added ‘Neither shall ye touch it.’ Here the subtlety of the serpent appeared. This statement of Eve gave him advantage; he plucked the fruit and placed it in her hand, using her own words, He hath said, If ye touch it, ye shall die. You see no harm comes to you from touching the fruit, neither will you receive any harm by eating it.” Ibid., 14.
God counseled Adam and Eve not to go near the tree because there Satan would have access to them. But it was not a sin that would cost them their lives, if they did. If you are being tempted, that is not a sin. The temptation becomes sin when you yield to that temptation either in your mind or when you act upon it.
What other counsel did God give Adam and Eve? “The angels had cautioned Eve to beware of separating herself from her husband while occupied in their daily labor in the garden; with him she would be in less danger from temptation than if she were alone. But absorbed in her pleasing task, she unconsciously wandered from his side. On perceiving that she was alone, she felt an apprehension of danger, but dismissed her fears, deciding that she had sufficient wisdom and strength to discern evil and to withstand it. Unmindful of the angels’ caution, she soon found herself gazing with mingled curiosity and admiration upon the forbidden tree.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 53, 54.
Was it a sin for Eve to wander from the side of her husband? No, it says that the angels cautioned her to beware if she should be separated from Adam’s side because she would place herself in unnecessary danger. The only place Satan could have access to the pair in Eden was at the tree of knowledge of good and evil. “The angels charged them to closely follow the instructions God had given them in reference to the tree of knowledge, for in perfect obedience they were safe, and this fallen foe could then have no power to deceive them.” Lift Him Up, 20. [Emphasis supplied.]
The Problem with Fanaticism
All of God’s counsel is given for our good, and how much hardship and misery it would have saved our first parents if they followed God’s counsel. When they ignored God’s counsels they placed themselves in a position where they could more easily be lead into sin. However, we need to understand the definition of sin. “Our only definition of sin is that given in the Word of God; it is ‘the transgression of the law;’ it is the outworking of a principle at war with the great law of love which is the foundation of the divine government.” The Great Controversy, 492. This is the only definition given in the Bible of what sin is. It is breaking God’s law, either in the mind or openly.
However, sometimes we want to go beyond what the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy say in order to try to make it support our own ideas. This is what the Spirit of Prophecy calls “fanaticism.” As fanaticism takes a firm hold on a group or person criticism always follows. This particular point becomes the only subject discussed and studied and those who do not agree with our cherished opinion are chastised and condemned.
Sister White faced many types of fanaticism in her day. In Early Writings, 22, she gives this account. “At this time there was fanaticism in Maine. Some refrained wholly from labor and disfellowshiped all those who would not receive their views on this point, and some other things, which they held to be religious duties. God revealed these errors to me in vision and sent me to His erring children to declare them; but many of them wholly rejected the message, and charged me with conforming to the world.”
“In every age Satan has sought to impair the efforts of God’s servants by introducing into the church a spirit of fanaticism. Thus it was in Paul’s day, and thus it was in later centuries during the time of the Reformation. Wycliffe, Luther, and many others, who blessed the world by their influence and their faith, encountered the wiles by which the enemy seeks to lead into fanaticism overzealous, unbalanced, and unsanctified minds.” Acts of the Apostles, 348.
She warned a certain brother, “I consider you to be in positive peril. I present this because I know that you are in great danger of being seduced by Satan. We are living in a time when every phase of fanaticism will press its way in among believers and unbelievers. Satan will come in, speaking lies in hypocrisy. Everything that he can invent to deceive men and women will be brought forward.” Medical Ministry, 114. [Emphasis supplied.]
We are certainly living in that day and age right now. The devil has stolen a march upon us. He has successfully wounded the revival and reformation movement within Adventism today by the fanatical theories that are coming into the church. He is using men and women who have unbalanced minds to bring in some form or another of fanaticism to divide and conquer. And friend, we must each be on guard because the devil has been studying human nature for nearly six thousand years and he has designed some fanaticism to exactly fit each of our personalities and temperaments.
We have many lessons to learn. May God help us that we might each surrender our lives and our opinions to Him that He may cleanse us from the root of bitterness and the condemning spirit which destroys unity and impedes the gospel work. There is no longer time to waste in bickering and strife, there is world waiting to be warned. May the Lord bless each of you.