Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“So Amasa went to call the men of Judah together, but he stayed longer than the set time which had been appointed to him. David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your lord’s servants and pursue after him, lest he get himself fortified cities, and escape out of our sight.” Joab’s men went out after him with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men; and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was clothed in his apparel of war that he had put on, and on it was a sash with a sword fastened on his waist in its sheath; and as he went along it fell out. Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So he struck him with it in the body and shed out his bowels to the ground, and didn’t strike him again; and he died. Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. One of Joab’s young men stood by him, and said, “He who favors Joab, and he who is for David, let him follow Joab!” Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. When the man saw that all the people stood still, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still. When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. He went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, to Beth Maacah, and all the Berites. They were gathered together, and went also after him. They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down.”
(2 Samuel 20:5-15)

“Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name. (I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.) For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.”
(1 Corinthians 1:10-17)

David’s victory was barely settled and another rebellion kicked up. As soon as that happened, his supporters started breaking into factions. This commander was lazy and lacked leadership skills. That one was impatient and a little murdery. These people thought they knew what was best. Those people didn’t want to get involved. It was barely contained chaos. This was the consequence for David’s sin against God, Uriah, and his wife. This was the strife that walked through the door when David put himself before God. Even though David had rightly repented, he still had to deal with the consequences. Strife can start in many ways and most people think they are in the right even while they are stirring the pot. If strong leadership doesn’t speak truth, it gets out of hand fast.

Paul founded the church in Corinth and as soon as disturbers of the peace came in, they split into factions. These people were Paul-ines. These were Apollo-ines. These stuck to the Law. These stuck to Grace. Etc etc. We see the same thing in the Church today. These ones are Catholics. These Baptists. These Word of Faith. But Paul’s charge is still the same as it was: has JESUS split? Just like when the men of the Land were called to follow one king, we too are called to follow one king. King Jesus. The factions that come up from human thinking are mostly the splitting of hairs. There are a few doctrinal biggies, but the majority are splitting hairs. The reality is that we may live in different tents, but we all live in the same camp. We all have the same leader. We are all ONE in Jesus.

Summary

Unity. That should be the watchword of the Church – Jew and Gentile. We should be able to work together without rubbing each other wrong. We should be united on the big things. The reason is that we all should be following Jesus. We should all be looking to HIM for our instructions. He will move us all differently, but we will be moved together. Toward the same goal. Don’t despise someone because of their denomination. Or the translation of the Bible that they favour. If they believe Jesus is the Son of God, if they believe He died for their sins and washed them clean, and if they bow their knee to Him as Lord – then we’re on the same team! We should NOT let divisions take us into conflict with each other. We’re allowed to have different opinions. Jesus is TRUTH and Jesus is LORD and Jesus is the One who should be directing our steps (Proverbs 16:9). Period. Full stop.