division – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

Unity

As the pilgrims continued their ascent up to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, they sang about something that is vital for the church today. Unity.

David wrote,

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

Unity truly is a beautiful thing in the church of Christ. Disunity and dissent, on the other hand, is an ugly stain on the church.

When people can walk into the church, and see a people united in the love of Christ, it draws them in and makes them want to become a part of it.

But when people walk into a church and see complaining, bitterness, gossip, and backbiting, nothing will chase them away faster. It leaves a foul taste in their mouth, as they ask, “Is the church any different from the world out there?”

That’s why Jesus told his disciples,

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35)

Later, Jesus prayed for the church asking,

…that they may all be one ; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. (John 17:21)

Through unity, those outside the church see Christ in us, and can come to know God’s blessing. But not only are those outside the church blessed, so are those inside the church.

David writes,

It (that is unity) is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. (Psalm 133:2)

The oil referred to is the anointing oil of the priests, a very pleasant mixture of myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia.

David writes that for the priest (Aaron, of course, was Israel’s first high priest), unity is like being anointed with that mixture.

And for pastors today, to see a church united under Christ, loving each other and serving each other as Christ commanded, brings joy to their hearts.

Oil is also a sign of the Holy Spirit. And as people are led by the Spirit, we see the fruit that comes from him leading to unity. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.

A united church is filled with this kind of fruit.

David goes on to say,

It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. (3a)

The picture is of dew from a higher mountain (Hermon) descending on the lower (Zion). A dew that refreshes and cleanses.

That’s what unity does in a church. It refreshes all who go there and leaves them feeling clean, touched by the hand of God.

David closes by singing,

For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. (3b)

For the church that is united under Christ, God’s blessing is upon them. And all who walk in their fellowship will find the life that comes from God.

What kind of church are you going to? Are you going to a church united under Christ, bearing his fruit? Or to one divided?

Are you contributing to your church’s unity? Or are you tearing it down?

Division

Satan wasn’t having any success trying to stop the Jews’ work on Jerusalem’s walls through outside attacks. So he tried another tactic. He brought division between the Jews themselves, namely between the rich and the poor.

Essentially, the poor among the Jews were suffering because they didn’t have enough money to buy food, particularly with a famine going on at that time, and also because of taxes they had to pay.

As a result, they were selling off their fields and homes just to be able to have something to eat. When they no longer had any land to sell, they started to sell their own sons and daughters into slavery.

As Nehemiah considered the situation, he realized that the real reason things were so bad was the attitude of the nobles and officials.

They were taking advantage of the problems with the poor in order to enrich themselves. Namely, they were taking the pledges people had made for the loans they were giving.

But God had commanded them,

When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. (Deuteronomy 24:10)

Yet despite God’s commands, these nobles and officials had no qualms about taking their neighbor’s land and children when these people couldn’t pay off the debt.

As a result, Nehemiah gave them a major tongue lashing, to which they had no answer.

To their credit, however, they repented and gave back everything they had taken from their fellow Jews.

Nehemiah himself, though he had a right to have a lot more food as governor in Jerusalem, refused to take it because it would’ve been a burden on the people.

Instead, he daily invited 150 people to dine with him.

He also never lorded over the people as their governor. Rather, he worked beside them to help rebuild the walls around Jerusalem.

What can we learn from this?

If Satan can’t stop us from doing God’s work by directly attacking us, he’ll try to get us to attack each other.

He’ll divide us and get us so busy fighting each other that we don’t have time to do the things that God has asked.

How do we prevent that from happening? By having the kind of heart that Nehemiah had. A servant’s heart.

So let us not be looking out only for our own interests. That kind of attitude leads to division.

Rather let us look to serve one another in love.

Paul put it this way,

Serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. (Galatians 5:13-15)