A Body Divided

Scripture — 2 Timothy 2:14, 24

Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. . . . And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Devotion

A few weeks ago, to celebrate my 60th birthday, I spent a day fishing with my older brother Ted. Our trip required a two-hour drive in each direction through rural western Maine. We spent much of that four hours talking about where we were in our spiritual journeys, and about theology, and about the condition of Christian churches (and the Christian church) in our country. It was a fruitful and meaningful conversation, and also one that was personally challenging.

Along the way, my brother made an insightful comment. He noted first how so much of the New Testament—especially the teachings of Jesus and the writings of the Apostle Paul—is focused on the unity of believers. Paul not only points out how important it is for followers of Christ to live in unity; he also gives frequent exhortations on how we ought to live and speak and act to help preserve or bring about that unity. Ted and I didn’t have to run through a whole list of these teachings because they were familiar to both of us. And, indeed, there are so many of them that we could have spent much of the four-hour ride just enumerating them and commenting on them.

Some of the first examples that popped into my mind were two of the metaphors Paul often used to speak of the importance of unity among believers: the metaphors of a body (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:3-6; etc.) and a building, in particular a temple (1 Corinthians 3:9-17; Ephesians 2:19-22). Often Paul combined these and other metaphors together in a long passage emphasizing unity. We could also consider the metaphor of a _family_–of being brothers and sisters in Christ—to describe God’s people; this metaphor is used even more often in the New Testament by Jesus himself as well as by Paul.

Paul, Peter, and James all addressed unity in other ways as well (with and without metaphor), making frequent exhortations for believers to love one another, to be at peace with one another, and to be united. Consider, for example, Paul’s beautiful exhortation to unity in Philippians 2. This chapter begins (in the NIV translation), “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”

Jesus’ prayer recorded in John 17, often referred to as his High Priestly Prayer, is for me the most powerful and compelling description of why such unity is important. “My prayer is not for them alone,” Jesus prayed (John 17:20-21, NIV). “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” If God’s people live out their faith in unity with one another, Jesus says, then we will see our friends and neighbors and co-workers coming to believe in Him. What a powerful word.

Given the importance of this unity, it isn’t surprising that Paul devotes a considerable percentage of his writing—in both his personal and general epistles—giving instruction on how we are to treat one another and the sorts of attitudes we are to have that will help with that unity. Be humble. Don’t grumble and complain. Be patient. Forgive. Bear with one another. Pray for each other. Look out for each other’s needs. Put aside self-ambition.

And this leads me finally to the direct exhortations against arguing and quarreling such as we read in the 2 Timothy 2 passage above—a command Paul gets at using both an adjective (don’t be quarrelsome) and a verb (don’t quarrel). Paul also gets at something similar in the Philippians 2 passage: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky” (Philippians 2:14-15, NIV).

Note that Paul does not say, “Don’t argue or be quarrelsome unless you have a disagreement about doctrine—and you happen to be correct and the other person is wrong. Then arguing is fine. Make sure you win the argument!” His exhortation is much simpler than that, and without the conditions. Why? Because Paul knows the importance of unity in the church, and he knows that arguing destroys that unity. Even arguing about theology. Perhaps especially arguing about theology.

And this leads me to the second part of my brother’s comment to me on that drive to our fishing location. After referencing how important unity was to New Testament writings, and particularly how much of Paul’s writing is devoted to his instructions for God’s people to be united, Ted then noted the sad irony that those very same epistles that Paul wrote to encourage unity are often used by the Christians as the basis for arguments and fights that tear the church apart. Differing understandings of a letter intended to help Christians get along with each other become an excuse for disunity. How is it that we’ve taken writings intended to help God’s people live as a family and a body, and we’ve turned them into theological, doctrinal, and ecclesiological debates that have divided (and continue to divide) the church into countless little fragments—into groups of people unable to work together and often unable even to speak with each other?

Theology is important. Striving to understand God’s word as a way to know God himself more fully is deeply important. (I will return to this in my devotion tomorrow.) But if our striving toward correct doctrine somehow misses the fundamental teachings of Christ calling his people to unity, then our teaching is missing something.

Fortunately, I have seen many movements within the church when Christians of different traditions and scriptural understandings have fellowshipped together in love and mutual encouragement. For several years I’ve been a part of a group of writers of Christian faith from a variety of denominations who come together regularly and learn from one another and care for each other—but with no assumption that we are supposed to agree on every detail of our faith journeys. I’ve seen similar examples of unity play out at conferences and in various churches and ministries. And I am reminded that the Holy Spirit is at work in the church, even in the midst of a divisive culture.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Guard the Tongue (2 Timothy 2:14–26).

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