The Lie of the Divided Church

Don’t buy the divide.

The enemies of God want to exploit every sign of division in the Body of Christ, but we must remember the truth that in Jesus, “all things hold together,” including us. (Colossians 1:17 ESV)

God, in His generous wisdom, called us to Himself and to one another. It’s good not to be alone.

I cannot make my Christian identity about NOT being like “those other Christians” because that is one of those unending snares our enemy devises (Kobayashi Maru). We must recognize it for what it is and avoid the trap.

The longer I live and the more Christians I meet, the more I see I am like every one of them.

I get this life of faith wrong so often. I barely apply a fraction of God’s wisdom that I know and there’s so much that I don’t yet know. I do many right things for all the wrong reasons. And occasionally, by a miracle of grace, I reflect Christ.

Honestly, my biggest problem isn’t the parts of the Bible I don’t understand. Instead, it’s the vast portions I do understand but fail to live out in my daily life.

But, my Father always loves me and sings over me, so I won’t frown condescendingly on brothers or sisters on whom He is also smiling because we are in Christ.

Yes, Jesus is in my heart, but I am also in His and when I look around the great banquet table in His generous heart, I am not alone. And praise God for the variety of souls He’s gathered to Himself and praise God that I am one! All beggars made adopted sons and daughters of the King!

How can we not just look at one another and laugh with joy that we, misfits and miscreants all, have landed in the home of our most generous God, carried in on the open arms of Jesus?

Don’t buy the divide. It’s a snare.

When conflict in the church arises, lean into it with the power of the cross and the hope of the resurrection because it is our calling to maintain the unity we have in Christ.

But, that requires something of us. Humility. Investment of self. Vulnerability. Seeking God for His love to give to others. Setting ourselves aside for His sake. But, look around. What do we have of worth aside from Him? Let all else fall away and invest all in Him and His people.

Live in hope. Work with diligence. Apply grace in great dollops. Speak truth like children—confidently and without any measure of shame, but with wonder.

Receive His great love for you and believe it, ask Him to help your unbelief and then, know it’s true for the rest of His family, too.

We will be together forever. Let that forever breakthrough now.

Live now in the forever of His kingdom come.

We can fell giants, my brothers and sisters! Dry bones can rise!

We, the people who stand outside an empty tomb, have every hope that we can mend what’s broken and seek our Father as one.

Our greatest problem is not that our lives don’t matter, it’s that they do. It isn’t that we aren’t significant. It’s that our significance has been hidden from us.

But the light of Jesus reveals the incredible impact He can have through each and every one of us. Let us live in His light and not in the darkness of headlines that have no clue what we’re about.

Don’t buy the divide. Live in the unity He died and rose to provide.

The Lie of the Divided Church https://t.co/PcD5GExdx8 #ColorfulConnections #amwriting

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) September 8, 2022