Luke 12: 49-53
49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! 51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
One of the hardest things to come to grips with as a Christian is that our love, devotion and worship of Jesus will often cause us to lose some of the people that we hold close. Often, it is not us leaving them, but them leaving us.
Being saved is the act of believing in Jesus as the Messiah, the sole person and power of salvation. Then, as we mature and grow in Jesus, we want to become followers of Jesus, not just redeemed, but begin to look, think, and talk like Jesus. We want to stand for the people and the things that He stood for. When we get to this point, then the resistance will come. It is okay to say I am a Christian, and I believe in Jesus. Some will scoff, some will laugh, and others will just ignore you. But once you begin to follow Jesus, once you begin to deny yourself and want to obey Jesus, this is where the rub comes. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus says this,
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.'”
One needs to deny self; even here, there is division. The natural thinking of our humanity is to affirm self, to love ourselves more than anyone or anything else. So, to be a true follower of Jesus, one must separate one’s identity from self and identify in and with Jesus. Thus, we need to look to Jesus and Him alone for our validation. When we do this, we begin the very difficult understanding of ‘unity through division.’ To be in unity with Jesus often requires division between self and others. Once we can deny self, and if I understand this, it is a daily thing, then we will begin to act, think and behave differently, and a lot of our acquaintances will no longer want to ‘hang’ with us. Jesus once had a multitude of followers, but when He began to teach hard things about living for God, many left. See John 6: 66-68,
“From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus asked the Twelve, ‘Do you want to leave too’? Simon Peter replied, ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.'”
Once you and I are denying ourselves and we come to the realization that Jesus and He alone has the words of life, then the division becomes easier. It never becomes easy but a bit easier, and the loss of people we love because of Jesus is hard. The ones mentioned in the text verse refer to family members. Our homes will be divided about Jesus, divided about His Lordship, about His person, about His call to obedience, and maybe even if He is real or not.
Sadly, there is division over doctrine that adds to or takes away from the Gospel. There are persons who add works to the Gospel, and there are those who take the Gospel away from many, saying that Jesus only died for some. Others offer the Gospel of faith and grace, but lately, there has been a surge of those, even amongst conservatives, who think one can be unsaved if they do not work to keep being saved. These divisions rock churches and split churches. There are arguments, hurt feelings and all kinds of pain. But the truth is worth the pain.
This morning, I was reading Galatians, and even back in the first-century churches, there were people adding the law to grace; they could not just accept the beauty of salvation by grace and grace alone. No, surely, we have to do something to earn it. Paul fought that and spoke loudly against it.
The same truth that sets us free will enslave many others. They hate the freedoms we have in Jesus; they hate the simplicity of the Gospel, ‘believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved.’ This is offensive to many; this is divisive to many, and it is a stumbling block to others. But to those of us who have received eternal life by trusting in the simplicity of the Gospel, we are united; we can meet people from all across the world, maybe not even speak the same language or look the same, but there is a unity in Jesus that transcends every other division.
If you are living in division, I am sure it can be painful to be divided from those that you love. Maybe you can feel the tension when you speak, or maybe just in the same room. Make sure that the division is because you and I are seeking to be true and honest followers of Jesus. Make sure that the division is based on adherence to Biblical truths that you know and can cite. Make sure that the division is one-sided – them from you and not you from them. Make sure that our lives are not filled with pride and self-righteousness but rather a humble appreciation for Jesus’ saving grace and loving-kindness.
Only Jesus has the words of life. Only Jesus is the Way! Only Jesus can save. Only Jesus can transform us into His image. Only Jesus is coming to rescue this fallen and broken world, and only Jesus has the power to get us from this life to the next. If these stances cause division in our homes and with our families, so be it. But, if you ask God, He will put you into a community of believers that will offer unity around these very beliefs. And, as we get closer and closer to the return of Jesus, these divisions will become more and more pronounced. It will become more and more important to have a secure and safe place to be unified around Jesus. Paul tells us this very thing in Hebrews 10:25,
“not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
The Bible does not call us to division for the sake of division; rather, it calls us to trust in the person and finished work of Jesus; it calls us to surrender ourselves to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and to live in obedience to the clearly stated commands of God. We know, even just from reading about Jesus’ life, that these things will bring division.
May the Lord give us the grace to accept the division and the loss graciously and that we would resist the temptation to sacrifice following Jesus in order to maintain a temporary relationship here on earth. Lord, please help us, help me, increase our faith.
God bless you,
Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church
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