2010 – April 6 – Uncivil Civil Wars

Study from God’s Word…2nd Samuel 2: 1 – 30; 2nd Samuel 3: 1 – 5 [1st Chron. 3: 1 – 4]; 2nd Samuel 3: 6 – 29; 2nd Samuel 4: 1 – 12; 2nd Samuel 5: 1 – 3 [1st Chron. 11: 1 – 3]; 2nd Samuel 2: 11 and 5: 4-5 and 1st Kings 2: 11 and 1st Chron. 3: 4b & 29: 26-27; 1st Chron. 12: 23 – 40; … Passage for Reflection: Judges 1: 19 … NIV 26 Abner called out to Joab, "Must the sword devour forever? Don't you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their brothers?"

My Journal for Today: The questions raised by Abner in the dispute between the houses of Saul and David are even apt questions today. And the last of these is the most pertinent: When do brothers in the faith quit pursuing one another? And the answer to that will be “NOW,” if the conflict is over personal matters. However, the answer is “AS LONG AS IT TAKES FOR TRUTH TO PREVAIL,” if the conflict is over Godly principle.

We see it today. Churches which divide, split, and are torn asunder. And when it is over personal power or personalities, such divisions are tragic and need to be halted as soon as possible, hopefully before the cause of Christ is damaged in the world’s eye. Unfortunately, like the battles between Saul’s Israel and David’s Judah, the battles in many churches today go on far too long; and many times the battles themselves hurt the cause of Christ and especially the witness of the Church which may be splitting over personalities or personal issues.

However, there are battles, even raging in churches or denominations today, which I feel are necessary and must be fought out until the principles of Scripture are upheld. For example, we see denominations splitting and fighting because some churches or groups within denominations desire to ordain women as Pastors or also desire to have avowed homosexuals as Elders, Bishops, or in other positions of church leadership. And we see these churches taking positions and causing whole denominations to split asunder, deciding which side for which they are going to stand. It is these latter spiritual “wars,” certainly will cause confusion in the world because they seem to be fought by Christian versus “christian.” But these spiritual squabbles may be necessary for God’s truth to be declared and decided in the public arena. Gay marriage or churches endorsing homosexuality are battle fields which must be fought in the arena of Christianity today so that God’s truth from His Holy Word can be upheld. These wars may be ugly; but they are necessary and they will rage as long as there are Christians [Capital “C] versus “christians” [small “c”] who interpret what we or they call Scripture [capital “S”] versus “scripture” [small “s”] .

I hope I’m being clear here; because any Christian church, denomination, or organization which cannot or will not stand for God’s principles, taken directly from God’s word, become an impotent witness in this world. However, God’s truth is not only worthy of standing for in the world, it is imperative that we do so; and I pray that all Christians today are willing to stand forth for God’s truth in a world where right is being seen as wrong and Scriptural truth is being labeled as “politically incorrect.”

And I also pray that we cease and desist from in-fighting in the church over personal issues or personality power issues. Such “uncivil civil wars” must cease and cease NOW. But … fighting over God’s truth must keep on keeping on until God is victorious – no matter how long it takes.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, we may lose battles; but the war is Yours in eternity. Amen