Dissension. It's a word right now that breaks my heart. As believers in Christ, we are called to work together against the forces of evil in the world and work for the development of the Kingdom of God. We are called to live lives in accordance to God and his teachings, and ultimately, to help each other along the way and stand as one.
During the first fight at the Colusium in Gladiator, Maximus (played by Russell Crowe) makes the statement "Whatever comes out of those gates, we have a better chance of survival if we work together. Do you understand? If we stay together, we survive." During the course of the next few scenes, you see man after man leave the circle of many to try to fight his own battle, each falling with the same fate; death. The men crowd in a circle, with their shields raised (for those of you that saw "300" it's much like what they do at the end.) and as chariot after chariot threatens to crush them all, Maximus can be heard shouting "Hold! Hold! As one! Stay as one!" One body, one shild, one defense.
Shouldn't the church be much the same? We are all standing on the same Solid Rock, with the purpose of serving God and others; worshiping; obeying; learning; teaching; loving one another and growing from one another. Look how strong we could be! But as a result of a fallen world, the church we live in today is no longer such a thing as Eden. We must fight to stay strong as ONE wall.
Look at the church like a dam; It is solid, bulit of steele, cement and rock. Impenetrable. Immovable. Unsinkable. It holds trillions of gallons of water with it's strength and does not give way, as long as it is in one piece. But then something creates a scratch. As tides and currents wash over it, it becomes bigger and deeper, under the surface where no one knows about it. Then it becomes a crack, and water starts seeping through, constantly corroding the solidness until one day, the crack becomes a leak, and the dam gives way all together. If the scratch had been seen, and something done about it, could the flood have been prevented?
Of course. Don't you see? As we become stronger in our faith, daily walk with God, and life, and as our churches and bodies of Christ become stronger, we give Satan more of a reason to try to "scratch" us, knowing that as human beings, we have the free will to look at a small situation and let doubt take hold of us. If one member suffers, we all suffer. If one member goes on his own way to find the way himself and secure his own victory, he is forced to fight his way alone; instead of being attacked only on one side while reinforced on the others, he can be attacked on all sides. Satan knows that if just one person begins doubting one simple fragment of truth, that person will eventually let it fester and will turn to another believer for help, wisdom, discernment. But then that person may look at it too with the same doubt. It all boils down to how people react to things, and how much pride we will eventually take on and where we let things go wrong. Satan's plan eventually leads to the doubt of many, and once the leak begins, there is dissension and distrust.
Why can't people let go of their pride and listen to logical reason (not even logical really, but biblical) and realize that they are under attack? If they stand as one again, they could be even stronger than they were before. But how long will it take to fix the crack?
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