Monday Morning Insights

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    Church Splits, Division & Personalities

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    It is as if personality is some kind of blank check for acting like an idiot. Too often, personality is an excuse for not changing. "Hey, this is just the way I am." It's as if personalilty is not a spiritual or weighty issue. Well, we can't just wiggle off the hook that easily, as if we couldn't help it since it was a personality issue.

    I don't see Jesus giving us any wiggle room for disunity based upon personality differences. Check out the apostle's personality profiles and you'll see that we can't just play the personality card and allow our guilty consciences to be soothed.

    Jesus picked, I think intentionally, a politically diverse group in order to prove that unity is based upon something other than sameness (uniformity).











    Chris Gonzalez has a great post over at his blog.  Chris writes:  Here is something I have heard often: 99% of church splits are not over theology, but over personality.  There was a time in my life when this gave me some comfort. Now I think it is just a thing people say to feel better about themselves…

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    1. BeHim on Tue, September 27, 2005

      Many times the personalities get in the way of Theology and come across as “personality” splits when in fact, they are based on Theological issues.


      Example:  A person’s doctrine is found Scripturally wrong or false and instead of changing their position (or at the very least admitting wrong to themselves) they will decide the person should have been more gentle or they aren’t very “loving” therefore he/she must not be a christian.

      This happens allot and I would guess it’s because to many people are thin skinned and either unwilling to conform to Truth or don’t really desire Truth but instead seek a “feeling” or emotional “experience”.  As though Truth only comes in the form of “warm [“loving”] fuzzies”.

       

    2. Tyler Jagen on Tue, September 27, 2005

      I agree.  To take it a little further, as a pastor in a church of 1700 the people who cause disunity the most are those who get upset because we don’t have an affinity ministry that fits their niche demographic.  They threaten with guilt that we are not meeting their specific needs.  I think in our endeavor to meet so many different percieved needs, we miss out in meeting people’s biggest need:  an affinity/unifying ministry based on all of our common need for Christ and Him crucified.

    3. bernie dehler on Tue, September 27, 2005

      “Here is something I have heard often: 99% of church splits are not over theology, but over personality.”


      If that’s true, then Christianity is a sham.  Christianity should be all about love.  Then again, maybe it’s Churchianity getting confused with Christianity.  It happens a lot…

      ...Bernie


      http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/247/

       

    4. Doug on Wed, September 28, 2005

      Motivations… Read James 4.  Why do we do what we do?  The irony is that most people don’t see themselves as being the problem.  It is always someone else who is creating problems.  This is not new to the church.  Many in the New Testament church had similiar issues so I think it is because of our fallen nature that we act like ‘idiots’.  The worse thing that a church leader could do is develop a ‘fighting spirit’ though.  Men and women who are in leadership within the church need to take the same approach that Christ took.  Humility… God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  When we take up the fight against ‘selfish, yuppie minded, feed me’ type of mentalities then no longer are we interested in God’s Kingdom but we are falling into the trap of becoming the ‘ladder climbing’ person who is just looking for the next opportunity to push their own agenda.  If we were truly interested in Christ’s agenda we would not feel the need to fight against each other but to reach those who are hurting and needing to experience Christ’s love.  If an unchurched person was to look at you and the way you handle controversy would they want to follow Christ?  I heard someone say, “It is impossible to do what Jesus did… but we can attempt to think like Jesus thought.”  Love those who hurt your feelings… Serve those whom you are in opposition to… Most of all, acknowledge your faults and admit them… Let’s not let pride distract us from the purposes of God.  Doug Foster

    5. tad on Wed, September 28, 2005

      what did Jesus say about division in the church? what did Paul say? 1 Corinthians 11 is pretty clear. only one side will reveal God’s approval…and in THIS instance it was all about recognizing the Body and Blood of Christ IN the Lords Supper.


      in Christ,


      tad

    6. John on Mon, October 03, 2005

      I think that quote is getting at something valid: Maybe a better way to say it is that 99% of church splits are about CHARACTER and not theology. After going through several divisions/splits its clear to me that whatever legitimate doctrinal issue is raised as the battle flag, it is much more about power, control, and character flaws. Including mine…

    7. julie on Mon, October 03, 2005

      I’ve seen many people in ministry destroyed because of the way other people viewed them.  With the statistics rising on church “feuds”, this is an area that I think we need to learn to deal with before it hits in our neck of the woods.  As long as people are involved in God’s work, there will be personalities that get along, and many more that will not.  In the midst of a personality clash, everyone involved needs to do a “heart check”…  a serious heart check.  And before we ever get there, we had better build a wise group of people who can speak accountability into our world before it escalates.  Letting people fight in the church is sin.  And leaving it undealt with, is also sin.  And when it erupts so big that a split occurs, who can’t see that there is sin involved?  When you are so selfish that you will leave a church and start another one, or create a division that causes someone else to do the same… your ego and your ministry are not focused upon God.

    8. Randy Heddings on Mon, October 03, 2005

      Theology is defined by one’s relationship with the Father through His Son Jesus. If there is not a good realtionship in that area, it is impossible for one to have a relationship with others that is genuine. In serving as a church planter, my estimate, for what its worth, would be that the vast majority of church splits are caused because of poor relationships, first with the Father through Christ and with our peers within the church body. Of course once personality (carnality) creep in, this comment can get used many ways.

    9. Tom Riggs on Tue, October 04, 2005

      Lots of really good comments here and I believe they are all true in different forms, all I can remember when I read this topic is how it broke my heart when people I had poured my life into treated me like an old dirty rag, I’m not bitter… just broked hearted… it helped me learn even more about people and gave me just a hint of how Jesus might have felt as well… just another painful lesson about ministry.

    10. pere on Fri, April 07, 2006

      thnks for your good and helpful letters of conflicts .especily here in Africa where conflct is our breakfast .please tell me the roots of conflics and how we can solve them in our churches

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