Division and Controversy in the Body of Messiah

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
Romans 16:17-18 ESV

When challenged with disruption and endless debates over obscure points of theology, it can be tempting to convene a committee to create a detailed Statement of Faith addressing every imaginable controversy, but such things tend to create just as many problems as they solve. Man-made creeds and doctrinal statements can be helpful for establishing clarity and local practice, but they will always contain some degree of error. They also tend to promote a culture of holding tradition above Scripture.

The first century Christians exhibited both extremes. In fact, much of the New Testament epistles were written to combat one or the other.

On one side, many traditionally religious Jews had come to faith in Yeshua, embracing him as Messiah and remaining zealous for the Law (Acts 21:20-21). They believed that Gentile converts must convert to Judaism and adopt their traditions in order to be grafted into Israel. (See my comments on Romans 11.) Paul’s ministry seemed to have been plagued by troublemakers from this “party of the circumcision” who wanted to bring this “mixed multitude” under their authority. As shown in the Gospel accounts of the Jewish religious leaders’ confrontations with Yeshua (Matthew 23, for instance) they loved to argue about the minute details of how to obey every commandment in every circumstance.

On the other side, many followers of Greek philosophers sought to meld this seemingly new faith with the mysteries of Isis, Orpheus, and others. They tended to reject formally codified rules in favor of mysteries that were only fully comprehensible to the fully initiated. They believed the physical world was illusory, or at least less real than the spiritual world, and so taught either asceticism in order to discipline and escape the physical or licentiousness because the truly spiritual need no limitations on their physical behavior. This syncretic approach created the later Gnostic cults of Basilidianism, Marcionism, and Manicheanism. John’s letters and portions of Paul’s addressed these false teachings. They loved to argue about esoteric ideas with little practical value and less chance of conception.

We’re still the same today. There are never enough rules for some people. If it looks like you’ve mastered one set of man-made practices, they’ll invent another and another, each new doctrine further obscuring the actual Scriptures. And there are never enough lofty, useless theologies for others, forever lost in metaphors and hidden meanings, always learning something new that never seems to require any specific action from them.

Paul wrote a parallel statement in 1 Timothy 6:3-5, describing such people in more detail:

He is prideful, understanding nothing. Instead he is obsessed with arguments and disputes about words—out of which come envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction between people corrupted in mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
1 Timothy 6:4-5 TLV

Paul’s advice to the Romans was to avoid both camps. He wasn’t telling them to enforce doctrinal purity nor even to quash every disagreement. Rather, he was advising them to focus on the principles of love and humility that lay behind every commandment, to place the needs of each other–especially those weaker in faith–above their own, and not to dispute over things that can’t be proved and are ambiguous in Scripture. See my comments on Romans 14.

A certain amount of uniformity of doctrine is necessary, especially where Scripture is clear or where God makes a point of emphasizing the importance of a particular commandment. How can we fellowship with people who can’t be trusted not to steal, lie, and commit adultery? How can we fellowship if we can’t even agree on which day is the Sabbath?

However, there are innumerable gray areas in which we need to be humble and kind enough to let people come to their own conclusions in their own time. Does the Sabbath start when the sun first touches the horizon or when it is completely gone? Is meat sacrificed to an idol acceptable as food if you’re not participating in the worship in any way? Is it better to fast on Tuesday or Thursday?

You probably aren’t dealing with these specific controversies in your own congregation, but they probably aren’t too far off from your reality either. I chose these examples, in part, as another illustration. If I had instead mentioned the Rapture, Dispensationalism, and Halloween, would you focus on the point I’m trying to convey or would you start thinking about the controversies.

These are all matters of opinion. Distractions. What I believe about any of them doesn’t harm you in any way–and vice versa–so long as I’m not flaunting my freedom to follow my own conscience to the detriment of yours.

As Paul wrote in Romans 13:9, “For the commandments…are summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”