Ezekiel 22:23-30

Why Churches Split

A Warning to Christians

 

22:23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

 

24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

 

25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

 

26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

 

27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

 

28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

 

29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

 

30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

A Warning to Christians

This passage really grabbed my attention with the large (and increasing) number of churches splitting in recent years.

Not very long ago, a compelling sermon was giving by Rev. Coyt Auten, an 84 year old pastor who has preached the gospel for over 50 years!

So, when he speaks, I pay extra attention.

I purposefully used verses from the King James Bible today because the Bible itself was a part of the message given by Rev. Auten.

Let's get right to the crux of this message and the warning it gives to us today as Christians and as a church.

First, there are four "P's" in these verses. They are ...

• Prophets
• Priests
• Princes
• People

Let's translate into today's definitions:

• Prophets = Preachers
• Priests = Us - as Christians in the pews
• Princes = Politicians and Government Officials
• People = End results

Preachers

Some preachers today are concentrating their message more on the method rather than the results.

They preach to build themselves up instead of giving the people God's message. The message is more about what other people are doing and it's easy to find plenty of people (other Christians) to point a finger to.

And, when you say "look yonder", it helps to keep people from looking here.

Why Churches Divide

Divisions of churches have happened sometimes over minute, simple things such as where to place the piano or whether a guitar should be played in church at all.

Living in the south a "big" issue in the churches here is whether the King James or the NIV Bible is the true Word of God.

Some Christian churches cannot seem to get past this obstacle when a mention of bringing Christians together for one goal is proposed. My heart cries out to God when this happens.

I frequently use the New American Standard Bible for a resource in these study lessons. It is easier for people to understand if they haven't been in church since childhood.

Some people might take issue with my using this translation. I am not able to control what others think of me. I can only say I write these articles for two reasons. One, to force myself to study the Bible on a regular basis and two, to hopefully reach someone on the Internet who doesn't know about the life giving experience of knowing Jesus.

No matter which translation we use, the important thing is our total belief that Jesus Christ came to live among us, died for our sins and rose again on the third day so that we might be saved from eternal death.

I pray that the pastors of churches will realize that worshiping God and bringing others to Christ is the single most important responsibility they will ever have.

Rev. Auten says that he still gets nervous before he preaches even after 50 years because of the tremendous responsibility he has as a pastor. After all, lives and souls are at stake!

Priests

Priest (us) continue to be confused by mixed messages and the bickering among the preachers which has stopped or slowed the movement of the church of Jesus Christ many times before.

A movement in the northern region of the USA was stopped because of an argument about whether the piano was to be placed beside the stage or on the stage itself. A major religious issue, don't you think?

We get confused when we are caught up in the dicision making process of the church. I personally remember an incident where a church member stormed across a muddy field and refused to wipe his feet at the church door just because the parking lot was not finished in a timely manner. Silly, isn't it?

Well yes, but to those involved these type incidents cause friction between those who would otherwise consider themselves brothers and sisters in Christ and could cause yet another church to fall in this fragile society.

Princes

Do you believe most politicians are honest people?

I can hear you laughing from here but truthfully it is very difficult to get elected today if you are a Christian.

I once heard a (well known) distinguished news anchor who was a guest on a nationwide TV show say that he was tired of having a "goody goody" president, referring to President Bush at the time because of his Christianity and moral beliefs.

One politician once stated that he could get any bill passed in Congress at any time just by taking a barrel of whiskey and $1,000. with him on voting day. Does this sound plausible?

Pause

I am pausing to recap these three issues;

• preachers are bickering over everything from the Bible translation and version used in churches to the way a service is held to the type music played to worship God
• We as Christians (priests) are becoming more and more confused by these mixed messages and decide to point fingers at others not following the "plank" rule. Quick to judge others but slow in judging ourselves.
• Many politicians are still dishonest and run smear campaigns during election time based upon what the other guy has done wrong rather than what they can do for this country.

Now we come to the last "P".

The people

People, Christians and non-Christians are all observing what is going on in the churches; taking in the arguments and petty differences among the preachers and the priests.

Have you wondered why our churches in the USA are shrinking each year?

Did you know that the good 'ole USA is fast becoming the largest foreign mission field in the world which means that other countries are sending missionaries here? Strange but true.

As Christians it is our job to : love God; love our neighbor; and make new disciples. But, in light of the endless bickering, when we approach a non-Christian with the message of how they can benefit and find joy from the Christian life, their reply is many times...

"Why should I join you. I'm better off than you are!"

This is the warning:

First, Christianity will continue with or without us. But, if we want to grow as a church in our own area we had better make a commitment to come together as children of God, cry out for Him to help us get over becoming like the Pharisees, and do what God has called us to do.

There is but one God and one Jesus Christ. He is still here, no matter what we do. He is the light and the way. Please pray for our churches to become one again in the name of Jesus Christ.

Love in Christ

- Bob

Genesis 49:1-33 - Jacob Blesses His Family