A Divided Church​—How Bad Is It?

“LIKE a large and startled family, living in a ramshackle old house whose front wall has suddenly collapsed, there seems to be a row going on in practically every room​—with tambourine-bashing Jesus children screaming at elegant Anglo-Catholic homosexuals in black silk suits.”​—The Sunday Times, London, April 11, 1993.

This family is the Church of England. The row is about admitting women to the priesthood. The graphic description of deep disunity applies just as well to all Christendom. With the patriarchs of the Orthodox Church and the pope condemning the decision to allow women to be priests, the overall result, one report concludes, is that “the dream of reunification with the rest of Christendom is farther away than ever.”

How Divided Is the Church?

As we read at Matthew 7:21, Jesus Christ said that many would profess faith in him as Lord but still fail to ‘do the will of his Father.’ Maclean’s magazine observes: “Readers of Matthew seeking salvation could be excused for confusion about what exactly the will of God is, when Christians, and their churches, differ so profoundly on the question.” Following a poll among Canadians, it concluded that there is “tremendous diversity in Canadian Christians’ beliefs and practices​—more diversity among members of any given denomination, in fact, than between the denominations themselves.”

According to its survey, 91 percent of Catholics agree with the use of artificial birth control even though their church condemns it; 78 percent think women should be allowed to become priests; and 41 percent accept abortion “in certain circumstances.” Disagreement within the different denominations on “a host of theological questions,” Maclean’s says, “underscores the divisions tearing at the seams of the mainstream churches.”

Double Standards

Double standards as well as conflicting standards exist on morals. Some profess to uphold the Bible’s principles, but others flout them. Was the “marriage” ceremony performed for two Lesbians in the Metropolitan Church of Toronto, for example, in keeping with God’s will? The participants evidently thought so. “We want to celebrate our love publicly and before God,” they said.

One columnist asked how it was that “a Catholic archbishop with whom complaint after complaint had been filed, moved pedophiliac priests to a different set of altar boys.” Priest Andrew Greeley suggests that from 2,000 to 4,000 priests may have abused 100,000 underage victims, oftentimes with little done about it.

A disunited church produces disunited people. In the Balkans, both Serbian and Croat “Christians” feel that Christ is with them in their “just” war. Many wear crucifixes in battle; one, it is reported, “always held his crucifix in his mouth when the fighting was fiercest.”

“There Should Not Be Divisions Among You”

True, the Bible leaves some matters to conscience, but this should not leave room for such division. The apostle Paul clearly states: “You should all speak [and act] in agreement, and . . . there should not be divisions among you.”​—1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4:15, 16.

An honest look at “Christianity” some two thousand years after the apostle Paul wrote those words raises some very serious questions. Why are “Christians” so divided? Can such a divided church survive? Will there ever be a united Christendom? The next article will consider these questions.

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Demonstration by priests against abortion

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Cover and above: Eleftherios/​Sipa Press

A Divided Church​—Can It Survive?

“ALL who profess the saving truth of Christ belong to the visible Church. The divisions of Christendom​—between East and West, and between Rome and the churches of the Reformation—​are divisions within the one Church.” (Christians in Communion) That is how one author views Christianity​—as a widely scattered family of religions, all professing some kind of faith in Jesus Christ.

However, it is a divided family, with conflicting beliefs and standards of behavior. “Present-day Christianity . . . has lower standards for church membership than those for getting on a bus,” says one observer. How, then, should we diagnose its spiritual state? Catholic bishop Basil Butler concludes: “A divided Christianity is very ill indeed.” (The Church and Unity) How did the illness begin? Are there hopes for recovery?

“The Man of Lawlessness”

The apostle Paul warned that disunity would develop. To Christians in Thessalonica who thought that Christ’s presence was imminent, he wrote: “Let no one seduce you in any manner, because it [Jehovah’s day] will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction.”​—2 Thessalonians 2:3.

This “man of lawlessness” introduced apostasy and rebellion into the Christian congregation. Who is he? Not any individual man but, rather, the clergy class of Christendom. This class elevated itself over the apostate congregation relatively soon after the death of Jesus’ apostles, and eventually came to teach pagan philosophies, such as the Trinity and the immortality of the human soul. (Acts 20:29, 30; 2 Peter 2:1-3) Like a lethal virus, it infected the professing Christian congregation with demon-inspired ideas that would lead inevitably to disunity.​—Galatians 5:7-10.

The contagion had already started in the apostle Paul’s day. He wrote: “True, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work; but only till he who is right now acting as a restraint gets to be out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7) The apostles acted as a restraint against the poison of apostasy. When their unifying influence was removed, unrestrained apostasy spread like gangrene.​—1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 2:16-18.

The activities of this “man of lawlessness” continue unabated. In a recent report on “a church in sexual and theological torment,” one archdeacon of the Church of England is quoted as complaining: “Motions calling on the clergy not to indulge in sexual activity outside marriage are flung out. Practising homosexuals are ordained. They have made good evil and evil good.”​—The Sunday Times Magazine, London, November 22, 1992.

Wheat and Weeds

Jesus Christ himself taught that true Christianity would temporarily disappear from view. He said that the founding of the Christian congregation was like a man sowing fine seed in his field. But, Jesus said, “his enemy came and oversowed weeds in among the wheat.” When his slaves asked whether they should try to uproot the weeds, the field owner said: “No; that by no chance, while collecting the weeds, you uproot the wheat with them.” How long would this mingling of wheat and weeds continue? The owner of the field said: “Let both grow together until the harvest.”​—Matthew 13:25, 29, 30.

Until “the harvest,” or time of separation during the last days of the “system of things,” imitation Christians grew alongside true Christians. (Matthew 28:20) Satan the Devil used the apostates to create a corrupt and divided imitation Christian congregation. (Matthew 13:36-39) They produced a shameful counterfeit of genuine Christianity. (2 Corinthians 11:3, 13-15; Colossians 2:8) As the church fragmented over the centuries, it became increasingly difficult to identify true Christians.

New Divisions

In more modern times, says The Testing of the Churches​—1932-1982, “[n]ew divisions have appeared, in particular the charismatic movement, with its emphasis on personal faith and experience.” Interestingly, some see the born again, charismatic movements as signs of spiritual recovery rather than new divisions. Northern Ireland, for example, experienced such a revival in the 1850’s. High hopes were raised. A report told of “fraternal union . . . among the Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and Independent ministers” and said that “every day brought new tales of trances, sleeps, visions, dreams and miracles.”​—Religious Revivals.

Many saw these dramatic manifestations as evidence of God’s spirit working to revive his church. “The church of God,” said one observer, “in its highest sense is in these districts revived.” However, even though this particular revival was heralded as “a glorious and unprecedented epoch in the religious history of Ulster,” it and other revivals like it have not produced religious unity among those who claim a spiritual rebirth.

Such ones will argue that they are united in fundamentals. But this is the same argument used by the rest of Christendom, who rationalize that “what unites Christians is already far more important than the matters that still divide them.” (The Church and Unity) Christendom claims: “Our fundamental unity with each other and with all our fellow Christians is rooted in our baptism in Christ.” (Christians in Communion) To say that the divisions are unimportant because of common faith in Jesus is, however, like saying that cancer is not serious as long as your heart is strong.

The reality is that such modern religious movements have added to the confusion and produced spiritual anarchy as persuasive teachers corral followers for themselves. Jim Jones and David Koresh are recent examples of spiritual leaders who misled thousands. (Matthew 15:14) One Baptist minister is a leading member of the Ku Klux Klan. He links his campaign for white supremacy with a religious revival and says that those who take part in it will “be given the strength of providence on high, given the courage of He who died on Calvary [Jesus Christ].”

What about the supposed miracles, the powerful works, and the signs performed in the name of Jesus? Remember Jesus Christ’s strong warning that it is, not those merely saying “Lord, Lord” who gain his approval, but, rather, ‘those who do the will of his Father.’ Many today do not even know the name of his Father, Jehovah. Jesus warned of those who would ‘expel demons in his name, and perform powerful works in this name’ and yet would be “workers of lawlessness.”​—Matthew 7:21-23.

“Get Out Of Her My People”

What is the prognosis for sick Christendom? Very poor. Should we, then, take Catholic bishop Butler’s advice, to “join [the church] without more ado and to lend our aid to her continual ‘purification’ from within her ranks”? No! Divided and divisive Christendom will not survive. (Mark 3:24, 25) She is part of a world empire of false religion called Babylon the Great. (Revelation 18:2, 3) This bloodguilty religious system faces imminent destruction at God’s hand.

The Bible does not suggest that genuine Christians stay within this corrupt religious organization and try to reform her from inside. Rather, it exhorts: “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind.”​—Revelation 18:4, 5.

“Get out” to where? Remember, Jesus promised that at the time of the harvest, true Christians would be gathered together again into a worldwide unity. The prophet Micah also foretold such a regathering with these words: “In unity I shall set them, like a flock in the pen.” (Micah 2:12) Has this happened?

Yes! genuine Christians are now being gathered into a united brotherhood earth wide. Who are they? They are the Christian congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who unitedly declare the good news about God’s Kingdom in 231 lands. They have rejected Christendom’s divisive teachings and seek to worship God according to the truth of his Word.​—John 8:31, 32; 17:17.