There are many who believe that if something is of God, it will create unity, not division….clarity, not confusion. I’ve seen that questioning look in a person’s eyes as they try to understand what they are seeing. It resonates with their spirit, but their mind cannot come to grips with the fact that it is causing division and discomfort….it’s confusing to them and may look a little chaotic.
And, it’s understandable. After all, Scripture calls us to unity. God does not desire or cause division among us. He is not the Author of confusion. He is a God of order, not chaos. But, does that mean that something that brings either confusion or division…appears chaotic….is not of God? If one believes the answer is yes, he must consider 2 things.
One, read the gospels and notice how many times what Jesus said or did caused division or dispute. It seems that he actually provoked dispute. He challenged the order of the day continually. Jesus was divisive.
Two, consider the following landmark events of Christian, all of which caused some degree of confusion, chaos, and/or division and you will see that the foundation upon which you stand has been built by past moves of God that resulted in division. The theology you embrace once caused division.
A virgin who is pregnant. Confusing? Just a tad bit. Definitely unbelievable….highly suspect. I could easily imagine it could cause some division in the town. But, the Holy Spirit is the one who impregnanted her.
120 people all speaking various languages…at the same time….in a small room that probably echoed furiously….loudly enough to be heard on the streets below. I would imagine it would sound somewhat chaotic. In addition to that cacophony, their actions betrayed the possibility of being drunk! Confusing? You bet! Chaotic? Yeah, I imagine. Divisive? Eventually. But…this was the manifestation of the outpouring of the promised gift of the Holy Spirit.
In the Middle Ages, a priest from Prague, emboldened by the writings of another priest named Wyclif, believed strongly that church services should be conducted in the language of the people….and that both elements of communion should be served to all the people not just the priests. He was excommunicated and later burned at the stake. Civil war erupted in his area. Who is responsibile for Hus‘ convictions if not the Holy Spirit?
Another priest in Germany, besieged by guilt, continually feeling God’s displeasure, and constantly uncertain of the state of his forgiveness, is climbing the steps that Jesus is said to have climbed to Pilate’s judgment hall. Each step, he has been told, will take 15 years off his grandfather’s time in purgatory. So desperate for absolution, he climbs these steps on his knees, reciting the Pater Noster at every step. Upon reaching the top of the 28 steps, he asks himself, “Who knows whether this is true?” Legend tells us that during his climb, he heard a voice from heaven, “The just shall live by faith.” Strongly bothered by what he saw in Rome, combined with the voice and his recent study of Romans, he returns home, writes several letters and a paper stating 95 reasons why the sale of indulgences is not biblical…and that one act cleaves the existing church. Was the voice he heard that of the Holy Spirit? Was it the Holy Spirit who spoke to him through the written Word?
Not long after, a gifted student and staunch supporter of Ulrich Zwingli grew increasingly impatient with how slow Zwingli was moving toward more reform. He also believed Zwingli was not consistently applying the Scriptures. At a disputation, he was ordered to stop teaching and preaching against infant baptism. He and two others refused, separated from the Protestant church, and became known as Anabaptists. Another division in the church. Was the Holy Spirit inspiring these men?
In the early 18th century, a revival swept the newly formed America as the result of the preaching of 2 men. One was a Yale minister who refused to submit to the Church of England and bucked the tradition of the Puritans of America. The other was an itinerant minister who was actually an actor by training. Soon, much of America was divided. This revival caused some preachers to set up schools and churches while old school ministers refused to accept this new style of worship. This Great Awakening was a reaction against the Enlightenment but also a cause of the Revolution…which solidified America as a nation. It was a time of conflict and religious upheaval…but did finally bring about religious tolerance…which America is known for.
Just where would we be without these divisions? What would our lives look like if these landmark events of our history had been stamped out because they caused division, confusion, and not a small amount of chaos? Can we truly say that these events were not inspired by the Holy Spirit?
We see many of these events as cold, historical facts. But, every event involved real people….people who were confused and uncertain about the events swirling around them. Families were torn apart as grown children decided to follow opposite beliefs. Friendships ended as each person needed to decide for himself who or what to believe when both sides were very convincing. Churches divided as priests or pastors left or were asked to leave. Countless thousands were tortured and killed on both sides. Confusion….chaos…division… they all were the order of the day in each of these events. But, were they instituted by God?
The truth questioned or challenged in each of them seems evident to us today. We quickly determine the instigator to be in the right and the church in the wrong. But, hindsight is almost always 20/20. What seems so obvious to us today was not so obvious to the men of the day…or the leaders of the church. Do not assume that all the church leaders were swindlers. Many desired the same degree of biblical integrity that many of us do today. Men who had studied the Bible for years, who were leaving strong, spiritual legacies, found themselves on opposite sides of the table. And that left those looking on even more confused. None of these events was simply, orderly and clean…they were all messy…confusing….chaotic….divisive. But, the question is…were these men inspired by the Holy Spirit?
Most would recognize that these events were indeed from the hand of God…that the men involved did act upon the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But…they each caused division. Why? Why so much confusion and chaos if that cannot be of God? Because of the reaction of men.
Division can be caused just as much by the response or reaction to a message or act as by the message or act itself. Whether or not a message or action causes division is dependent upon both the one giving the word and the one receiving the word. It cannot be fully placed upon the shoulders of the messenger. The one receiving the message bears some responsibility. Many messages don’t cause division simply because they tickle the ears of those listening. Some actions cause division, not because it wasn’t of God, but because the reaction was not of God.
Confusion is often the result of a lack of understanding. Just like an 8 year old is confused when first introduced to the concept of multiplication, many believers are confused when they are first introduced to certain biblical concepts of which they have been ignorant for so long. When they see things that contradict what they have been taught, confusion sets in. This is exacerbated when the person feels too strong a loyalty for one’s ancestors and that to believe they may have been wrong is to betray them. Along with a willingness, teaching and time usually dispels that confusion.
Chaos may result because the one being used by God is still in the learning process. Churches just beginning to utilize the gifts of the Spirit experience a time of learning to discern how they must operate in a corporate service. Messes are not uncommon during this time. Patience is needed. We cannot expect instant maturity in the exercising of the gifts any more than we expect it in any other aspect of the Christian walk.
Am I saying that division is necessary or right? Absolutely not!! It should not be the test. We must realize that all growth brings a risk of division. Luther and Grebel never agreed. Luther was dismayed that the Anabaptists took his reforms too far. Other Anabaptists though went wild. Jan Matthys and Jan Bockelson carried their own notions with them as they embraced Anabaptism. Bockelson revived the practice of polygamy, marrying 15 wives. Matthys believed that in order for Christ to return, the righteous must seize power from the unrighteous and he called for uprisings in the town of Munster in the Netherlands. This uprising became a year long spectacle of wild-eyed millenarians that haunted Anabaptists for centuries. Their opponents looked on this debacle and denounced the Anabaptists as unbalanced, dangerous anarchists. But, one catholic priests, though horrifed by the events at Munster, did not denounce all Anabaptists because of these men. Menno Simons went on to publish a systematic summary of Anabaptist theology that became a guide for Anabaptist preachers and congregations for many years. Can we, his followers, follow this example of his by not denouncing everything charismatic because a few are fake and wildly unbiblical?
Sadly, it’s very rare that revival comes without division. We have this idea that it will be neat and orderly. But, some do not like it…they do not agree. Each of us believes that we ourselves will be on the side of revival…if it’s real. None of us imagine ourselves to be the ones critical of it. After all, we’ve prayed for it. But, when it comes in a way we don’t like, we denounce it using ubiblical tests…tests that would make our own theology suspect. No, division and confusion are not from God. He does not cause them. Men do….in reaction to something God is doing that we don’t recognize as His doing.
So, my original question was, “If something brings either division, confusion, or chaos, does it mean it is not of God?” What say you? Church history reveals to us division upon division upon division, filled with confusion and times of chaos. We have reaped the rewards and hold fast to much of the theology that brought about those divisions. We see men who believed the reformers before them weren’t radical enough and went even further. And, we embrace the teachings of these men, thankful they were not content with anything less than radical obedience. We are grateful for their steadfastness in the midst of conflict. At the very least, we should pause before uttering the statement, “It cannot be of God because of all the division it has caused.” Or, “This looks way too chaotic and confusing. It cannot be from the Holy Spirit.”