Why the Left and Right Cannot Unite (in Church)
Remember this: The left "pulls." The right "holds."
Churches that have significant constituencies of Republicans and Democrats cannot maintain unity for long.
And addressing those differences head-on will not divide the church. The church is already divided. It just hasn't spilled out into the open yet.
Remember this: the left "pulls.” The right "holds."
The internal dynamics of the two political parties are radically different. Progressivism is like a conveyor belt that pulls people to the left. Conservatism is like a tether that anchors people to the past.
This tension cannot be maintained forever in a group of tight-knit relationships, like a church. Sooner or later, something must give.
There are three main possibilities:
(1) The church will get "pulled" to the left.
Galatians 5:9 says, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Error metastasizes over time.
(2) The church will "hold" to its confession.
Jude 3 says, "I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." God does not change and his word is eternally true. It needs to be proclaimed and obeyed, not adjusted.
(3) The two factions will divide.
1 Cor 11:19 says, "there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized." Not all factions are bad. Sometimes, division is necessary to prune the body of Christ of leftists that want the church to accommodate worldly demands.
In smaller churches, where everyone knows each other and differences are harder to hide, the tension may break more quickly.
In larger churches, tensions can ride out a while longer because they are big enough for people in both factions to find community with others who think like them. This is supported by a pulpit policy of "criticize both sides" which applies a winsome bandaid to a mortal wound.
In either case, eventually, the tension breaks. The progressives in the church insist on pulling the whole church to match their ideology. The conservatives insist on holding to their convictions and resist getting pulled.
The wood is cut, dried, and ready to burn. All you need is a hot cultural moment to light the match. Maybe a presidential election.
I wish this weren't so. I hate division in the body of Christ. But truth must always precede unity. The inevitable "pull" and "hold" dynamics of each group will not allow any other alternative.
It's not a matter of if, but when.
“…a pulpit policy of "criticize both sides….applies a winsome bandaid to a mortal wound.”
Wow, well said.
Certainly there are many policy issues subject to prudential judgment, where Christians will quite legitimately take differing positions. Neither the Bible nor faithful tradition offer a blueprint for air-traffic control, for example. In such cases we want to apply the timeless principles and wisdom we do have to new situations.
But so many pastors are an uncertain trumpet even on things we have a template for: marriage, family, human sexuality, even human life! Yes, per Psalm 133, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity,” but these pusillanimous pulpiteers remind us of the Monty Python character: “This is supposed to be a happy occasion! Let’s not bicker and argue about who killed who” 🤦♂️
I like flowers. I have petunias and they produce lots of flowers if I rip often the dead ones and clean up the dead stems and old leaves. However, no matter how careful I am, I always end up breaking off a dead stem that actually had a live flower at the end of it. I always feel bad, because I want to clean it up to make it look pretty, and I don’t have the patience to wait for the entire stem to be dead. For those who do not know, petunia plantas have many long stems that wraps itself on each other, so that the flowers that come through in one single section might be from several different stems.
The other day, it made sense to me: the Lord is patiently waiting for the wheat to be separated from the chaff, so that no one is lost but the chaff. I think we are being sieved. We can see this happening amongst families as well, not only in the church…