Yesterday I began to discuss the message of The Evangelical Church Is Breaking Apart by Peter Wehner, published by Atlantic Magazine. Yesterday, we looked at what was happening at McLean Bible Church in the Washington, D.C. area.

The article goes on to say that what’s happening at McLean Bible Church is happening all over:

“Nearly everyone tells me there is at the very least a small group in nearly every evangelical church complaining and agitating against teaching or policies that aren’t sufficiently conservative or anti-woke,” a pastor and prominent figure within the evangelical world told me. (Like others with whom I spoke about this topic, he requested anonymity in order to speak candidly.) “It’s everywhere.”…The aggressive, disruptive, and unforgiving mindset that characterizes so much of our politics has found a home in many American churches. – Peter Wehner

Then Peter makes this astute observation:

The root of the discord lies in the fact that many Christians have embraced the worst aspects of our culture and our politics. When the Christian faith is politicized, churches become repositories not of grace but of grievances, places where tribal identities are reinforced, where fears are nurtured, and where aggression and nastiness are sacralized. – Peter Wehner, emphasis mine

You don’t need a seminary degree to know that such behaviors are not Christ-like, that believers ought to be able to associate with people with whom they disagree on certain issues. Jesus’ original twelve were very diverse, including Matthew, a former tax collector, and Simon the Zealot who would have been violently opposed to tax collectors. The Chosen, Season 2, Episode 3, captures an imaginary argument among the disciples, mainly provoked by Simon Peter who also wasn’t thrilled to be in the company of a former tax collector.

I would have said in Wehner’s paragraph above that “one root of the discord…” There is another root, which the article itself discusses, and about which I’ll say more tomorrow. Stay tuned.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2.1 – 4, ESV)

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. (Romans 14.1, MSG)