Instigation and Discord
Among the things which the Lord hates: a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. Pr 6:19
Pr 6:12-14 A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up dissension.
Gal 5:20 mentions "discord" as one of those characteristics which he mentions in Gal 5:21 that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Of course these are referring the stirring up of illegitimate discord. Just living the Christian life itself will stir up discord, as we can see in the lives of Jesus and his apostles, and as Jesus said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn '’a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’" Mt 10:34-36 In fact sometimes Christians are too tolerant and should be involved in stirring up discord in a sense. Thus Jesus rebukes a church saying, "I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality." But illegitimate discord does not edify the church. Such discord is like that of Diotrephes of whom John wrote, "I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church." 3John 1:9,10
Instigation and discord can be difficult to deal with in a church in that both sides could claim the other to be the instigator. And it doesn't really help when institutional authority invokes its own authority in Diotrephean fashion to allegedly settle the matter. Some institutions deal with discord simply by shutting everyone up and shutting down all avenues of fellowship, which is a very bad idea. In contrast, like in Corinthians and Galatians, Paul deals with the substance of the issues rather than simply with the fact of discord. But also he dealt with the issue of attitude - namely love for one another. For concerning the end times Jesus says, "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other." Mt 24:10 So if there is controversy which you may want to stir up, make sure you do so out of love and with a view towards the edification of the Christian community.The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
Among the things which the Lord hates: a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. Pr 6:19
Pr 6:12-14 A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up dissension.
Gal 5:20 mentions "discord" as one of those characteristics which he mentions in Gal 5:21 that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Of course these are referring the stirring up of illegitimate discord. Just living the Christian life itself will stir up discord, as we can see in the lives of Jesus and his apostles, and as Jesus said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn '’a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’" Mt 10:34-36 In fact sometimes Christians are too tolerant and should be involved in stirring up discord in a sense. Thus Jesus rebukes a church saying, "I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality." But illegitimate discord does not edify the church. Such discord is like that of Diotrephes of whom John wrote, "I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church." 3John 1:9,10
Instigation and discord can be difficult to deal with in a church in that both sides could claim the other to be the instigator. And it doesn't really help when institutional authority invokes its own authority in Diotrephean fashion to allegedly settle the matter. Some institutions deal with discord simply by shutting everyone up and shutting down all avenues of fellowship, which is a very bad idea. In contrast, like in Corinthians and Galatians, Paul deals with the substance of the issues rather than simply with the fact of discord. But also he dealt with the issue of attitude - namely love for one another. For concerning the end times Jesus says, "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other." Mt 24:10 So if there is controversy which you may want to stir up, make sure you do so out of love and with a view towards the edification of the Christian community.The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
