What Is Called Divisive Behavior Is Not Always Sinful; It Could Actually Be Good

What is thought of as divisive behavior is not always sinful (Luke 12:51-53). It depends upon what the person is doing to cause such division. We can see this from I Cor 11:18-19 – “For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.”

Consider I Kings 18:17-18 “… when Ahab saw Elijah, … Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.” Notice the troublemaker is not necessarily the one that speaks out; the troublemaker is the commandment breaker. I am sure Elijah was considered “divisive” back then, but actually he was being godly.

Isn’t it probable that Paul was considered “divisive” by some Christians when he “withstood” Peter “to the face” (Gal 2:11) because of his sin? Can it be divisive to oppose religious error (Matt 15:9,13)? Does that make it wrong? Can standing for the truth be divisive to a person who is not being “easy to be intreated” (James 3:17)? Does that make standing for the truth wrong?

Jeremiah was "a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth" (Jeremiah 15:10). But that was a good thing, right? We should certainly be the same today, even though many Christians won’t appreciate it. That shouldn’t surprise us; many children of God in Jeremiah’s day didn’t appreciate what he did either. As a matter of fact, we should make it a point of emphasis to become like, and do like Jeremiah. Ask yourself this if you are a “gospel preacher”: are you considered by God’s people today (in this respect) like Jeremiah was to God’s people then? If not, why not?

An even more important person for us to emulate is Jesus Christ himself. Wasn’t He really the most religiously “divisive” person in the history of the world (Matt 23, etc.)? And among the saints of His time? Are we trying to be like Jesus in this respect? Shouldn’t we be (I Pet 2:21)?

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