God detests a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. (See Proverbs 6:16-19.)
I came up with a crazy visual way to remember this truth a few years back.
Someone had come to me and spoken hatefully about someone in town I barely knew. I was disturbed by the things that were said to me. I started thinking the person spoken against was an awfully ungodly guy.
Then I realized I had no reason to feel this way at all. The person I was mad at had never done me any harm. They’d always been only kind to me.
I confronted the guy who had, with a few words of gossip, stirred up dissension between us. I used this word picture: “Joe had a clean slate with me until you came along and scribbled this junk on my chalkboard.”
I said a few more things about rumor-mongering which didn’t sit too well with my brother and we parted ways. He later apologized, admitted his wrongdoing. Acknowledged his sin.
It is not a trivial thing to cause ill-will between men who are at peace with each other. When you complain about a brother to his enemy, you, in effect, cause a widening of the gap between the two. You reinforce the negative feelings your brother has. You stir up anger and strife. When you listen to a brother complain about his enemy, nodding your understanding, you contribute to their conflict. You allow him to feel justified in his sin. You muffle the Holy Spirit’s convicting voice.
Do your words often stir up trouble in the workplace? Have you caused tension in your family? Would your classmates label you a fight waiting to happen? Are your words causing division in the church?
God detests your rift-creating ways. Stirring up strife is sin. So stop it. Make peace instead. Pray for your brothers who are at odds with each other. Look for ways to bring about reconciliation between warring sisters. Encourage the unity of the Body.
Jesus, in his prayer to the Father just before his arrest in the Garden, asked repeatedly for unity in the church. Praying for his closest friends, the twelve, Jesus pled: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one.” (John 17:11b, NIV)
Then praying for us he continued: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23, NIV)
That should be our prayer as well. Our prayer and our guideline for action and for word.
Will what I’m going to do promote unity? If not, I won’t do it. Will what I’m going to say insure peace? If so, I will speak. Pretty simple, isn’t it? Act in a way that ends fights. Speak in a way that heals wounds.
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