THE GREAT DIVIDER
by Richard Burkard
In the summer of 2000 I felt compelled to make a decision - and I chose to leave the Worldwide Church of God (now Grace Communion International). When the Feast of Tabernacles came in 2007, I felt the time had come for another decision along the same line. I took a "leave of absence" from United Church of God, only to return one year later because the other local worship options were not as spiritually appealing.
Then came 2010 - and suddenly large numbers of elders and ministers were ready to leave UCG. After a series of church decisions and rulings which some trace back to 2007, the church President was removed by the Council of Elders. Then four of the 12 elders on the Council quit en masse. And as the year ended, an estimated 30 percent of the ordained ministers quit UCG - first to form breakaway local congregations, then combining in the new "Church of God, a Worldwide Association."
The schism was bad enough to make church scoffers suggest United Church of God was badly misnamed. At least one pastor who remained in UCG admitted the Church of God movement as a whole was "made a laughingstock" - adding the split happened because Satan was at work causing confusion.
The "Current Crisis" (as one important website in the break dubbed it) certainly left many members asking questions. Mine may have been different from the others, because of my personal experience. Was I three years ahead of my time in leaving UCG? Was I off-base in returning? Are there differences in these departures? And could some members be correct in attempting to justify the split as allowed or accepted by God?
After joining in three fasts for UCG unity during 2010 only to see widespread separation, I decided to focus my search for Biblical answers in a different direction. What does God's Word really say about dividing and separating? Is it always a work of the devil? Does God sanction it at times - and if so, why? The study showed the facts are not as "black and white" as some ministers and church leaders want members to believe.
Separated at Creation
Traditional ministers in COG's love to quote I Corinthians 10:11: "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come." In other words: apply lessons from the Old Testament as well as the teachings of Jesus.
Yet the earliest books of the Bible show God practiced separation then - even in the creation process. "So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it," Genesis 1:7 says. Verse 18 adds God later separated "light from darkness." More than 2,000 years later, God instructed Moses to build a tabernacle with a curtain - to "separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place." (More on that curtain later.)
And look at what God told Moses and Aaron in Leviticus 15:31: "You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so that they will not in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them." This instruction to be "separated.... for the sake of the Law of God" (Nehemiah 10:28) was cited by Paul in II Corinthians 6:17. It even went so far that Israelites were "separated.... from all foreigners" (Neh. 9:2).
What do we learn from this? Separation is not always bad. In fact, God can order it -- and even create it. Or have you stopped to consider what the Lord told a matriarch named Rebekah, when she was pregnant with twins?
"The Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23). This prophetic message was declared "before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad," Paul explains in Romans 9:11. He goes on to explain why: "....in order that God's purpose in election might stand...."
The Contemporary English Version translates Paul's words this way: "The Lord said this to show that he makes his own choices and that it wasn't because of anything either of them had done." So we can conclude the legendary feud between Jacob and Esau was not punishment for any sin they committed by jostling in the womb (Genesis 25:22). It was destined to happen, because God planned it that way! It was all part of His amazing "scripting" of human history.
If you need further proof of this, recall how God scattered the nations at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:8). Moses put it this way: "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples...." (Deuteronomy 32:8)
Some people in COG's have taken this to mean God supports a sort of "ethnic cleansing," with no people group encroaching on another group's territory. Yet for some reason, they don't go all the way with this idea and call for a sorting of modern-day "Israelites" by tribes. Weren't they supposed to "set up their tents by divisions, each man in his own camp under his own standard"? (Numbers 1:52; see also Joshua 14:5)
"The Gainsaying of Core"
At this point, some of you may be saying, "Wait a minute! What about the rebellion of Korah [spelled "Core" in Jude 11, KJV]? Didn't God punish that?" That occurred to me as well, as the UCG-CGWA split unfolded. Many breakaway ministers expressed opposition to the way the UCG Council of Elders sacked the President, along with several things the succeeding President signed and did. UCG's leaders declared an "impasse" - and then depending on which side you believe, ministers either had to sign "loyalty oaths" to the UCG leadership or resigned on their own.
So what happened with Korah? "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 'Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once'" (Numbers 16:20-21). Then God showed whose side He was on. "....the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions" (vs. 31-32).
I read one online comment from an apparent CGWA sympathizer, who claimed this chapter has been "misapplied" by church leaders over the years. It wasn't really about leadership, but equal rights for all tribes to the priesthood. Yet Moses made it clear to the protesters: "You Levites have gone too far!" (verse 7) - and God's response seemed to back that up.
Yet look at what else Moses said: "Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the word at the Lord's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?" (verse 9) So God arranged a division to accomplish His purpose - but then He punished those who challenged the way He organized things.
Good Split, Bad Split
Divisions in the Old Testament had other positive purposes. As far back as Abram, military units were divided to obtain success (Genesis 14:15; I Samuel 11:11). God called for Israel to leave Egypt "by their divisions," seemingly to make the initial exodus orderly (Exodus 6:26). And long after reaching the promised land, King David divided the Levites to conduct various assignments within the temple (I Chronicles 23:6, 24:1-5).
But there were also moments when separation was a form of punishment. Long-time COG members may remember this classic article title: "God Hates Divorce! Yet He Divorced His Own Wife - Why?" When it comes to a marriage covenant with the nation of Israel, the verse explaining why is Jeremiah 3:8. "I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries."
Spiritually speaking, God punished Israel for "adultery" with false gods (verses 6, 9) -- what Ezekiel 14:7 calls "idols in his heart." And there's a second related reason: for being "faithless," as opposed to being faithful to God. Isaiah 59:2 puts it in general terms. "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; you sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."
The Sword of the Lord
I happen to be writing this section on Martin Luther King, Junior Day in the U.S. In fact, I'm writing after attending an annual "Unity Award Breakfast" -- on a holiday when many people talk about unity along racial and ethnic lines. But Church of God groups have taught properly for decades when Jesus first came to earth, He did NOT come to unite all humankind in peace.
"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?" Jesus asked in Luke 12:51. "No, I tell you, but division." (Matthew 10:34 adds the imagery of a sword.) The following verses explain how Jesus can divide even human families - "father against son.... mother against daughter.... mother-in-law against daughter-in-law...." Even in places where the Lord preached, "the people were divided because of Jesus" (John 7:43).
That division was evident on the M.L.K. Day of this writing - as Alabama's new Governor raised eyebrows nationwide by saying people who don't accept Jesus as their Savior are "not my brother, not my sister." Robert Bentley (who's also a Southern Baptist deacon) apologized publicly two days later, after meeting with ministers from many faiths.
What makes Jesus so divisive? COG ministers might tell you impulsively it's because He kept God's Holy Days, Sabbath and commandments -- but that certainly wasn't the issue in Alabama. And since Jesus divided law-keeping Jews such as Himself (John 10:19-21), there must be something more to it than that.
We can boil this down to a separation based on Jesus's words and works. The Lord talked about finding salvation through Him, laying down His life "only to take it up again" (verse 9, 17; see also 7:33). He healed people on the Sabbath, which the Pharisees considered heretical. And think carefully about what Jesus' first apostles preached.
"So Paul and Barnabas.... speaking boldly for the Lord.... confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles" (Acts 14:3-4).
To some extent, this was a Jew-Gentile fight for followers. But notice what the message was about - grace. To be honest, grace remains very divisive in Church of God groups today. I know from personal experience - as I was barred from singing a modern version of Amazing Grace at a UCG Feast of Tabernacles senior brunch in 2010. The Special Music Coordinator accepted it before the festival began; to this day, I don't know who vetoed it at the last minute.
Within the Body
So given all this, were the people who chose the name "United Church of God" misguided in the first place? Does God want His people to have togetherness at all?
At that M.L.K. Day unity breakfast I attended, the mayor of my city quoted Psalm 133:1. "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!" That was a favorite Old Testament verse of Herbert Armstrong, and it's confirmed many times in the New Testament. But the apostle Paul's appeals show while the word unity matters, the word brothers is every bit as important -- because his appeals are aimed at church members.
At first glance, it can seem Paul engages in double-talk in I Corinthians. He begins: "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought" (1:10). He somewhat satirically adds in verse 13: "Is Christ divided?"
This section of Scripture jumped out at me when the WCG-UCG break occurred in 1995. I also could have turned to 12:25: "....there should be no division [KJV "schism"] in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other." Yet look at what Paul adds in chapter 11. "I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you.... no doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval" (11:18-19).
Hold on here - there have to be differences and divisions? Even though the church isn't supposed to have any? Well, we've already seen God can preordain some. The New Bible Commentary: Revised explains, "....divine providence makes them serve a positive purpose - they expose men's true characters" (1970 ed., p. 1066). So when an impasse occurs, it's time to ask God to make clear whose side He is on. What happened in Korah's day can happen again - although maybe not as dramatically.
Split-urgical
All sorts of things can cause divisions in a church group. Church of God history is filled with splits over a wide range of issues, from the proper day for keeping Pentecost to a leader accused of having a "carnal" attitude. The Bible offers some specific things to handle with care:
* People who do things "contrary to the teaching you have learned" -- with smooth talk and flattery (Romans 16:17-18).
* Similar to that, divisive people who are "warped and sinful" (Titus 3:10-11).
* Scoffers with "ungodly desires," following "natural instincts" (Jude 18-19).
* Gossips who spread news about sins (Proverbs 16:8, 17:9).
Yet the Bible shows the very Jesus who can divide homes is also the Lord who can bring groups together in a church family. Paul describes the Gentiles in Ephesians 4:18 as "darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts."
But earlier in the letter, Paul notes this good news for Gentiles: "....you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he.... has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in the flesh the law with its commandments and regulations" (2:13-15). It was symbolized by the curtain in the temple being torn in two from top to bottom as Jesus was crucified (Mark 15:38) -- so separation from the Father now is ended.
Of course, this section of the New Testament can cause division all by itself. Some commentators claim "Jesus as Israel's Messiah abolishes the law by fulfilling it" (N.B.C., pg. 1112) - while Church of God ministers are more likely to insist this refers to human traditions added to the Torah. We examine that debate in a separate in-depth article on the covenants (search for "Pg. 113").
Grand Right and Left
The most dramatic separation of human beings has yet to occur. When Jesus returns, "the angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:49-50). This apparently will occur after Christ divides people for judgment like sheep and goats (25:31-33) -- a division "between those who serve God and those who do not" (Malachi 3:18).
Yet the second coming also will be a uniting time for God's chosen people. Hosea 1:11 promises, "The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land...."
Bringing It All Together
So how do we sort out all these verses? I'm drawn to the simple words of Ecclesiastes 3:5-7. There's "a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them.... a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend...."
God scatters, tears, rips and separates in His own good time and for His perfect purpose. If God does that, we all would do well to accept it. But we'd better remain close to Jesus our Shepherd, woven together as a church family. And if signs of separation appear in a congregation or denomination, ask God to show clearly which side He supports. Who is closer to Christ? Which group is most in line with "the message of his grace"?
Jesus advised in Mark 10:9, "What God has joined together, let not man separate." These words apply to marriage, of course. But have you ever thought about expanding the principle to other human relationships? To relations between church members, religious groups -- and even your relationship with God? I pray He will grant you the wisdom to know where and when to come together. And to borrow from one of our first articles here, may you also have the wisdom of God to know when it's "time for you to go."
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© 2011 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.