“If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭3‬:‭25‬ ‭CSB‬‬

For whatever reason, today’s verse makes me think of the United States government. Maybe because of the word “house”, as in House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives is large. There are 435 voting members. That’s a lot of people all trying to be heard, trying to make their mark, and hopefully seeking to represent the people in their districts. And the people in those districts are also diverse with vastly different ideas and opinions and values.

Our government doesn’t work when these elected leaders can’t agree. Without genuine compromise and open-minded cooperation, no laws will be passed, no policies will be updated, nothing will be funded, investigated, or decided. The divided House will fail at its job. Sadly, this seems to be happening in real time.

This verse also makes me think of the Christian Church. I used a capital letter to indicate that I’m referring to the Church as a whole, meaning the entirety of Jesus’s followers. The Church is divided in many ways. In fact, it’s even more divided than the government. There is still just one House of Representatives while there are hundreds of Christian denominations and divisions within those denominations and even divisions within those divisions!

When I was growing up in a small town church, there was a disagreement about something I didn’t understand. (Or maybe I did understand it, but it seemed so petty I thought I must not understand.) Some people left the church to go to a different one because of that disagreement. I remember being very confused because we’d just had a sermon about unity and how people will “know we are Christians by our love.”

Later, my aunt, who was also my Sunday School teacher at the time, did a wonderful thing. She took us on a series of field trips. Every Sunday we attended a different Christian church in the region together. (There were many!) This felt so foreign and strange at first, but her point was that there is only one Jesus whom we all worship. The styles and routines may vary, but Jesus doesn’t. That was a marvelous lesson to learn that I remember to this day.

I think it breaks God’s heart that there isn’t one Church. He must be so frustrated that His children can’t get along well enough to love and worship Him together. Even worse, there have been many violent wars between Christians. Each church claiming they are the “one, true church.”

When followers of Jesus, who should have so much in common, are so divided, there is not much hope of unity in the rest of society.

So what can I do? Pray and do everything in my power to seek unity with other Christians I encounter. Only with humble obedience and God’s power and grace is this possible.

Dear God,

Thank you for your consistency and ever-presence. You made it clear that love is your priority, and it is the only thing that ultimately matters. Forgive my hard-hearted stubbornness when I hear other Christians say things I disagree with that have nothing to do with your central priority. Teach me humility, and also give me the strength to fight for love, the only thing capable of unifying your children, and the only thing worthy of taking a divisive stand.