Division in Christianity: Eroding Christian Culture – We’ve Made Our Own Mess

by Dave Kahle

A few decades ago, the culture in the US could objectively be described as ‘predominantly Christian influenced.”  In the past 30 or so years, that has changed dramatically.  As I am writing this, in the Fall of 2022, we have seen cultural trends come to a head:  increased lawlessness; disrespect for authority, institutions and one another; abandonment of principles of rational thinking and the rule of law, among others.

           It is common to blame others:  partisan politicians, the death of objective journalism, left-wing college professors and teachers to name a few.  And, while all of these have contributed to the mess we’re in, there is one factor that few people have acknowledged:  US!

           I’d like for us to consider this question:  Has our mindless acceptance of the division and separation fostered by the institutional church system substantially contributed to the mess we’re in?

           Before I dig deeply into this and develop some recommendations for actions we can take, let me lay a bit of scriptural foundation.

God’s Will for His People

           Let’s go back to the end of Jesus ministry on earth.  He is getting ready to enter the Garden of Gethsemane, where Judas will betray him. This is his last recorded prayer:

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ 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. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 

John 17:20-23 (NIV)

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Since the dawn of time, businesses have been much more.  Our modern culture has caused us to lose sight of much of the potential in a business.  Read my book, The Good Book on Business, and your views of business may never be the same. This may change how you do business forever.   

 So, in his last recorded prayer, he prays for ‘complete unity’ among his followers, and mentions the impact of that unity —  ‘that the world will know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.’

            Image the power of that! God’s love would be readily apparent to the world, and that love would be attractive and compelling to a lost world.  Our unity would change the world!

What Contributes to Our Current State of Separation and Division?

           It is probably for that reason that the adversary chose to attack the strongest element of God’s strategy and sow separation and division among us.  Could it be that the tool that he uses to shatter Christian unity and make separation and division the comfortable status quo is – the institutional church?

           Now, before you get offended and turn off to this argument, take a deep breath and consider the evidence.

           At last reckoning, we have at least 40,000 denominations in this country. Additional groups are created almost daily, and church splits are so common that I suspect every adult Christian in this country has experienced at least one split in their lifetime.

           Every denomination and every church split had its inception in someone’s idea that he/she had a bit fuller understanding of truth than the next guy.  So, they reason,  “They don’t think like us. They don’t believe exactly what we do, so let’s leave this situation and form our own group.”  Presto!  A new denomination.

           At the very heart of every denomination is a...CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE.

At sDecades ago, I almost lost my first professional sales position because of my Christian faith.  "Being a Christian sales person is going to be tricky," I concluded. While that may have been true in my young and immature mindset, over the years, I've come to see that not only is there a Christian approach to sales but that in many ways it sets the standard for the best practices of the secular community.