![[Graphic of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/the_only_thing_that_counts.jpg)
| “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” |
| —Galatians 5:6b |
Way back in 1964, when I was a junior in high school, Psychiatrist Eric Berne wrote a landmark book entitled Games People Play. In this book, Berne introduced the popular culture of that day to a tool of psychotherapy called “Transactional Analysis.” Throughout my private consulting practice with churches, non-profit Christian organizations, and commercial businesses during the 1970s and 1980s, I often used Transactional Analysis as a tool to help people understand what was happening in their day-to-day exchanges with their co-workers.
One of the “games” that most often disrupts a smoothly functioning workplace is called “Let’s You and Him (or Her) Fight!” In this transaction, a third party creates a situation that will divide two co-workers into separate emotionally charged camps. Then, the third party will initiate some critical event that will start an emotionally charged conflict between the two innocent parties that will soon escalate into an anger-filled exchange.
I am fairly well convinced that this is exactly what our arch-enemy, Satan, has done to the Church over the issue of the acceptance of a wide variety of personal behaviors. These behaviors involve people in our society at large. And, these behaviors also involve individuals who identify as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
While there are many specific behaviors that I could cite as an example, purely for the purpose of illustrating what I believe Satan has done to try to confound the church, I will choose to use the issue of sexuality in all its permutations and, particularly the acceptance of sexual practices outside the bond of marriage between one man and one woman. This is an issue that has received so much publicity that it serves as an excellent example.
Secular society has so radically changed its public approach to this topic, that the Christian church has become a source of ridicule and great fodder for those who want to deny the existence of God, or to deny that He has any real power or interest in what humans do in their lives. In response, some Christians and their churches have begun to accept sexual practices that they heretofore would have labeled as “sin,” while other Christians and their churches continue to maintain a more traditional view of these practices. Please let me illustrate this assertion:
One side of this divide within the Christian church sees people who they believe, through absolutely no fault of their own, were born with a particular predetermined sexual drives over which they have no choice, or more so, no need to control. Such individuals, in living out their sexuality, are simply acting very naturally in accordance with their own sense of “being.”
The other side of this divide within the Christian church sees what appears to them to be very clear instruction in God’s written Word—the Bible—that forbids all forms of sexual activity outside of the bond of marriage between one man and one woman. These folks—and for purposes of full disclosure, I happen to be one of them—sincerely believe that to sanction as “normal” within the Church sexual behaviors—that they believe the Bible clearly indicates as sin—will impair the ability of the Church to function as God intends it to function.
It is critically important to understand that the Christian people holding this latter viewpoint make a very clear distinction between the temptation to engage in any sexual activity outside the bond of marriage between one man and one woman and the actual performance of such sexual acts. Furthermore, these Christian people do not single out any particular sexual practice, but hold this strong belief toward all forms of sexual activity outside of that which takes place between one man and one woman within the bond of marriage.
To these more conservative Christian people, God’s written Word is the only acceptable source for describing sin. Christians who desire to live in a way that is faithful to God’s written Word must follow what God has revealed therein. At the same time, believers should not—and, in fact, dare not—think that a secular society will accept their beliefs. So, push back from the secular society against biblical values is always expected.
While the example I have cited may seem extreme, it is—that’s what makes it an excellent example. The real problem, whenever sincere Christian believers come down on the differing sides of any issue, is how they will treat each other, and in fact all other humans, as a result of holding different opinions that might place them in conflict with one another and divide the Body of Christ, the Church, into angry and disagreeable camps of people. They waste energy fighting with each other and, thus, allow Satan to gleefully watch what he has created in the “game” of “Let’s You and Him (or Her) Fight.”
What is happening in this and so many other instances is that secular society is trying to pit Christians against each other in the game of “Let’s You and Him (or Her) Fight.” Instead, it is my sincere and earnest prayer that whenever such disagreements occur, eventually cooler heads on both sides will prevail and efforts will be made to conform to the Psalmist’s declaration found in Psalm 133:
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
Or, all the more so, the instructions of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:1-6:
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
As we begin this day, I humbly ask you, my fellow believers in the life-transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ, to pray that the current “game” of “Let’s You and Him (or Her) Fight,” which Satan has set into motion, will not divide us. While valid theological disagreements about very serious matters are quite likely to continue for many years to come, we certainly can learn to treat each other with respect, humbly granting each other’s point of view—even when we feel very strongly that our viewpoint is the right one—without becoming rancorous and accusatory. We do not need to call each other names.
Instead of joining with those in the secular society who seem to take delight in name-calling, discrediting, and cancelling, let us determine to defend our brothers and sisters. Let us acknowledge that we Christians can hold differing points of view on certain matters and still remain committed to the purpose for which the Lord Jesus, Himself, established His Church.
If we do this, Satan will be defeated once again and the love of Christ will break through the fog this matter has created. After all, the most important thing remains what the Apostle Paul declared in Galatians 5:6b:
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Indeed, nothing matters more than this. As fellow believers, let us lock our minds and hearts together and become absolutely filled with the love of our Savior, let us prayerfully learn from each other, and—when our disagreements cut to the very foundations of our theology—let us move forward with the purpose of introducing a needy and dying world to the life-giving reality of God’s everlasting mercy, grace, and unfailing love.
Based on a blog originally posted on Monday, June 29, 2015
