I appeal to you … to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. (1 Corinthians 1:10)
The early church wasn’t exactly a picture of perfect harmony in the beginning. Two out of three times after Jesus told its first leaders that He was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem, they argued who was the greatest among them. They obviously had to work out their differences and deal with their egos to eventually achieve unity.
Division is not the result of people’s weaknesses; those can be forgiven and worked out by people who are mature enough to love one another. The real source of quarrels is selfish desires in people who are not willing to give them up (James 4:1). The thing to do, then, is to guard our hearts against self-centeredness and pride. That would prevent divisions in the church but would require a lot of humility and submission. Are we willing to demonstrate them?
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