Romans 16:17-19 (NIV): I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
The enemy of our souls has a favorite weapon in his arsenal: the divider. These are people who are used, consciously or, perhaps more frequently, unconsciously, to start divisions and dissensions in the Church, and in the process can ruin or irreparably damage whole congregations. They often begin simply by grousing about something inconsequential, but that is usually enough to get at least a few to turn aside from their fixed focus on God and His agenda, to focus on what they are grumbling about. They often complain about what is not being done to meet their needs, or the needs of “other people” that they supposedly know but don’t want to name. They do not contribute to the mission of the church by spending their time, their talents, their energy and their resources to make disciples, but have a focus on “getting needs met” that pulls others off the mission as well. Be careful of these people – they are weeds sown among the wheat! By their low-level but persistent discontent, they can eventually draw a large percentage of a congregation off task, and make the whole group stagnant and unproductive. God has ONE agenda for every Christian, and thus ONE agenda for every congregation: make disciples of everyone! If the people will only make THAT ONE THING the focus of their lives and ministry, they will find that God will meet their every legitimate need, miraculously empower them to do all that He has commanded, and be powerfully present in every gathering to guide and direct.
Father, forgive us for too often allowing ourselves to get pulled off track from the ONE thing that You have called and saved us for. Help us, Lord, to ignore the siren song of the dividers to turn aside from Your mission and vision for us, onto the reefs of unproductivity and death. Help us to be steadfastly about the Master’s business so that we can experience Your every provision and blessing. Amen.