Fussing and feudin'

It's distressing, but this is the way many people see the church congregations of today. (Grin) And to tell you the truth, a lot of times they are correct!
I'm here to tell you, it's not fun.
Personalities.
Politics.
Yep, in church.
I'm used to that in the corporate setting. Kinda "goes with the territory," as my grandma used to say.
But in church?
Come on, folks!
Did you know that after all he has been through so far, Nehemiah had to deal with this, too?
Yep.
Sometimes I think that it's one of the devil's strategies . . . if a church is humming along and doing well in building the kingdom, and glorifying God, he puts a person in it to change things!

I hope that you will take time today to read the fifth chapter of Nehemiah, and that you will keep a marker there all week, so that you can refer back to that chapter as we study.

We are going to read about some people who complain; we'll see the root of their dispute; we will see Nehemiah's reaction; then we will see his plan to take care of things. We will even discuss the sterling example that he set before the people.
Interested?
Great!
Here is a link if you want to quickly read . . .

It may be that you are like me, you have been in a church that went through a split. I guess in this world, splits are inevitable. Why? If we are sold out and committed to the truth of God's Word, it can happen.
If we are paying attention (and we should be) to godly standards . . . if we are committed to (and we should be) sound doctrine, there will be some conflict now and again. Why?
Well, since the beginning of the New Testament church, and even some examples in the Old Testament, too, there have been people who bring in false teachings.

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. (II Peter 2:1a)

There are also some who will behave badly.

They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. (II Peter 2:13)

The world we live in is a fallen world. If our church leaders and the congregation are obedient to God, we must confront errors and sin. It's not fun. (Hey, I hate conflict as much as the next person!) But it has to be done:

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. (Titus 1:9-11)

Let's face the honest, unvarnished truth, though -- even if we follow the scriptures and act in love; even if we are calm and not strident; there will still be some who react negatively. They may even leave. They may take others with them.
Now the church is split.
Is it still the right course of action?
You betcha!
No matter what the cause of the errors or disunity, we need to work at resolving conflicts in a biblical manner. Paul told the Ephesians to preserve the unity of the Spirit, and he told the Roman Christians to pursue peace and the building up of one another. We can't be passive. We can't just "let it ride." We must pursue peace in way that does not compromise the truth.

Last week, we saw that Nehemiah faced opposition from OUTSIDE the community. This week, we will study as he faces conflict from INSIDE.

He was faced with a problem that threatened to hold up the work! I hope you will read chapter five and join me tomorrow!