QT 9 Dec 13, Disunity among brothers is strange

2 Sam 2:19-23 (ESV) And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind him and said, "Is it you, Asahel?" And he answered, "It is I." 21 Abner said to him, "Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil." But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. 22 And Abner said again to Asahel, "Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?" 23 But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

NOTE: This story is similar to stories from the civil war, where many of the generals on both sides knew each other from school (West Point), or from previous assignments together as young officers. It is one thing to fight against an enemy you do not know, but quite different to fight against your fellow brothers. Still, the tribes will separate again in about 80 years thanks to Rehoboam's  folly (1 Kings 12). So, the concept of tribes did not create a natural unity among the people. In fact, differences in natural connections seem to naturally create disunity. People must rise above their sinful selves to see a higher good. As a church, we are the body of Christ. We have a natural unity. We have the Holy Spirit who can help us see beyond our sinful selves. And yet, we still see disunity in the church. Why? I think it must be our immaturity in Christ which ultimately causes disunity. A mature believer would only raise a ruckus if the issue was of such an important nature as to impinge the gospel message or sound doctrine. I suppose, there would be disagreement over what is sound doctrine, but I think most churches do a good job of defining the "things we believe" in their charters. And if an issue arises which is not part of the charter, the mature believer should not cause disunity with the issue. He can approach leadership; he can lay out a case to the leaders; he can ignore the issue; and / or he can find another local body if the issue is not satisfactorily  answered. The last thing he needs to do is to cause brother against brother fighting. It is not natural and it is not right.