Why Do Christians Have “Church Splits”?

     Not long ago, a traumatized local pastor (I’ll call him “Rev. Jack”) phoned me with the news that his congregation had just had a vicious “church split.”

     For several weeks, two rival factions in his congregation had been feuding over the music program, when suddenly on Sunday morning a group of members stood up and walked out to start a new congregation elsewhere.  The stunned pastor wanted to know why the “split” had happened and, more importantly, how he could have prevented it.

     I told Rev. Jack that “church splits” are one of the most common problems in Christian history.  They’ve been happening since the First Century and their cause is well known.  The apostle Paul wrote about such “splits,” and he said their cause is Spiritual immaturity.

     For example, in the First Century, the Christians in the city of Corinth, Greece had divided into rival factions, and Paul condemned them for it.  Here’s what Paul said to them –

              “Brothers and sisters, I wasn’t able to talk to you like Spiritual people.  Instead,
          I had to talk to you like unspiritual people.  I had to talk to you like infant Christians.”[1.  Adapted from First Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 1.  The key words here are the Greek adjective pneumatikos (“new-mah-tea-cahss'”), meaning a Christian who’s being motivated by the Holy Spirit; and the adjective sarkikos (“sar-key-cahss'”), meaning a Christian who’s being motivated by his or her selfish human nature.  Paul is saying there are two basic kinds of Christians:  Spiritual Christians, and unspiritual Christians, who can properly be called infant Christians.]

     So there are two basic kinds of Christians:  Spiritual Christians and unspiritual Christians (who can also be called infants), and the two act very differently.  Next, Paul went on to explain how “infant” Christians act.  Here’s what he said –

              “You’re still unspiritual because, since there are … divisions among you,
          aren’t you still unspiritual?  Aren’t you still acting like non-Christians?”[2.  Adapted from First Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 3.  The key word here is the Greek noun dichostasia (“duh-hahss-dah-see’-uh”), meaning divisions in the sense of disunity and dissension in a congregation.  Notice that this is non-Christian behavior.  Christians who cause divisions in a congregation are acting like non-Christians.]

     So one of the clearest signs of “infant” Christians is when they participate in a division (disunity and dissension) in a congregation; and that means the division in Rev. Jack’s congregation was caused by Spiritually immature “infants” who were acting like non-Christians.

     And now we know what causes “church splits.”  But, how can they be prevented?  The prevention for “church splits” is also well known, and the apostle Paul wrote about that, too.  Here’s what Paul said about it –

              “I fed you with milk, not with meat, because you weren’t ready for meat.  And
          even now, you’re still not ready for it.”[3.  Adapted from First Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 2.  Paul used the Greek words for “milk” and “meat” here.  But he wasn’t talking about real milk and meat.  He was talking about the two levels of teaching in Christian congregations:  “Milk” (basic) teaching for unspiritual Christians.  And “meat” (deeper walk) teaching for Spiritual Christians.]

     So there are two basic levels of Christian teaching:  “Milk” (foundational) teachings for infant Christians, and “meat” (deeper walk) teachings for Spiritual Christians.  And Paul also gave us an important rule for Christian teaching – until a congregation has had enough basic teaching to start growing Spiritually, it shouldn’t be given deeper walk teachings because deeper teachings are wasted on infant Christians.[4.  In First Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 14, Paul gives this vital principle.  He says that infant Christians – who by definition are not Spiritual – can’t understand deeper walk teachings, and may even think deeper teachings are foolish.  So deeper walk teachings are wasted on infant Christians.]

     Now, the problem today is that national surveys reveal that the average Christian is no more Spiritual than a non-Christian.  In other words, the average Christian today is an infant Christian, because he or she hasn’t been given enough foundational teachings to start growing Spiritually.  That’s why “church splits” and other non-Christian behavior are so common in congregations.  Most congregations are made up of infant Christians.

     Thus, to prevent “church splits” (and other forms of non-Christian behavior) in congregations, leaders need to give their people enough basic teaching to start them growing Spiritually, even if that takes years of basic teaching.

     On this blog, we call that a “return to the basics.”  It’s a return to the original First Century teachings of Christianity, including the teaching of the Early Christian Lifestyle the original Christians lived.  Those teachings are on this website in the sidebar menu to the right.

     That’s what I recommended to Rev. Jack.  And that’s what I recommend to any pastor, priest, elder, or other Christian who wants the people he or she cares for to start growing Spiritually.