Dear brother Christians, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and my reward for my work. My beloved friends, stay true to the Lord. And now I want to plead with those two dear women, Euodias and Syntyche. Please, please, with the Lord’s help, quarrel no more—be friends again.
Philippians 4:1-2
We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin
Seems that quarrels in the church have been going on for a long time. Paul urged two early church women to end their quarrel and be friends again. Yes, those early church leaders were just that- broken people who end up disagreeing and even holding grudges. Sounds like the church of today.
The Church these days is in turmoil, as some go off on differing political directions, splitting over policy issues, and taking hard stances on how to respond to differences in sexual orientation. There have always been lines drawn in the sand about the “right ways” to respond to issues in the world, and how we should discipline church members, etc.
I think Paul saw that a young church could not survive if it began splitting. I was reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s quote above about staying together as young revolutionaries in the face of British reprisals.
We have differences in how we see the world, our role as a Christian church, behavior of church members, etc. Paul said that Euodias and Syntyche should strive to patch up their differences.
Good idea…
Prayer: Lord, help us to seek peace and reconciliation rather than needing to be seen as “being right”, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 