Division Only Gets More Divided

A church was having some issues with a pastor so they ended up getting rid of the pastor. This pastor had caused lots of division in the church. After getting rid of this pastor the church began to heal and began to work at getting a new pastor. For months the church had fill ins, but were still not happy. Then they advertised for a full time pastor for the church. They had several applicants, but those in charge would not consider them. They wanted to bring back the pastor that caused the division and in the end that pastor came back. The pastor made promises that he said he would keep. He looked good to them.

Well, when it was time for this pastor to start back with the church something went wrong. Attendance dropped by 75%. Offerings were down another 90%. Not to mention that within the first month of employment this pastor asked for a $40,000.00 raise (from $50,000.00). On top of that the pastor began to stop coming to activities of the church and even began to miss a Sunday or two of preaching. The members of the church were not happy at all.

A Congregational Meeting was held and a division began. The head elder of the church assured everyone that things were going to get better. That this preacher was going to change and give them everything that he promised. Things ended up only getting worse. Not long after that the pastor secretly took a job with another church that gave him the salary that he wanted. For 6 months this church who had taken him back was being told on Sundays that he could not come for one reason or another. The head elder believed this preacher's lies.

It wasn't until another member of the church spoke to their cousin that they found out what was going on. The cousin informed the member that this pastor was preaching at their church. The member went to the head elder and layed it on thick. The church was informed of what had happened. Members of the church vowed to leave the church unless the head elder didn't leave first.

In the end the head elder ended up moving away and was never heard from again. The pastor ended up also moving far away has never been heard from again. The church decided that they needed to work together to heal their division before they went any farther about getting a pastor. They were successful at this and in the end found a pastor that satisfied everyone.

This is an example of what happens when a division in the church is not healed. It makes the church more divided. When churches have a problem they need to work together to heal it before they move forward with anything that will make a big impact.

It is never a good idea when you have gotten rid of the conflict in the church to bring it back in. That only makes the division or the conflict worse.

What needs to happen is that there needs to be lots of prayers said about the situation. People need to as God into the situation and ask for his will to be done. There needs to be prayer sessions held with all the members of the church attending. Church members need to listen for the voice of God and hear what his will is for them.

Following one member of the church who thinks that they are right is not the right thing to do either. They may sound good, but really they may be a snake in sheep's clothing. You need to ask God for his advice before going down this path.

If we seek God in all things then he will help heal what is broken. He will show us what is right so that we don't make the wrong mistake. Making the wrong mistake only hurts others. We want to love other Christians and do the Lord's will in all things.

If we do that then all things will work for God's good.