1 Corinthians 11:17-19

But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. RSV

Unfortunately, there are times within the Church when divisions, disagreements, are necessary. When false doctrine and sinful practices become the norm, when they are accepted rather than ferreted out as the evil they are, then there will be divisions.

Several months ago I was involved in an online discussion where several believers were berating me and others because we weren’t actively involved in a church (of their choice). And while I don’t encourage Christians to avoid gathering together for fellowship and edification, there are situations (and unfortunately the situations are growing) were mature, serious believers can’t find a local church worth attending. It’s a sad commentary, but true.

Several years ago, David Wilkerson released some of his sermons on video. His initial purpose was to stimulate family Bible study, but it soon became clear to him that families were using the videos as a replacement for face-to-face church attendance. Why? Because, in their communities, there were no serious Bible-believing churches. Oh, there were congregations that purported to be such, but in fact, weren’t.

Paul describes such a situation in Corinth: “when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.” What a sad commentary on a church. The Jewish New Testament translates it thus: “when you meet together it does more harm than good!” I truly believe that this is the case in more and more churches in America. As believers, we are called to be the salt and light of our society. And yet, rather than influencing our society for good, we excuse our own lusts and simply dig into the muck with our unsaved neighbors. When we come together as a “church” (regardless of what the formal structure looks like), our purpose is supposed to be to edify each other.

Now that word is interesting: edify. It means to “instruct and improve.” In other words, when we leave a church service, we should leave as better Christians than when we came in. Can we truly say that? Can we say that we are better Christians today than yesterday? This year than last year? This decade than last decade? Is our Christian growth, maturity, measurable and observable?

As sad as it is, maybe we are at a point in American Christianity where we need to start making some divisions within the Church so that there might be at least some (a remnant) who are genuine among us.