A Rest For God's People

      Since God's church first hit the ground running—usually away from their persecutors—Gentile believers and Judaic believers have managed to find plenty of issues to dispute. At the head of that hot-list was, and is, God's appointed day for corporate worship.
      Jewish disciples believed in keeping the seventh-day Sabbath ordained for God's people since before the Mosaic law was instituted. For them, the Sabbath Day was, is, and shall always be the seventh-day of the week.
      Gentile believers, referred to as Hellenistic, celebrated Christ's resurrection, which was on the first day of the week as recorded in the gospels. These non-Jewish believers had never honored the Sabbath and saw no reason for starting the custom.
      So the dispute grew, along with the issues of circumcision, dietary restrictions, ceremonial cleansing, and keeping the rest of the Jewish holy days. Even after the New Testament was completed, the disputes continued, despite the many passages therein which were written specifically to put them to rest.
      This issue could fill books that would only add to the many tomes already published by theologians representing all sides of the argument. But we'll focus on the basic Scripture passages concerning the New Testament application of the Sabbath rest.
      In the following passage, Luke faithfully reported some of Stephen's last words as he addressed the Sanhedrin before being stoned to death.

Act 7:49  "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?"

      In that statement, Stephen paraphrased Psalm 132:13 & 14.

Psa 132:13  For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: 

Psa 132:14  "This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. 

      As if all that weren't enough, the author of the letter to the Hebrews continued the theme in Hebrews, chapter three, where he quoted Psalm 95:10 & 11.

Heb 3:10  Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.' 

Heb 3:11  As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest.'" 

Heb 3:12  Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 

Heb 3:13  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

Heb 3:14  For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 

Heb 3:15  As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." 

Heb 3:16  For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 

Heb 3:17  And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 

Heb 3:18  And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 

Heb 3:19  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. 

       Below, find the verses Stephen quoted. 

Psa 95:10  For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways." 

Psa 95:11  Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter my rest." 

      Whether we see this verse in the New Testament or here at its source in Psalm 95, it speaks of how God's people constantly failed Him, with the final insult of not only rejecting His only Son, but of murdering Him in the most disgraceful way possible. Remember, that was after God had shown Israel nothing but grace and forgiveness since He chose Abram out of all the ancients.

      Did God institute His Sabbath for His disobedient people Israel, or for all who obeyed Him by faith? As God's resting place was never in a temple built by men, the Sabbath rest He commanded for His people was never to be limited to the seventh day of the weekly calendar. God intended His literal, periodic Sabbath only for a shadow of the True Sabbath to come, in the Person of His Son, God incarnate. Only those who, by faith, enter the eternal life of Christ Jesus, may enter into God's Eternal Rest, because they are One and the same.

ODB Comment

            Dave Branon's meditation, He Says, We Say, deals with our responses to God's prompts. He might have titled it, "Excuses, Excuses," as we humans specialize in such futile exercises ad nauseam. Since Adam's excuses from behind a hastily-grabbed fig leaf, we've always tried to weasel out of God's clear instructions or justify ourselves when caught in some disobedience. Please note, I said, tried.
            The Apostle John truly gave us words to live by, when he wrote, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.(1 John 1:8-10 ESV)
            So much for our self-righteous claims of innocence. In fact, we can either try to justify ourselves, or we can trust Christ to justify us—not both.

Hail Mary

            It's not a Weather Lady who always predicts storms. And it's so much more than a prayer Catholics constantly repeat, hoping to do penance for their venial sins.
            The Bible doesn't say what occupied Mary, daughter of Eli, at the moment God's messenger Gabriel appeared to her, but Mary's reaction prompted the angel to say, "Fear not." Anyone who's dentist has told them, "This isn't going to hurt," can relate to Mary's response. And when Gabe called her, "Favored by God," she might have countered, "You scare the Gee Willie's out of me and I'm favored by God? Tell God not to do me any more favors." And I wouldn't have blamed her for it.
            But then God's special messenger told Mary, "The Lord is with you." Like Mary, that would've shut me up. And when he said, "You're going to bear a son and name him Jesus," she really began wondering.
            The rest of Gabe's announcement was just icing on the cake.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
(Luke 1:32-33 ESV)

            We know when someone speaks with authority, and so did Mary. We know that from her next action; she packed up and headed out on a three or four days' journey to visit her cousin Elizabeth. And why did Mary go to all the trouble of traveling along a bandit-infested road to visit her favorite cousin? Gabriel's announcement had included the news that Elizabeth had conceived a son and was in her sixth month of pregnancy. And Liz was not a spring chicken.
            If confirmation was what Mary had wanted from Elizabeth, confirmation is what she got. As soon as the baby—who was to become John the Baptizer—heard Mary's greeting he leaped in Elizabeth's womb.
            And they say an elbow in the ribs gets a mom's attention.
            What would it be like to hear the announcement, "The Lord is with you"? Not the well-wisher's, "God be with you," but the authoritative declaration that the Lord is with you, and will be in you.
            But we have that promise, spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself:

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."
(John 14:15-21 ESV)

            As He prepared His disciples for His departure He gave them the basics of what they—and we—would need to know and do as His faithful followers. But don't be deceived by His words' apparent simplicity. Contained within them are God's eternal wisdom, a finite code revealing infinite truth.
            As the film script writer penned, "Your mission, should you choose to accept it ..." But while that fictional mission was reputedly impossible, Jesus' mission for us is quite possible, through the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit. If you and I want to become Jesus' true disciples, not simply church-goers, we are in for the ride of our lives.
            Are you in? Then get out, and live for Him as His followers throughout history have done. The world won't like you for it, but your reward will be infinitely worth it. But don't wait for old Gabe to say, "Hail Mary," or whatever your name is. Just do it.

Coincidence?

            I think not. What are the odds for two unrelated Christian Internet ministries to produce topically related posts on the same day? Both Daily Manna from the Net and Our Daily Bread ran Scripture references about "Comfort."
            Our Daily Bread used 1 Corinthians 1:3-7, where the Apostle instructed the church to comfort others with the comfort Christ gave us. Anne Cetas' summation aptly stated, "God doesn’t comfort us to make us comfortable; He comforts us to make us comforters."
            Then, Daily Manna drove the theme home with Isaiah 40:1-3, where the Eternal One showed compassion to Israel by instructing the prophet to comfort them, rather than condemning them, which they always richly deserved.
            In the same way, the Father of all comforts demonstrated His love, mercy, and grace by His perfect sacrificial act referenced in John chapter three. This passage not only comforts those of us who have claimed His perfect sacrifice, but carries with it the context of 1 Corinthians 1:3-7.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NASB)

            What an unfathomable honor and privilege we have in sharing the benefit of Christ's sacrifice. And what an awesome responsibility we have to pass along its beauty and blessing as well. To paraphrase Anne Cetas' summary, "God doesn't save us to gain the privilege of our eternal presence; He saves us that we will pass on the joy of His gospel to others."
            God's word contains no coincidence, but only the perfectly consistent good news of His abiding love.

Badge of Courage

            Zealots.
            Every cause spawns them. Whether it's a political party, an interest group, or a religious sect, a few adherents will inevitably feel called to militant defense of the group's beliefs and interests, or aggressive proselytization. And without exception, zealots feel vindicated by persecution.
            Christian religious types look to the Bible for their commission to suffer for the cause:

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents--which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.
(Philipians 1:27-29 NASB)

            Of course, every religion points to their own Holy Writ for similar instruction to suffer as part of the whole "zealot" thing. The problem is, not all suffering is created equally; some religious zealots aspire to suffer in hope of heavenly rewards, while others accept suffering as the natural consequence of refusing to participate in a world system they feel is irredeemably corrupt. The Bible hints at a way of discerning the difference:

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
(Hebrews 4:12-13 NASB)

            God gave us His word so those who wish to follow in His Way might discern their inner motives and stay on the path proscribed for them. Faithfulness is its own reward, and those who hope for a more tangible perks, such as a badge of courage or heavenly bliss will, in the fullness of time, be sorely disappointed.

Hand Me That Crutch!

            One of the more inane objections to accepting Christ's work on the cross and depending on God is, "I don't need no religion for a crutch!" Left unstated is, I'm an independent person. I can make it on my own, so I can live my own way. Nobody can tell me what to do!
            The world is full of rugged individualists like that. They are the ones who won't go to the doctor unless it's in a hospital emergency room, or take advice, even from someone who knows what they're talking about. It's easy to tell who they are; they're the ones who crash through life making stupid mistakes and never learning from them.
            Whether they admit it or not, they are their own gods, refusing to bow to any authority. Is that a death-wish we see? If they persist, that wish will surely be granted, and they will get eternally more than they bargained for.
            Judging by their track record, I'm probably wasting my time and energy writing about such knuckle-heads; they won't listen any more than usual, and the rest of us don't need to be told who they are. Bible passages about scoffers abound, with detailed descriptions of their stupidity and foolishness. Did they get the message from God's chosen spokesmen? Hardly!
            Today they like to call themselves "Free Thinkers," "Skeptics," or "Atheists." A few of them are quite ingenious with their "proofs" that God doesn't exist, though such are hardly original. The rest of them simply parrot their more studious mentors, spouting pop-anthropology and Darwinian rhetoric. Not even Saint Charles doubted God's existence, viewing his Theory of Natural Selection as simply part of God's creative process.
            I'm near-sighted, so I wear glasses. My weird feet need orthotics. And not long ago I needed a crutch to get around while recovering from foot surgery. Sensible people admit that nobody's perfect, and to function at a level above that dictated by our imperfections we need to compensate for them. That defines the generic crutch.
            Our human imperfections go way beyond what is visible, effecting our inner motives, our resulting behavior, our self-image, and even our appearance. Despite the problems they cause, we must thank God for our human glitches, as they result from His creating us with the ability to go our own imperfect way. And as if anyone needed proof of our fallen nature we go to great lengths to prove it with the trouble we get ourselves into.
            Without God's Crutch, we'd stumble through life hurting ourselves and others. And without God's Crutch our ultimate destiny is the eternally prolonged death that is the only alternative to eternal life. The Crutch God has furnished us is His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Leaning on Him allows us to walk the way God designed for us, to the destination He created for our eternal blessing. And the Crutch of Christ fits us perfectly–no adjustment necessary.

Dead Man Walking

            There is a tradition on Death Row. When the condemned man begins the long walk from his cell to the gallows, the electric chair, or the gurney, other prisoners along the way express their empathy by uttering the phrase, "Dead man walking."
            Regardless one's opinion of capital punishment, such a scene provokes a sober reaction. But there is no guessing the thoughts and feelings of the one actually doing the death walk.
            Once a man traveled from Jerusalem toward Damascus, fully intending to imprison anyone in that city who followed the Way of the alleged Messiah called Yeheshua, or Jesus, as we know of him. Saul of Tarsus zealously pursued Jesus' followers, believing he did God's work, but Jesus had other plans for him.

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
(Acts 9:3-16 ESV)

            The last verse shows that, beginning with his vision on the Damascus road, Saul consciously began his own "death walk," knowing how he would live the rest of his life and that he would die in the service of his newly-found Messiah. Did that disuade him? Hardly. Saul the Pharisee, who became Paul the Apostle, began spreading the good news of his Lord and Savior with the same uncompromising zeal that had fueled his campaign of persecution.
            How clearly did Paul "get it?" Death became one of his main themes while writing God's New Testament letters to the churches. In them, he proclaimed the eternal truth of humanity's broken fellowship with God, the fact that our sin has irrepairably estranged us from Him. He revealed the inevitable consequence of our willful disobedience, the unimaginable tragedy, the unparalled torment and agony of eternal perdition. Yet, while this apparent preoccupation with death might seem morbid, the divine promises of which he wrote are anything but morbid. He proclaimed Christ's sacrificial death as the only certain means of atoning for our sins. He wrote of trading our temporary, corrupted life for Christ's eternal, perfect life. And he promised the spiritual fruit we would necessarily bear, once Christ has restored our fellowship with God.
            If we belong to God through Jesus His Son, we are indeed "dead men–or women–walking;" dead to our old self, with its questionable motives and lying spirit, but alive to God through Christ Jesus our Master(Romans 6:11).
            So you're the rare bird whose motives are pristine and has never lied. Then obviously you are the exception to God's inerrant word. When God said, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God," He apparently forgot to except you from the rule, was mistaken, or lying. But more likely, you are like Egypt, split by de-Nial, and you are indeed a "Dead Man–or Woman–Walking," directly to your judgment.
            Is that dark fate inevitable? If you fear that, you didn't read the previous paragraphs very carefully.
            Your sin hardly took God by surprise. Before time's beginning, He finalized His plan for your salvation. When the Word(His Son Jesus) was made flesh, He, who was God incarnate, was a dead man walking. As a twelve-year-old boy teaching the teachers in the temple, He already knew He was God's perfect lamb, being prepared for sacrifice. As He trod the dusty Judean roads, healing and restoring the sick and maimed, He knew His destination was the cross. And as He knealt in the garden, sweating drops of blood, begging His Father to let the fatal cup pass from His lips, He committed Himself to His Father's will.
            All that is standing between you and a right relationship with God is your refusal to accept His good news. Polish off your pride! Dump your doubt! Slay the serpent and his lies. You'll still be a dead man walking, but you will walk with Jesus to eternal, blissful glory.

Beauty
            As I age I become more aware of the beauty around me. But while that is true, I've also become more aware of all the ugliness.
            Perhaps my definition of both words is what has changed. Since I've retired, television is my chief means of observing people, but my years in the retail trade provided an almost inexhaustible flow of interesting faces. Both sources of exposure to humanity reinforced the same conclusion: Often those who least try to affect attractiveness are the most attractive. Attempts at compensating for ones perceived shortcomings simply exaggerates their character glitches and faulty self image.
            A television example is the models displaying Victoria's Secret. Every model pranced along the runway trying to look like a sex machine, with perfect makeup on come hither expressions, and not enough flesh to conceal their skeletal structure's minute details. What Authority decreed their beauty standard?
            Yet, other TV characters rely on another beauty standard. While they may still be pretty, their true beauty lies in their intelligence, personality, and character.
            From my retail experience with the public I observed the occasional person--male or female, their sex is irrelevant to this discussion--who displayed a remarkable lack of self-consciousness. They may as well have said aloud, "I am who I am, and it is what it is." They didn't need to affect an image or appearance because they were already comfortable in their own skin--imperfect though it may have been. Though most of those unaffected individuals bore attractive features which reinforced their inner beauty, some of them would have appeared downright homely without it.
            Conversely, innumerable people, mostly women, bore physical features that should have portrayed breathtaking beauty, but their self-absorption and over compensation for who knows what perceived shortcomings negated it.
            I guess my rant's bottom line is this: God created humanity in His own image and likeness. Those who see God as beautiful and are satisfied with His beauty reflected in themselves are indeed truly beautiful, both superficially and throughout.

Gone T' Meddlin' 
             If you're not from West Virginia, or you've never sat under the preaching of a West Virginia pastor, this writing's title won't mean much. It's a colloquialism that means someone's preaching has trod too close to one's toes. Which, in fact, Dave McCasland was dangerously close to doing in his Our Daily Bread vignette titled Daily Diligence.
             I don't need to belabor his point, as he's done a fine job of doing it himself. But if you feel like facing a challenge to your status-quo Christian walk, please tune in to this Our Daily Bread.
             I dare ya.

BORN TO PARTY

            The mating call of the post-pubescent homo sapiens is a loud bellowing of the phrase, "Let's PARTY!" But, despite the activities at most colleges and universities, that's not the kind of partying we're born to do.
            It all began long, long ago in a kingdom far, far away. No, this has nothing to do with Star Wars, although, those characters did plenty of partying—and fighting, and loving, and ... well, they were just like us, even if they were fictional. The characters I'm talking about weren't born. God Himself fashioned them as the jewel of His creation. They were so special because He made them to resemble Himself in several key ways. One of those resemblances was their autonomy, or their ability to make their own decisions.
            If you tuned in because of this piece's title, fear not. I haven't abandoned the subject of parties. In fact, our first parents attended one hummm-dinger of a party, where their friendly neighborhood talking serpent offered them a sample of forbidden fruit. Based on that con-snake's sure fire promise, our gullible great-great-great ... grand parents bought the idea that God didn't really say, "Thou shalt not ..." And in buying the lie, they "bought the farm" so-to-speak.
            Well, a good time was had by both—until they heard their Papa God walking through the garden. Apparently the serpent's reasoning rang hollow as God drew closer, so the newlyweds tried to hide. Fat lot of good that did!
            Then the excuses started: "She said!" "It said!" "It's not my fault, God. You gave her to me." Of course, that cop-out blamed God for their sin, which didn't go over well with the Almighty.
            That wild party at Adam an' Eve's place began another kind of party—the kind of party that you join, the kind of part that you commit to. Trouble with the party they joined is it was the wrong one. They chose to follow the slick, slithery serpent, rather than their Father God.
            And we've been making wrong "joining" choices ever since. Whenever we choose to disobey God, we, like Adam and Eve, choose to join the Infernal Brotherhood of the Enemy of Our Souls(IBEOS). And we get the exclusive right to join Lucifer and his cronies for perdition. That is one party you don't want to join; you know what it's like when the boss hates you ... think, an eternity of that.
            The Bible's New Testament says a lot about factions within God's church, and in only one verse does it seem to favor the idea.

For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.

            Does that mean factions(sects, partisanship) can be a good thing? Hardly! Who wants to show by their factitious behavior that they aren't approved?

And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.
(Matthew 12:25 NASB)

            I'm not harping on the differences of opinion inevitable in any group of people. For any group to agree unanimously is unnatural ... unless either God's Holy Spirit influences them, or some of them are intimidated by others, in which case the agreement isn't real.
            Jesus great desire was to unify His "sheep," even before they became His sheep.

"I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
(John 10:16 NASB)

The way that "party spirit" had taken over His creation must have grieved Him. Even as He walked this earth He knew humanity better than we know ourselves. Later, as He prayed for His church, He begged the Father to make us one.

"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
(John 17:20-23 NASB)

            Yet, from the very outset, the church divided itself into factions: The Circumcision Party, The Uncircumcision Party, The Jews, The Greeks. And then as now, whenever anyone had a difference of opinion they gathered followers around themselves. Of course, the instigator became the new sect's Grand High Muckity-muck; everyone wants to become a big spoke in some little wheel.

Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ." Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
(1 Corinthians 1:10-16 NASB)

As such agreement is impossible in the flesh, they—and we—must rely on that same Jesus Christ's indwelling Spirit to pull it off.
            Christ's Apostle to the Gentiles exhorted the Corinthian church further:

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.
(1 Corinthians 3:1-5 NASB)

For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.
(1 Corinthians 11:18-19 NASB)

            Apparently the Corinthian church wasn't alone in their proclivity for forming fractionizing factions(say that ten times fast):

Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
(Romans 16:17-18 NASB)

            And when he wrote to the Galatian church the Apostle Paul "quit preachin' and started t' meddlin'."

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(Galatians 5:19-21 NASB)

Please note how disputes, dissensions, factions and envying—behaviors tolerated by much of today's church—ranked as high on the no-no list as the more obvious sexual and life style infractions.
            I personally find taking sides quite hard to avoid, and I know better. Is it any wonder that people who center their lives around always being right can't see their own disobedience? Those of us who God has convicted on the issue must love those whom He hasn't, just as Jesus loves them and gave His life for them. When someone expects us to join their "party," we must lovingly tell them "No thanks!" and why.