The subtitle is a reference to Jordan Peterson, a clinical phycologist and a lighting bolt in thought for the 21st century. I prayed about this topic. Lately, I’ve noticed the Christian religion has become increasingly divided. Now division in the church is nothing new under the sun. Paul had to deal with this subject in the early days of the church as expressed in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17. And of course who can forget the split from the Catholic Church thanks to Martin Luther? Today’s split is no different. People in a congregation find something in scripture they disagree with from what the church is teaching, and eventually those people feel convicted to leave and create their own church as a response. Today’s division is conservative versus liberal within denominations (shocker).
You can make the argument this has always been the case. After all to the Catholic Church, Martin Luther was liberal for his era. Ironically, we’ve regressed back to how they handled the division at the time. We got to a point in the 20th century where people of faith could communicate with each other; give encouragement and acknowledge each other’s strengths. Catholics and Protestants seemed to get along too, despite theological differences and bloodshed beforehand. Now, we’re at a point which we cannot disagree without demonizing the other believer on the other side of the spectrum. And if you side with either one on an issue, you essentially fallen into sin according to the other tribe-similar when there were splits before the 20th century, dating back to biblical times. Difference is we’re not physically murdering each other-spiritually, we are.
Social media is partly responsible. The devil weaponized this technological miracle into something sinister. Pointing fingers, however won’t get us out of this predicament. Christians have a responsibility to take up the cross and not make excuses for the current circumstances. We have the ability to talk and more importantly, listen. That’s how we bridge the gap between the conservative and liberal theologian. There’s strengths and weaknesses to both ends. If people are willing to be loyal to the truth (which is Christ) instead of the tribe, we can find unity again, stop the bickering amongst ourselves, and back to carrying the mission of giving the good news of the gospel.
Order and Chaos
What’s Jordan Peterson’s “order and chaos,” have in relation to this? I think in order to bridge both worlds, we must understand why each side exist. That’s where Jordan Peterson comes in. Order and chaos is an explanation of the differences between a conservative and a liberal. Our political and theological leanings are based on personality. How is a personality developed? A personality derives from one’s genetics, parenting, societal variables, and environment. So someone who’s more disciplined in personality will likely have a conservative world view. You might notice many who are conservative work as first responders or are in the military. Structure, discipline, order. Someone who is more artsy in a less rigid environment will be more liberal. They are the rule breakers. Reckless in behavior, thus chaos. Obviously there’s anecdotes, but that is the general rule.
The side of order is great when the system is working. That is the strength of the conservative mind. Where they lack is whenever there’s a failure in the system. That’s where the “chaotic” individuals comes in. They shake things up, create chaos in the system in hopes of bringing needed change. Injecting new life; however liberals need the conservative mind next to them, because if left unchecked, lawlessness manifests. Too much order exacerbates legalism. Essentially, the liberal and conservative church is a response to each other’s failures while flourishing their God-given strengths.
I could dissect the current flaws of both. Liberals seem to be lacking any structure these days, given the lack of accountability from sin. Conservatives perhaps idolizing too many leaders to solve the hard questions, instead using their own brain to critically think. Yet, conservatives have a sense of accountability at least, while liberals are very active in their local community. I’ll let you connect the dots on what is that a response to. There’s good, bad, and always more to the story than the picture suggest. I know there will be some strong voices of dissent with this opinion. Some will think I didn’t go hard enough on the flaws of one or the other, depending whose side you’re on (if you wanted that, find another author). I wanted to give a surface understanding on the strengths and why the leanings exist. When we understand the purpose on one’s existence, we can better learn to appreciate its function, just like the human body. And just as we should take care of our body to treat it like a temple, the body of Christ is no different. The gospel is the basis of our unity. If the conservative and liberal can agree Jesus is lord, God’s word is infallible, and repentance is the keyhole to salvation, there can be unity in the church. And unity does not equate to uniformity.
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,[e the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and from by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Author’s Note: Anything underlined is a link for you to click on if desired. Readers are encouraged to educated themselves and seek other sources for information. Feel free to comment, or message me on Instagram at kengine_express for any questions in regards to the good news of Christ. God bless.
So over the course of time, there has always been some "type of reform" in the name of God. People have always felt that their way of thinking vs that which is written is better (for a lack of better terms) for them. The division within the church dates back as early as Sanhedrin and Jesus himself. The Sanhedrin basically gave Him over to be crucified as they didn't Him to challenge the norms of the day. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 1:10 "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought." This passage tells us to reconsider division in the church and drop the tribalism, be one in all that we do when it comes to our praise and worship. In the church leadership, you'll find animosity that creates factions, as it has done in the past, In Jude 19 for example.
Jude 19 "It is those who are [agitators] setting up distinctions and causing divisions" —merely sensual creatures, carnal, worldly-minded people, devoid of the Holy Spirit and destitute of any higher spiritual life. A suggestion would be to take a look at history and ask for yourself, how has division in faith helped anyone ever.