When Christians are Caught in a Civil War

Mark 3:20-27 (NLT):

One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said.

But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons.”

Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” he asked. “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.

David Jeremiah of Turning Point, yesterday (June 21, on radio):

Isn’t it a strange paradox that in times of religious revival or the outworking of the Holy Spirit, it is usually the religious leaders who oppose the work of God most strenuously and seem to misunderstand it on purpose? The accusation[s] of the scribes…

Now I want you to notice how Jesus deals with this issue. …These religious dudes come down from Jerusalem, they see you do the greatest miracle you’ve done up to this point, and then they say you’re powered by a demon…

There’s no sense that he even got upset. He just presented his argument. I want you to see how he goes about this. The answer of the Savior, first of all, he asks a question, and that’s always a good way to get involved with somebody who has spoken against you without making an accusation. You ask a question, you have an inquiry… He called them to himself, and he said to them in parables. How can Satan cast out Satan? And the question really has no answer, and Jesus is about to prove it. And he goes through three lines of proof to demonstrate his point.

First of all, his first illustration is a secular. He says you’re saying that Satan cast out Satan. Well, let me just give you an illustration from the secular world. He says the Kingdom that is divided against itself cannot stand in the secular world. We get that. A country that’s having a civil war in its country is not going to be able very easily to fend off the enemies who are coming against the country because they can’t focus their energy against an outward enemy if they’re fighting against themselves. Jesus said a Kingdom divided against itself can’t stand.

OK, I got that one. And then he goes from the secular world to the social world, and he says a house divided against itself cannot stand. That house cannot stand. And what he’s saying is, what chance do children have in a home where the parents are constantly at each other’s throats? What bond remains for any kind of mutual help or encouragement. If a brother hates his brother, such a family soon descends into chaos. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

So, a secular illustration, a Kingdom, a social illustration, a family. Now he gives a spiritual illustration and he says, and if Satan has risen up against himself and he is divided, he can’t stand either… In other words, he’s finished. One commentator I read made this very interesting statement. He said

It is not Satan’s Kingdom that is usually divided. I mean his Kingdom seems to be altogether. Those in Satan’s Kingdom are 100% in unity with each other. There’s no fighting within the Kingdom of Satan. It’s in the Kingdom of God that we fight. It’s the Kingdom of God that is divided.

So Jesus makes this point: You’re saying to me that I’m casting out Satan by Satan but that doesn’t make any sense in the secular world in the social world or in the spiritual world. That doesn’t work…

Recently, Bible reviewer Tim Wildsmith had one of his 800+ YouTube videos recently mentioned on The Jimmy Kimmel Show and the very same day David Jeremiah’s above teaching was broadcast, Tim did a response video. Towards the end he mentioned in passing his dismay over the type of comments people left — especially in our politically divided climate — and the general tendency humans have to lash out at people on social media.

That in itself produced some comments, and I want to share a few of them here to conclude, as it’s in keeping with what David Jeremiah was teaching that same day.

• …I definitely think that more Christians need that pastoral advice that you offer. We have spent too much time focusing on Christian war rhetoric and we have lost the understanding that every human is an image bearer. We have forgotten to focus on the plank in our eye…
• When shepherds dine with wolves, every course is lamb.
• …I love how you handled your statement on ‘Christian’ people with negative comments. I agree completely. We all tend to get our buttons pushed from time to time. I’ve learned to just not watch/read those people. Additionally, I frequently block people when they have a extremely bitter communication style…
• I believe that making global judgments and labeling human beings on a spectrum from good to evil is not very useful. Instead, I believe making specific judgments about words, deeds, and ideas is much more beneficial, and also helps reduce hatred and increase accountability. I’ve got some work to do in this area of my life!
• You are absolutely correct about the fruit of the Spirit. But that’s where we are today in much of the church. Everything has been politicized, so that you cannot talk Christianity without people making snide political comments. People are entitled to their political views, and their Christianity can certainly inform people’s political values. But Jesus spent NO time pushing either for or against political views. The gospel is the good news about God & His plan of salvation, NOT alleged good news about this or that political candidate, party, or policy. Let’s keep politics out of the church and focus on individual character development!
• We all need to keep in mind the fact that: regardless of whether we agree or disagree with someone on anything, all people are made in the image of God and that is something we need to honor no matter what.

Application: Today, ask yourself if at any time or in any place you have been critical (or hyper-critical) of the any part of the Body of Christ in a way that could be divisive or lead to division.

And forgive me for repeating the section of David Jeremiah I italicized already, but it was the analogy which got me to re-listen to the teaching, which resulted in creating a transcript, which resulted in today’s devotional:

A country that’s having a civil war in its country is not going to be able very easily to fend off the enemies who are coming against the country because they can’t focus their energy against an outward enemy if they’re fighting against themselves.

Again, verse 25 of Mark 3, this time very pertinently translated by the Weymouth New Testament:

…and if a family splits into parties, that family cannot continue.