THERE BE NO DIVISIONS AMONG YOU
"NOW I PLEAD WITH YOU, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, AND THAT THERE BE NO DIVISIONS AMONG YOU, BUT THAT YOU BE PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER IN THE SAME MIND AND IN THE SAME JUDGMENT."
1 Corinthians 1:10 (NKJV)
Comment: Unity and oneness in the house of God cannot be overemphasized. When discord is found in a church, among the brethren; It gives the devil an opportunity to do his work. Apostle Paul in this passage of the Bible was pleading with the Corinthian believers to speak the same thing, be of one mind, and that there should be no divisions among them.
One of the commonest ways through which the enemy, the devil, usually douses the move of God in the gathering of believers is a division or strife—disagreement, rancour and acrimony—among the brethren.
The power of God is usually short-circuited when there is a disunity or division in the gathering of believers. Whoever is in a position of ministry leadership should not allow strife among those who are under his or her leadership. This usually drains the Anointing and brings dryness to the fold of believers—the move of God's power would be doused, put-off or paused.
It is one of the ways through which the devil usually challenge the move of God in a ministry. The example is found in the early church where some Greek-speaking Jews began to complain that their people are being marginalized in the daily distribution or rationing of food. But the Apostles, by the leading of the Holy Spirit and God's wisdom said the church, the congregants, should appoint the people who would be over the affairs of the distribution—the business aspect of the ministry work (Acts 6:1-6).
It was a ploy of the devil to distract the Apostles but they did not fall into the trap of the enemy. They did appoint other people to oversee what is being complained about that they might be able to concentrate on prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4).
What is being shared here is one of the ways through which the enemy, the devil, usually come into the fold of the people of God, the believers, and scatter whatever they are doing—the building of the fellowship or church.
Whenever a strife, discord, disorderliness or whatever comes up in a church or a gathering of believers; It is always a plot of the devil to distract the leadership of such move or gathering and scatter the people.
When the issue in question, in the early church, was resolved, there was a surge in the numerical growth or increase of the church:
5 " . . . THEY CHOSE STEPHEN, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and PHILIP, PROCHORUS, NICANOR, TIMON, PARMENAS, AND NICOLAS, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 WHOM THEY SET BEFORE THE APOSTLES; AND WHEN THEY HAD PRAYED, THEY LAID HANDS ON THEM. 7 THEN THE WORD OF GOD SPREAD, AND THE NUMBER OF THE DISCIPLES MULTIPLIED GREATLY IN JERUSALEM, AND A GREAT MANY OF THE PRIESTS WERE OBEDIENT TO THE FAITH" (Acts 6:5-7 NKJV).
It means If they had allowed the enemy, the devil, to have his way and the matter was not solved with the leading of the Holy Spirit and God's wisdom; It could have led to the scattering of the church. Albeit, what the devil could have used for the fall or scattering of the church was turned around by God for the growth or increase of the church—simply because the leadership of the church allowed the leading of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God.
A word to every ministry leader:
a. As a ministry leader, when you sensed or perceived any rumbling of a discord, or strife, or disagreement among the brethren—the congregants, those under your leadership—allow the Holy Spirit to lead you on how to get it resolved on time before It would be hijacked by the devil, the adversary, and do havoc with it.
b. A ministry leader also should not allow prejudice and should not be sentimental in his or her approach to things in the ministry. If the Apostles did allow prejudice and sided with the Jews; those Greek-speaking Jews would be offended and that may cause the split of the church. That is why a ministry leader should not be discriminatory in whatever he or she is doing.
c. A ministry leader should have a large heart to accommodate people of different races, nations, and whatever (Galatians 3:27,28). He or she should see themselves as a spiritual parent to whoever comes under their leadership—without being prejudicial to anyone (Romans 1:14,15).
Peace.