Stirring Up Division

by
4/23/17 – Titus: Stirring Up Division (Titus 3:9-11)
  • In our striving for church unity, we must avoid majoring in the minors.
  • God’s Word teaches us how to maintain unity and deal with those who stir up division.

Avoid Divisive Arguments (Titus 3:9)

  • We must discern the difference between truths, trends, and traditions.
  • Truths are the unchanging, unbending doctrines of God clearly presented in Scripture.
  • Trends are the current and popular directions within a culture.
  • Traditions are the doctrines accepted by some to have divine authority but not actually taught in Scripture.
  • There is a difference between a hill to die upon and a bump to walk around.
  • You can’t stop useless disagreements from happening, but you can avoid them.
  • If you are the only person to ever discover a particular something in Scripture, there’s probably a good reason for that.
  • Arguing about trivial details reduces the time to proclaim significant doctrines.
  • Does this conversation profit the Church or proclaim the worth of Christ?

Avoid Divisive People (Titus 3:10-11)

  • A divisive teacher is a false teacher (cf. Titus 1:16).
  • Church discipline is when God’s people address divisive individuals with God’s truth for the sake of God’s glory.
  • Warped – A warped believer is one who can’t stay on track.
  • Sinful – As a teacher, obsessing over the fine details while neglecting the clear truth is a continual sinful practice.
  • Self-Condemned – Refusing correction, the divisive person actually participates in his own accusation because he fights against unity in the Body.
  • If the Church cannot agree upon the truth, how do we ever expect a broken world to hear it?

Application

  1. Read your Bible.
  2. Take notes during sermons.
  3. Commit to a Bible study group.