Congregational Divorces

by Perry Hall

Divorces can get ugly. Husbands and wives can get cutthroat, trying to financially and emotionally consume the other. Anything that is personally untoward to the attorneys can be used as a fair game to play a court game unfairly. Too many divorces can be over trivial issues, which leads to such ugliness.

Most believers understand the seriousness of not separating what God has joined together (Matthew 19:6). We teach that we are to abide by Jesus's high standard that divorce not be trivial and only for sexual immorality (Matthew 19:9).

Often in Scripture, marriage is God's picture of His love for His people. Unfaithfulness to God is considered spiritual adultery because we have been joined to God (Revelation 2:18ff).

Romans 7 combines these ideas of the spiritual and physical marriage.

Should we apply this concept to another area? Congregations are believers joined together (Acts 9:26), because we have been added to the Lord (Acts 2:47). We belong to one another because we belong to Jesus. As a husband and wife are one, believers are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). This extends to believers in local congregations.

So how seriously should we take splitting up a congregation? Should we separate relationships that God has joined together in His Son over trivial trifles? Or should congregations - those in Christ - separate, split, only over spiritual adultery? If God doesn't split from us, should we split from those still in a relationship with Him?

Just as marital splits can get ugly, so can congregational splits. In fact, the sins start even before:

"But if you bite and devour one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another" (Galatians 5:15).

Congregational divorces can get ugly.