{"id":69314,"date":"2024-08-15T15:21:24","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T20:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=69314"},"modified":"2024-08-15T15:21:55","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T20:21:55","slug":"why-churches-split","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-churches-split\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Churches Split"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Perry Hall<\/p>\n<p>The Civil War had fascinated me since elementary school when I wrote an assignment on what I thought was the Silver War. I was wrong on two counts. I &#8220;knew&#8221; it couldn&#8217;t be the Civil War because it wasn&#8217;t &#8220;civil.&#8221; But neither was it silver.<\/p>\n<p>Probably the greatest summation of the effect of this war is found in the simple yet profound change of a verb. Our nation went from &#8220;The United States <strong>are<\/strong>&#8221; to &#8220;The United States <strong>is<\/strong>&#8220;.<\/p>\n<p>After watching several movies recently, I thought of another simple-grant it an oversimplification-summary with a spiritual angle: How do we use freedom?<\/p>\n<p>Bear with me as I don&#8217;t discuss tariffs, the right to secede, and other causes of this uncivil war. We all know one &#8220;peculiar&#8221; cause that connected almost every other reason &#8211; slavery. Slavery is about how we use our freedom.<\/p>\n<p>When a church splits, isn&#8217;t there almost always one cause that is the connecting point to every other reason?<\/p>\n<p>How can we rephrase the South&#8217;s &#8220;peculiar institution&#8221;?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The South fought for the freedom of self.<\/li>\n<li>The North fought for the freedom of others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many divisions happen in churches today over this simple but profound difference. How do we use our freedom? How do we treat others who are unlike us? Who are yet equal? Do we use personal liberty to enslave others? Or do we give up our liberty to free others?<\/p>\n<p>Notice how Galatians 5:13-14 shows every law is connected to one cause &#8211; love your neighbor as yourself.<\/p>\n<p>The Civil War wasn&#8217;t very civil. One side practiced the Golden Rule toward the less fortunate, while the other didn&#8217;t even practice the Silver Rule. Their one cause was the Selfish Rule-do to others what benefits you, not them. This is why many churches split. People love themselves and not their neighbors.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Perry Hall The Civil War had fascinated me since elementary school when I wrote an assignment on what I thought was the Silver War. I was wrong on two counts. I &#8220;knew&#8221; it couldn&#8217;t be the Civil War because it wasn&#8217;t &#8220;civil.&#8221; But neither was it silver. Probably the greatest summation of the effect&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[448,301,790,1552],"class_list":["post-69314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church","tag-division","tag-freedom","tag-liberty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62081,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-continuation-of-slavery\/","url_meta":{"origin":69314,"position":0},"title":"The Continuation of Slavery","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 8:28-36 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is difficult to imagine, but slavery continues in the United States \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Oh, I know that slavery officially ended with the passing of the thirteenth amendment on December 6, 1865. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet slavery continues to this day. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps you are thinking, \u201cI\u2019m an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33972,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/freedom-in-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":69314,"position":1},"title":"Freedom in Christ (Bassford)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford A few days ago, I posted a bulletin article about Galatians 3:23-25 and Paul's proclamation that we are no longer under the Law of Moses. In particular, I applied this to the use of instrumental music in worship and explained that the use of the instrument\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33044,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/eating-our-own-flesh\/","url_meta":{"origin":69314,"position":2},"title":"Eating Our Own Flesh","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Rodger Trimm \"Now, as to the attack the zealots made upon the people, and which I esteem\u00a0the beginning of the city's\u00a0destruction, it hath been\u00a0already explained after an\u00a0accurate manner; as also\u00a0whence it arose, and to how\u00a0great a mischief it was\u00a0increased; but for the present\u00a0sedition, one should not\u00a0mistake if he called\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85392,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-bible-truly-relevant-for-african-americans\/","url_meta":{"origin":69314,"position":3},"title":"Is the Bible Truly Relevant for African-Americans?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As an African-American Christian, I often find myself caught between two worlds. I'm sure you've heard how, before being enslaved in America, African people practiced ancient spiritual traditions. However, once they were brought here, they were forced into a distorted version of Christianity-often under duress, facing violence, mutilation, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93899,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/slaves-of-corruption\/","url_meta":{"origin":69314,"position":4},"title":"Slaves of Corruption","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier Jesus told a parable: \"Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher\" (Luke 6:39-40 ESV). Peter's warnings about false teachers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89326,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/abstain-from-fleshly-lusts-the-war-within\/","url_meta":{"origin":69314,"position":5},"title":"Abstain From Fleshly Lusts: The War Within","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark White War is terrible. Casualties take so many forms, with some being innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The atrocities of war are nearly beyond belief. The old adage, \"all is fair in war,\" has been played out time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}