{"id":92770,"date":"2025-12-23T17:10:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T23:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=92770"},"modified":"2025-12-23T17:10:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T23:10:12","slug":"when-would-i-split-a-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-would-i-split-a-church\/","title":{"rendered":"When Would I Split a Church?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Floyd Chappelear<br \/>\nvia\u00a0<em>Sentry Magazine<\/em>, Vol. 19 No. 1, March 1993\n<p>There are a few things that God hates. One of them is &#8220;<em>he that soweth discord among the brethren<\/em>&#8221; (Proverbs 6:19). That should be a sobering thought. Being responsible for a division is a terrible thing.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, what God desires for his children is to seek peace and unity actively. To accomplish this is no easy task, to be sure. In fact, the Lord says that we must be willing to &#8220;<em>endeavour<\/em>\u00a0<em>to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace<\/em>&#8221; (Ephesians 4:3). Harmony within a church may be difficult to achieve, but it is possible where men and women love the Lord and His church.<\/p>\n<p>In view of the thoughts of the first two paragraphs, one is made to wonder what &#8220;issues&#8221; one would be willing to split a church over. From my perspective, there aren&#8217;t very many.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I would never split a church over a matter of opinion (or one that I perceive as such).<\/li>\n<li>I would never split one over that which I regard as &#8220;semantics.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>I would never split one to keep a preaching job.<\/li>\n<li>I would never split one over a matter of faith that does not require me to violate my conscience.<\/li>\n<li>I would never split His people because of &#8220;respect of persons.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When faithful saints truly love God&#8217;s work and His people, they will do all they can to avoid splitting a church. What, then, does this say about those who have few qualms about splitting a church? &#8216;Nuff said.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Floyd Chappelear via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 1, March 1993 There are a few things that God hates. One of them is &#8220;he that soweth discord among the brethren&#8221; (Proverbs 6:19). That should be a sobering thought. Being responsible for a division is a terrible thing. On the other hand, what God desires for&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,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[448,1200,231],"class_list":["post-92770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church","tag-disagreements","tag-strife"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92920,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/splitting-a-church-or-working-out-your-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":92770,"position":0},"title":"Splitting a Church or Working Out Your Salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim Ruff via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 3, September 1993 It is a serious matter to be a party to \"splitting a church.\" Christ demands unity and peace (I Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4:3). Our salvation is also a serious matter (Matthew 16:26), and we are each responsible for working\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":61724,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-call-to-unity\/","url_meta":{"origin":92770,"position":1},"title":"A Call to Unity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford I watched a recorded worship service the other day. During it, I was invited to sing a verse of \"Onward, Christian Soldiers\" that I had never sung before. It reads: Like a mighty army Moves the church of God; Brothers, we are treading Where the saints\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":5035,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-the-divisions-among-the-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":92770,"position":2},"title":"What do you think about the divisions among the churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wanted to ask you a question about Romans 16:17 and I Corinthians 1:10 about there being divisions in the church.\u00a0 I have been a member of the church since 1960, at the age of 13, and led singing most of the years since.\u00a0 My dad preached over twenty\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":79248,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/divisive\/","url_meta":{"origin":92770,"position":3},"title":"Divisive","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/divisive-300x200.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36453,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/keep-the-unity\/","url_meta":{"origin":92770,"position":4},"title":"Keep the Unity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Ephesians 4:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The wedding day comes and a couple joins together in a covenant due to their love for each other. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The two become one flesh. They are united and now see everything from the same point of view. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some of you\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":89194,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lines-of-separation\/","url_meta":{"origin":92770,"position":5},"title":"Lines of Separation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer (Note: for starting points about what to do when we differ, you can see \"When We Differ.) Christians are taught to walk in love and unity. Paul wrote, \"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to\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":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92770","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=92770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}