The Great Divider

Luke 12:51-53
(51) Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
(52) For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.
(53) They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

There is a lot of talk in some circles about being ecumenical. Some think that we should gloss over the distinctives of the Christian faith. And there are others who maintain that doctrine is simply divisive and unimportant.

Jesus disagrees with that. He says that He came to bring division to the world. I don't know how else to read this passage. It would be nice if it weren't so, but that's how I read it.

Ironically, I've been having my bi-annual discussion with my mom and stepfather about how a person may be saved. I haven't been trying to persuade them so much as to articulate that there is a difference between what the Roman Catholic Church teaches and what I believe. If we are intellectually honest we have to recognize that either the Catholics will be saved or the Protestants will be. Gal 1:8-9 makes that very clear. I just want for them to recognize that. I would love it if they would change their minds, but I realize that is God's job. I just think it is important to recognize the differences.