A House Divided
And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. (Mark 3:25)
These words were spoken in response to the accusation that Jesus was casting out demons by demonic power. This was completely falsely laid against Jesus, but it is a common practice among witch doctors and spiritists around the world. Calling on one demon or one spirit, they will try to lift a curse or expel a demon, etc. Allsuch efforts are futile. Satan is a deceiver and this just leads to more deception.
Jesus’ pointed out that Satan’s kingdom could not stand if such a thing were possible. Satan is the “strong man” who keeps his house in order (Mark 3:27). All demons ultimately work for the same person. Satan must first be defeated and bound and then his kingdom can be overturned and his house plundered.
Christ came to destroy the work of Satan. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8b). To suggest that Jesus was friendly with the devil and his demons was a contradiction to all that he came to do. He has a zero tolerance policy against evil. He has come not to reform Satan but to destroy him. Through the cross Christ paid for our sin, removing the basis for the devil’s accusation against us (Zech 3:1–5). Through the resurrection Christ revealed his power to raise us from the dead and bring us into his eternal kingdom (Rom. 5:10). Through the power of his Spirit he is transforming lives today (Rom. 8:28–29) and will completely transform us in the future (1 Cor. 1:8–9), utterly destroying the devil (Rev. 20:10).
Yet these words in verse twenty-five above, carry a weight all their own. They have been often quoted to emphasize the importance of unity in any human endeavor.
A home must have unity. A house is not a home until there is unity between the mother and father. Of course, there will always be differences of opinion on many minor things — that is just the nature of life. But in the major values, directions, and choices, a home must be agreed.
A church must also have unity. Churches are technically “voluntary associations,” and though the Lord calls every Christian to be a part of a church fellowship, we have freedom to choose which church we will join. But there must be unity in doctrine, purpose, attitude, and direction in that church. On minor issues we may, and will, often disagree. But on the major things we must seek to follow the Lord together.
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. (Phil. 1:27)
And when there is disagreement on matters, these things should be dealt with graciously and patiently. The Lord’s will must always prevail in a church. The church leadership should seek to follow the Lord and the people should seek to respect and honor the leadership (Heb. 13:17). But the leadership must also not become proud and assume that they and they alone always know what is best. The Lord speaks to his people and leads them (Rom. 8:14), so the people should also have a voice in decisions.
A nation also must have unity, a common sense of direction, purpose, and values of the people. Nations are more than mere political alignments, more than the accidental collision of interests among various social groups. Nations must have a common underlying agreements in values among their people. They can, of course, have different races, different perspectives, and different lifestyles. Not everyone must wear the same clothing, listen to the same music, or appreciate the same art. But any nation that seeks to find progress by the sharp division of opinions among its people is asking for trouble and even the overturning of itself.
In the days of the American Revolution and Civil War, these words of Jesus were often quoted — the nation needed unity. As an American I am very concerned with the political division in the nation that has risen in the last decades. In previous years it was not this way. When I was a child there were disagreements about certain issues, but overall there was unity on values and directions. The Democratic and Republican parties had different emphases, values that were embedded in their respective names. The Democratic party claimed to be a party “of the people” and strove to give the people what they thought they needed. The Republican party was a party of the American Republic and sought to uphold the rule of law, believing that this would in the end be better for the people as well. But there was unity between these parties on moral issues and values.
The word “democracy” does not appear anywhere in the founding articles of the United States, yet we commonly call ourselves a democracy. The reason this word was avoided was that democracies had a rather bad track record in history — existing for only a short time and then erupting in debate and division. A democracy is ruled by the majority vote, fifty percent plus one, and such political entities flip-flopped on important issues, creating instability and eventually revolution, generally resulting in a dictatorship. So in the American constitution there are “super majorities,” two-thirds of the votes, needed on important issues, seeking to have consistency and stability.
If the United States of America, or any nation, for that matter, will be more than just a blip on the historical timeline, then there must be a common unity among the people. We must be more joined in values and purposes than we are divided. I believe this calls for Christians in all nations to pray for the unity of their nation, to ask God to give wisdom to our leaders (Rom. 13:1–7 and 1 Timothy 2:1–4). Pray that we also may have the wisdom from God to know where and how we Christians can find agreement with others without compromising our faith.
But let us also never forget that we Christians are called to be the “light of the world” and the “salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13–16). As light we speak the truth and share the gospel. As salt we preserve society by emphasizing morality and justice. It was in the intercessory prayer of Abraham for Sodom and his nephew Lot that we learn this biblical principle: God often preserves and saves a nation from destruction, delivering them from oppression and injustice, because of the presence of believers there (Gen. 18:16–33).
