Why do we seem to be so naturally geared towards categorizing ourselves?  It seems to be an inborn human trait, expressed whenever three or more people get together (I can say this so confidently because I am the father of three children!).  In our society, we have so many artificial divisions of people or people groups -- clubs, cliques, or categories signifying who's “In” and who's “Out.”  It's hard to say exactly why we do this, but our little factions seem to be some of the main places where hypocrisy often sets in.

In Jesus' day, the Pharisees were classic at this.  In Luke 11, people were criticizing Jesus and calling him a tool of the devil.  He was doing a good thing -- bringing freedom to people who had been spiritually enslaved -- but they were criticizing it because of their own jealousies and insecurities.  Jesus responded to them by saying (in Luke 11:17), “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart."  A little bit later (in verses 47-49), Jesus went on to talk about how their ancestors had historically mistreated prophets because of their factional thinking -- though, ironically, later generations would use these same prophets to create their own new factions:  from A to Z (Abel to Zechariah)!  Suffice to say: factions were a big part of the Pharisees' hypocrisy.

But as I was recently considering Jesus' challenges in this area of hypocrisy, I realized that I have this problem with factions sometimes too.  As a matter of fact, I have issues with this in a lot of different areas of my life:  mild forms of nationalism, intellectualism, classism, racism, etc.  It's embarrassing to realize, really.  But as I kept thinking about it, it occurred to me that Christian denominations are perhaps one of the most obvious, most appropriate, and most ironic examples of this.  You see, I grew up Baptist:  no drinking, no swearing, talking about being “born again,” practicing believer (adult) baptism, etc.  We had our own views of what was most important.  But what's strange is that we Baptists had all kinds of jokes about the Lutherans and the Catholics, and other denominations of Christians... And though I can't say that this is a major part of my life or ministry today, I realize that some of those images of these other Christian denominations have stuck with me and still plague my thinking about other groups.  There are still times today when I will be talking to another Christian, and I think to myself, “Ahhh, I see.  You like to sing those types of songs... Aha! You wear those types of clothes when you go to church... You think that particular kind of worship experience is the most important.”  And in my heart, I put up these walls that separate me from these others.

As much as I don't like to admit it:  I'm a hypocrite, when it comes to factional thinking.

It's wonderful to see, though, that Jesus offers hope for those of us recovering from hypocrisy in this area.  Basically, he says that the antidote to hypocrisy in the area of factions is to fear God instead of fearing people.  I think this has to do with the fact that most factions seem to be based on fear and insecurity.  We separate ourselves from others because we don't understand them, or we're afraid of them, or we feel less secure about ourselves when we're around them.  In contrast to this way of life, Jesus says, "Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that.  But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear." (Luke 12:4-5).  Jesus offers another beautiful example of alternative thinking in Luke 11:27-28, where the text notes "As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, 'God bless your mother -- the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!' Jesus replied, 'But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.'  And in that interaction, I notice that it doesn't help for us to set up a cult around a particular denomination or personality, putting the priority on the spiritual (or physical) wombs that bore us or breasts that nursed us.  More important than setting up our own clubs to ensure who's in and who's out, we need to simply hear the word of God and put it into practice.

It is, perhaps, easier said than done.  But I'm invigorated by the challenge!