“10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

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April 20, 2008, News Story:

Israeli police rushed into Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre to break up fist fights between dozens of Greek and Armenian worshippers on Orthodox Palm Sunday, witnesses said.
Some 20 officers intervened after Armenian worshippers threw a Greek Orthodox priest out of the church, sparking a free-for-all, they said….

Full story here.

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We should love each other like Jesus loves us, and by so doing, it shows that we are His followers (John 13:34-35). Paul wants us to be one in all things, but of course the Corinthians weren’t. The history of the church is one epic failure in regard to Paul’s statement here in verse 10. I am ashamed of the terrible divisions that have gone on that lead right on up to our day.

The good side of church history shows that there are those who do love their brothers, seek to agree on everything and do what is right. That is true. The bad side of church history is a story of tragedy, corruption, selfishness, power grabs, greed, persecution, hatred, murder, and various other terrible things. You have people excommunicating one another, un-ordaining people, and a ton of other examples.

I grieve, but I am not surprised by any of it. That is all I have to say.