What Causes Division?

We in the US live in a culture of division and conflict. I think some of that comes from the philosophical divides over competition versus cooperation which in turn translates into left v. right, poor v. rich, etc., etc. It seems that there are two and only two sides in every debate and even the most trivial of things becomes a competition in a winner-take-all setting (Coke v. Pepsi, tastes great v. less filling, sharks v. jets...)

Identity Crisis
Perhaps misplaced identity is the core of the problem. If I am a Star Wars fan, a Libratarian, an Evangelical, I have chosen to apply a label to myself which I must then defend in order to protect my sense of what it means to be me. I do this either by asserting the goodness of said label or by attacking its perceived opposite.

The problem with labels - self or other-applied - is that they mask our true identities. As we begin to peel off the labels and scrub away the adhesive, we begin to find that underneath all of it is a child of God. I wasn't created to defend Captain Kirk from Han Solo. I was created to be a son of the most high God, to worship Him and Him alone. Which leads me to another conclusion: labels can also become idols.

Whenever we place our core identity away from God, we become idolotars. We are saying that thing who makes me who I am, in which I live and breathe and have my being, is not God, but something else. We, in effect, worship the created and not the creator. Why do we do this? I think it is an attempt to fill something which we is lacking in our lives - a desperate attempt to find meaning in a complex and chaotic world.

This Identity Leaves Me Wanting
The apostle James puts it another way: "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God." (James 4:1-2)

James' audience was looking for something they didn't have. They were seeking to find fulfillment and happiness via the material. When they didn't get the objects of their desire, they fought amongst themselves either out of jealousy or frustration. When they finally do turn to God it's for selfish gain. I think this must be similar to Jesus' parable about the workers in the vinyard (Matthew 20). Instead of being happy with what they earned, the workers grumbled that others got the same pay, but worked for less. Their eyes were on the wrong thing.

I've explored a few things that cause division disease, but I don't want to dwell too long on the negative. Tomorrow I will look at some prescriptions for the cure in "What Causes Unity?"