Sketch © by John Gutcher
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Are you involved in ministry in a church where factions are making the work harder? Are you stressed out by divisions in your family or workplace? St. Paul makes a startling observation in 1 Cor. 11:17-26,33. He says, "There may even have to be factions among you..." as if this were a good thing.
Where is the blessing in division? Paul explains: "...for the tried and true to stand out clearly." Look at any battle going on in any church (or family or anywhere) and you can easily separate the sheep from the goats (to use Jesus' analogy in Matt. 25). The "sheep" are those who are motivated by love; the "goats" are those who are motivated by selfishness. In a parish, the "sheep" are those who are involved in ministry because they truly want to serve Jesus; the "goats" are those who are serving themselves, e.g.., they are trying to earn their way into heaven or they want the status of being in charge of a ministry or they are trying to impress someone (the pastor, God, or perhaps the whole congregation) or they want to be in control.
Factions exist because our selfish motives create the fear that others are striving to undermine our goals. We distrust those who are not working with us in the same ministry as well as those who are not working under our control.
On the other hand, if we are truly living out our faith, we are willing to serve everyone -- including our enemies -- as if they were Jesus Himself. This is how "the tried and true" stand out clearly. Our ability to love has been tried (tested) and we remain true to the ways of Christ.
In Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he mentions the Church members who are poor and hungry. The selfish person gets drunk on his wealth while disregarding the needs of others. To put this in terms of parish divisions, the selfish ministers get high on their status, their authority, their clout, their skills, their college degrees, their years of experience, and even their God-given talents, while disregarding the feelings and insights and input and value of others, especially the "others" who are not in the same ministry or who disagree with the way things are being done.
I have seen parishes suffer from divisions because leaders said, in effect: "I'm the expert here. Don't tell me how I should change what I'm in charge of." They feel threatened by suggestions for change. And why is that? Because their selfish motives have created the fear that others are striving to undermine their authority.
I have also seen the "tried and true" stand out clearly. Take for example the person I know who wrote a letter of servanthood to a parish director who was bad-mouthing a ministry she was doing. She said, "Please forgive me if I have done anything that works against the important ministry you are doing. I believe we are serving the same Lord and we both want to accomplish His work in our parish. If there is anything I can do for you and your area of ministry, please let me know. I would be very pleased to have the opportunity to serve you."
Which is the person who proclaims "the death of the Lord until He comes again" (as in what Paul says about the true meaning of the Lord's Supper and what we repeat in the responsorial hymn of Psalm 40:7-10,17): The one who offers service despite animosities or the one who hampers what others can contribute in order to protect authority and turf? We proclaim the Lord's sacrificial death on the cross by making sacrifices. When we are willing to die to our own ideas of how things should get done and nail to the cross our prejudices toward others, we become Eucharist for them.
In Luke 7:1-10, why did Jesus find more faith in the pagan centurion than in the God-worshiping people of Israel? It was not just because the centurion understood the power of an authoritative command. Jesus recognized the love in the man. The centurion wanted a healing for his servant -- a low-class person who was normally considered a possession rather than a human being. He held his servant in high regard, not because of what the servant could do for him, but because he loved his servant like a family member. He also loved the people of Israel and cared enough to help them build a synagogue.
Our faith is tried every time we encounter people who oppose us or who work in ministries outside our turfs. Our faith is proven true by how well we love them and how collaborative we become.
