We’ve become better at branding our little castles than we are in building the Kingdom, WHICH IS THE ENTIRE POINT!!! And, the saddest part, is that the world is watching. And laughing. Worse than that—they are getting a totally false view of discipleship. Because tribalism doesn’t just deform the Church. It disciples the world. It teaches the nations that our union in Christ is less significant than our denominational quibblings.

Christian tribalism is the enemy of Christian unity—and only one of those virtues is Christian. The other (spoiler alert, it’s tribalism) is a baptized form of pride wearing ecclesiastical colors.

And here is the truth…. There are many men I can disagree with vehemently and still call brother. Why? Because Jesus died for them!! Because even though we do not agree on head coverings, or infra vs suprlapsarianism, or even cessationism versus continuations (Or pick your squabble), Christian unity is not founded on uniformity of emphases or thoughts, not sameness of styles, or secondary convictions—it is founded on our shared union with Christ. Have we forgotten that we are all “ONE IN CHRIST?” Have we forgotten we are slaves? Brothers, wherever Christ has truly joined a man unto Himself, do we dare sever him in the name of theological preferences, no matter how noble we deem them to be???

And guess what, here’s what happens when tribalism takes over: The mission fractures. The gospel gets stuffed into the tiny box that fits into our pet distinctives. And the Bride of Christ is reduced to a house divided, clawing at her own members while the gates of hell stand unopposed.

Embracing a factious and factionalizing approach to building Christendom does nothing but splinter the Church, divide her into intersectional pockets of insular bickering, strip her of cultural influence, and rob her of theological authority needed to declare “Thus sayeth the Lord!” I mean, if we are reduced to poop-slinging over baptist versus presbyterian, why would the world take us seriously when we proclaim that there is ONLY ONE WAY TO THE FATHER and that is THROUGH JESUS CHRIST! This kind of behavior is ecclesiastical suicide dressed in confessional garb.

And let’s be clear: there is a balance. Unity and purity are held in tension.

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