Creating Division in the Right Places

Jesus says in Luke's gospel that he did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  This is a statement that has puzzled Christians throughout the years, given Jesus' focus on peace and non violence.  It is also a statement that has been used to justify the use of violence in Jesus' name, including in the crusades during the Middle Ages.

The key to understanding this text lies in Matthew's gospel, where the saying is put in a slightly different way.  In Matthew's gospel, Jesus says that he did not come to bring peace, but instead division.  Jesus goes on to say that families will be divided from one another in his name.

In the early Church, Christianity created authentic divisions in the family and in the larger Roman culture due to the revolutionary way that Christians believed that they were called to live in Jesus' name.  Christians called into question the central principle of Roman rule; the Pax Romana, which held that peace and stability was created through subjugation of Rome's enemies and loyalty to Rome alone.  Christians held that loyalty to God alone, as revealed in Jesus, was what would bring peace on an individual and collective level.  Christians rejected all the unspoken norms and rules in the Mediterranean world about gender roles and class distinctions.  Christianity brought a cultural revolution.

Today, the Christian tradition still brings division, but often we get the dividing lines wrong, which essentially means we have forgotten what is at the heart of Christian belief and practice.  Until very recently, major voices in the Christian tradition were adamant that reading novels, for example, was inconsistent with Christian belief and practice.  Christian traditions wasted thousands of pages in creating division between themselves and non Christians on this issue.  Jesus says that if our discipleship is authentic, there will necessarily be division between us and those who do not follow Jesus.  Let's make sure we place the dividing line in the right place and remember what matters about discipleship and what doesn't matter