Most of the divisions and denominations found in the Christian Church are born out of these controversial subjects. Some believers feel like they cannot, in good conscience, have fellowship with those who don’t hold onto the same viewpoints on these particular subjects. These issues are so serious that churches are careful about who and what is taught from their pulpits, in fact, in some places you cannot discuss these topics without being run out as a deceiver according to their standard. What are those controversial topics that are so sensitive to cause such unfortunate contentions?
1.) Tithe – I believe there is no issue that has caused and still continues to cause fighting among Pastors and believers than the issue of tithe. It used to be that everyone agreed that it was okay for believers to put aside a 10% of their monthly earnings and gave it to the church. Not anymore! Because of the abuses of the false prophets, a new sect of believers has emerged, claiming to have gone to the Bible and discovered that tithe was not a mandate for the New Testament believers. It was then that a big fight ensued. Some believers left the pro-tithe churches and sought the free-will-giving preachers. At the same time, another group remained on the other side of the fence – also claiming to have restudied the Bible and understood that there was nothing wrong with tithe. The tithe battle is still raging on with no sign of it ever ending any time soon.
2.) Calvinism – Many of us had zero idea of what Calvinism was. As far as we knew, we were only normal Bible believers like everybody else. What a surprise it was when were labeled as false because we were teaching “Calvinism.” For those who still don’t know. A Calvinist is the one who believes that God predestined or has already chosen those whom He wanted to save, before the world began. Hence salvation is not dependent on your decision of “choosing Jesus”, but on Jesus choosing you, while allowing the rest to go to hell. Indeed there is more to Calvinism than the doctrine of election, however, this is the most controversial one. Some folks just cannot handle the idea of a loving, good God electing some people to salvation while leaving others outside the plan of redemption. To them, “whosoever” believes in Jesus will be saved. Regardless of the side of the fence you find yourself in, Calvinism remains one of the fiercely debated doctrines of this Christian era.
3.) Women Preachers – Traditionally, congregates had no problem with the church being led strictly by men, I mean the Pastoral role. However, we are seeing a huge shift from that system to a more flexible church life where women can even be ordained into Pastorate – all thanks to the rise of the women rights movement. This “new trend” however, has not remained without opposition from fellow believers who are of the opinion that Scripture is clear that ladies should not exercise authority over men. Whatever your position is on this issue, the reality is that it remains a point of massive controversy and division.
4.) King James Version – I have been to the bookstore a few times, and I don’t remember ever having any trouble with purchasing the ESV, NLT, or even NIV. Nevertheless, I know and fully understand that some believers are of the belief that you don’t have a Bible unless you own that old King James Bible Authorized Version. In fact, it only takes a few YouTube videos from either camp to realize how severe if not wearisome this debate is and the subsequent name-calling that it has caused among the Christian community.
5.) False Teachers – I love preaching, at least everything in the Bible but the topic of false teachers. Every time, before and after I preach about this I feel like quitting the ministry altogether because I am human enough to be affected by the criticism I often receive from fellow believers who strongly believe that we must not touch the “anointed”. That we must all understand that there is no perfect man of God, hence we must not judge but allow God to decide who is false and who is not. Therefore, the issue of false prophets is indeed a controversial one.
Once again, I have run out of paper, otherwise, I could have gone into more controversial topics like speaking in tongues, rapture, baptism, cessationism and once saved always saved. However, allow me to end with these key points. That is, disagreements among us will always be there as long we have different traditions and experiences, however, never miss the fact that we are brothers in Christ, regardless of these divisive matters. Hence it is definitely unchristian to develop a bitter spirit towards those whom Christ has justified just because they don’t subscribe to your interpretation. Even worse, it is immature to always find yourself calling names to every believer who disagrees with you – as if you are the one with perfect theology. By the way, our level of growth is different, hence some of us are still learning these great truths of the Christian faith. Should we then be blamed if we have not come to such levels of knowledge? Therefore, in these doctrinal squabbles, we must be considerate of certain baby believers who are still growing in their walk with the good Lord, lest we find ourselves confusing them all the more if not entirely ruining their pure hearts. Finally, beware, lest we find ourselves using so much time and energy preoccupied with side debates, to the neglect of the central assignment – the great Gospel message that sinners still wait to hear. “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” I think I have made my case, hence I will leave it here.
Sinothi Ncube
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