House Divided

Becoming a force for unity rather than division

01/22/2018

Mark 3:22-30 The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons." Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself,  that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand;  that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property  unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.  Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

           One of the most famous speeches Abraham Lincoln ever delivered occurred before he was the sixteenth president of the United States. He was running against Stephen Douglas for the Illinois senate seat, and spoke about the danger of a “house divided” on the issue of slavery. He said: “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided.” Lincoln explained further: “It will become all one thing or all the other” (“House Divided” speech, June 16, 1858). Every student of history knows it took a lot of bickering, battles and blood-shed for the United States not to be a house divided on the issue of slavery.

           But unfortunately we still remain a house divided on any number of other important issues like the definition of marriage, the approach to immigration, and above all on the protection of unborn children, the question of legalized abortion. These fundamental issues do not admit of a legitimate plurality of opinions – where you can believe what you want and I can believe what I want, we cannot simply “agree to disagree” – but rather, they tug at the very fabric of our society. Lincoln was right when he predicted with regard to these rights that the United States “will become all one thing or all the other.”

          Abraham Lincoln borrowed that image of a “house divided” from Jesus in the gospel of Mark. There, the Jewish scribes accuse Jesus of driving out demons by using stronger demonic powers, namely, the strength of Beelzebul, “the prince of demons.” Jesus explains why that’s not possible, answering: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand.” Jesus insists like Lincoln did that every sound and solid structure – be it a house, or a nation, or a family, or a church, or even Satan’s armies – must be united on certain basic goods and goals. Otherwise, it will fall. “It will become all one thing or all the other.”

            We constantly face threats to unity all around us: in our homes and families, in our workplaces, and sadly sometimes even in our churches. Jesus and Lincoln’s warning that a house divided cannot stand is as relevant today as it was in their day. May I suggest three things you can do to heal divisions rather than cause them?

             First of all, pray for those you disagree with. Every January 22, the Church calls for a “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.” We certainly need to pray for an end to abortion. But I recommend we also pray for all those who fight for abortion rights, that God will bless them and guide them, not that he will curse them and punish them. Whenever I pray for someone I begin to see them through God’s eyes rather than my own eyes, and it’s a little easier to love them.

              Second, try to understand your opponent’s point of view and why they feel so strongly about their side of the debate. By the way, you don’t really understand someone else’s point of view until you can put it into your own words. St. Thomas Aquinas, in his masterful Summa Theologica (summary of theology) always listed his opponent’s top three arguments before he gave his own point of view, his “Respondeo” (I answer that...).  To be able to articulate your opponent’s points better than they can is incredibly disarming. Instead of deteriorating into a shouting match, your dialogue becomes a common search for the truth.

            And third, admit our own guilt in causing the house to be divided in the first place. A priest once told me that one culprit that caused the women’s liberation movement to be born was that men didn’t treat women with greater respect. If the women’s liberation movement has gone too far in some respects, men shoulder at least some share of the fault. It’s no use complaining about too much “political correctness.”

              A house divided cannot stand, and it doesn’t matter whose house we’re talking about. Be a force for unity rather than a cause for division, so that we will not need more bickering and battle and bloodshed to avoid being a house divided.

Praised be Jesus Christ!