Paul always wished “grace and peace” to the people receiving his letters.

And no wonder! Because whether you’re plagued by divisive people in the Twenty-First Century, or you’re plagued by divisive people in the First Century, you’ll need grace and peace.

For example, when Paul wrote to Titus, his “true son in our common faith”, Paul said: “Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior” (Titus 1:4).

Why did Titus need grace and peace? Divisive people. (Titus 3:10).

At first blush, I chuckle when Paul warns us to avoid divisive people.  After all, in some ways Paul was about as divisive a person as you’ll ever run into!

Before he became a follower of Jesus, Paul persecuted the church. Indeed, he was “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.” (Acts 9:1).

After he became a follower of Jesus, Paul publicly opposed Peter to his face for his hypocrisy. (Galatians 2:11-14).

In Galatians, Paul denounced those who required non-Jewish believers to be circumcised. Indeed, Paul went so far as to write: “As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” (Galatians 5:13).

Sounds pretty divisive to me!

As Paul went from city to city in the Roman Empire telling people the good news about Jesus, he could generate such heated opposition that riots began. Sometimes, Paul was stoned, imprisoned, or forced to leave the city. (Acts 13-21).

Paul and his mentor, Barnabas, “had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company” (Acts 15:36-40).

At times, Paul encouraged his recipients to stay away from those who committed immoral acts, preached false teachings, or were divisive in some other way. (Acts 20:29-31; Romans 16:17-18; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5,9-13; Philippians 3:2; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-8,14-15; 1 Timothy 1:18-20; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; Titus 3:9-11).

In this very letter to Titus, Paul wrote: “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them” (Titus 3:10).

Why?

“You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.” (Titus 3:11).

We must learn when it is good for us to be divisive and when it is bad for us to be divisive.

After all, Jesus was often “divisive”.

When he taught at his synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus so enraged those who heard him teaching that they tried to throw him off the cliff on which Nazareth sits. (Luke 4:16-30).

Jesus healed people on the Sabbath even though religious leaders became so “furious [that they] began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus”  (Luke 6:6-11)—“plotting how they might kill Jesus” (Matthew 12:14; Mark 3:6).

Jesus kept telling people that they should “not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3)—even though “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” because he condemned their materialism and greed (John 6:66).

Jesus denounced religious leaders so fiercely: (i) for their hypocrisy; (ii) for failing to be “generous to the poor”; and (iii) for “neglect[ing] justice and the love of God” that the religious leaders “began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.” (Luke 11:41-54).

In the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus drove out those who were selling, saying: “It is written, . . . ‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Luke 19:45-46).

From the examples of Jesus and Paul, we learn to discern when it is good for us to be divisive and when it is bad for us to be divisive.

Jesus didn’t shy away from divisions caused by people becoming enraged when he told them not to think of themselves more highly than they ought—whether compared to a carpenter’s son or compared to those who belonged to a different nation, race or religion.

As Paul wrote to the Romans, [B]y the grace given me, I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought . . .” (Romans 12:3).

As Paul wrote to Timothy, follow the Way of Jesus without showing partiality or doing anything out of favoritism (1 Timothy 5:21).

As Paul wrote to Titus, “[T]he grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people”—the amazing grace that gives us peace. (Titus 2:11) (emphasis added).

Jesus didn’t shy away from divisions caused by people who opposed him by besieging him with fierce questions, hoping to catch him in his words.

As Paul wrote to Titus, “[We] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that [we] can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” (Titus 1:9).

Jesus didn’t shy away from divisions when those opposing him wanted to keep him from healing people.

Paul healed a woman who was being exploited by men as a fortune teller, even though the men (who could no longer make money by exploiting her) reacted angrily and viciously. The men seized Paul, incited a mob to attack him, and dragged him before the magistrates. They accused him of treason. They had him stripped, beaten with rods, flogged, and thrown into prison. (Acts 16:16-24).

Sounds pretty divisive to me!

But suffering from such “divisions” was the high price Paul was willing to pay to heal a woman and end her exploitation. Indeed, Paul considered that such “present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory [of God] that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18).

As Paul wrote to Titus, we must heal people from being “foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures . . . liv[ing] in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.” (Titus 3:3).

How do we heal people from such ills as malice, envy and hatred? How do we overcome the divisions caused by malice, envy and hatred?

Through the “kindness and love of God our Savior . . . [who] saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:4-6).

This is the Spirit who overcomes all divisions caused by foolish, disobedient, deceptive people who are enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.

This is the Spirit who overcomes all divisions caused by living in malice, being hated and hating one another.

This is the Spirit who makes us all one in Christ Jesus, ending divisions based on religions, genders, nationalities, social status, and economic power. (Galatians 3:28).

This is the Spirit who gives us amazing grace and peace.

How do you discern who is causing good divisions and who is causing bad divisions?

Listen to them talk! Watch how they live!

For example, I learned to spot an unethical salesperson by listening and watching.

An unethical salesperson will boast about how cleverly they outsmarted and manipulated a customer.

An unethical salesperson is only happy if he or she can boast about ways they turned everyone else into suckers and losers—including stakeholders such as the ultimate consumers, everyone’s business, everyone’s employees, communities, the environment, and future generations.

In contrast, an ethical salesperson rejoices about how wisely they negotiated win-win outcomes for the seller AND the customer.

An ethical salesperson is only happy if both the seller AND the customer rejoice at ways everyone became wise winners—including stakeholders such as the ultimate consumers, everyone’s business, everyone’s employees, the community, the environment, and future generations.

As Jesus put it:

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing. But inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. . . . . [E]very good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. . . . . Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:15-20).

As Paul put it:

“No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolator—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. . . . . [D]o not be partners with them. . . . . Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:5-11).

“There are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception . . .. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.” (Titus 1:10-11).

Paul knew that sometimes it takes wisdom and patience to discern who is doing good and who is doing evil—who is an immoral, impure or greedy person whose fruitless deeds of darkness may take time to ripen and become obvious.

As Paul put it:

“The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgement ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.” (1 Timothy 5:24).

With wisdom and patience, we can discern people who are divisive in the good ways that Jesus and Paul were divisive, and people who are divisive in the bad ways that Paul warned Titus against:

“Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful.” (Titus 3:10-11).

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To learn more about grace and peace, please read my blogs “Grace and Peace—Galatians”, “Grace and Peace—Thessalonians”, “Grace and Peace—Corinthians”, “Grace and Peace—Romans”, “Grace and Peace—Ephesians”, “Grace and Peace—Philippians”, “Grace and Peace—Colossians”, “Grace and Peace—Philemon”, “Grace, Peace and Mercy—First Timothy”, and “Grace, Peace and Mercy—Second Timothy”.

To learn more about Paul’s similar advice to another person who he mentored (Timothy), please read my blogs “Timothy: A Good Teacher”, “Timothy: A Good Shepherd”, and “Timothy: A Good Team Player”.