Is this a reform or a split?

What’s the difference between a reform movement and a schism?

As I write this, I am attending the 25th anniversary of my denominational tribe, which I helped start. That provides some very personal context for the question.

About a month ago (September 2) I focused on speaking the truth in love in this newsletter space. You can find it HERE (we keep months worth of previous articles on our website HERE). Today’s article builds on that one with an additional application.

What are we missing?

Within any group or network or denomination, I believe reform movements and dividing schisms both start with the same observation: something is missing; something is wrong. While I do not consider myself a church history expert by any stretch, I suspect that each of the (approximately – and it will change tomorrow) 40,000 denominations in the world started with the same observation: Change is required, because something is out of line biblically either by its presence or by its absence.

The first fork

Here is where the fork in the road begins, I believe. The enemy spirit will always encourage pride and criticism and division. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, will always lead toward humility and encouragement and unity/harmony.

The enemy spirit is going to recommend that we cut and run. Immediately. And afterwards, he will continue to encourage criticism and bitterness – and the louder and more public and more all-encompassing, the better. Legitimate reform becomes illegitimate schism when the accurate observation that “here’s something needing to be addressed” degrades into “we’re all right, and you’re all wrong.”

The Holy Spirit will start with speaking the truth in love. Humility and prayer will mark every step. Only when His promptings are clearly and completely rejected will He entertain the possibility of a new start, and even then only when whatever is missing or wrong rises to the level of essential. Is essential in the eyes of the beholder? Of course. But there’s a huge difference between whether we’re evaluating from a position of humility and prayer, or pride and criticism.

The second fork

And even when a new start happens, there’s still a huge difference between a reform movement and a schism. If we have the same Head, we are still in the same Body. Not every religious organization has the same Head, including some who might claim otherwise. When we start fresh, the enemy will argue for amputation even if the difference is between the ring finger and the pinky finger. That trick is as old as 1 Corinthians 12. 

But in a living organism, cells split – not to fight each other, but to specialize and make the whole body stronger and more effective. We don’t need multiple nonprofits doing essentially the same thing in the same city in competition with one another. That’s schism. But can two different nonprofits, with different boards, missions, and cultures, actively support one another and work together? Of course. Different parts of the body isn’t an automatic indicator of schism and sinful rebellion – it might actually be God’s design. 

How can we tell?

I think one simple question can let us know which spirit is guiding us. Are we seeking to build up or are we seeking to tear down? We can be in the same congregation/network/denomination/nonprofit, or separate ones, and still functionally be building up or tearing down. The attitude matters more than the address.

Dave Drum, Founder