Free to Burn 2: Division

‘Do you think that I have come to bring peace? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three’ (Lk. 12:51, 52).

Jesus’ fire consumes sin. Family bonds too. Especially when one member suggests to another that fiery Jesus died to assume any identification (including LGBTQ+ variants) that resists His best.

Beware. A basic Gospel invitation is now a battle cry.

‘You are immoral!’ said son to father for the latter’s advocating chastity. ‘You endanger ‘gay’ and ‘trans’ people with your religion!’ Now Jesus’ call to repentance becomes an act of violence against the rainbow set (true story).

More than any other issue, sexual ‘diversity’ divides Christian families.

Fiery love wounds before it heals. It helps to know that in God’s furnace, ‘family bonds are important but not essential’ (CCC #2232). Our fundamental allegiance is to Jesus, not family cohesion. We confess the idolatry of ‘family first.’ Refusing the demand of ‘you must embrace everything I am and do’ breaks that altar. And may well break the bond. Weep and cling to the Cross. Be true to Jesus.

Such loss doesn’t make us better. It tempts us to hateful defenses. We become just another voice against ‘them’, not a torch seeking to ignite combustible ones.

The trick? Let division stoke Holy Fire. Let the loss of family love become Christ’s gain. Take heart that you, a mere servant, share in the Master’s suffering (Jn. 15:20).

Burn bright and pure for darkened ones crying out for the Light. Division is divinizing you. You are becoming dangerous to the enemy.

‘For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and to those who are perishing. To one we are the smell of death, to the other the fragrance of life’ (2 Cor. 2:15, 16).