Manicheanism was a false religion best known for dividing life into an evil sphere and a good sphere. Today the term is used most often to describe those who hold that sort of view. If you believe life is like an old western film where everyone is either a good guy wearing a white hat, or a bad guy wearing a black hat, then you may have a Manichean view of human nature. The STAR WARS films are well-known for a Manichean view of life: everyone is either all-good or all-bad. A more sophisticated view of human nature would allow you to recognize that Christians do bad things, and non-Christians do good things, and most our hats are probably some shade of gray.
Consider the topic of unity in the church. Does a Manichean view of people unify believers or divide believers?
Jesus said “a house divided against itself cannot stand” Mark 3:25. The church must have unity or it will collapse. If you were the enemy of God, you would not attack him–because you can’t do anything to harm God. Instead, you would attack those he loves most. You would attack his bride, the church. How would you successfully attack the church? Create ways to divide believers. Make them argue. Make it passionate. Make them hate each other and kill each other so they will be too distracted and powerless to share the gospel.
In this modern world, the best way to split people into warring factions is to gin-up arguments about current events, scandals, secret government plots, conspiracy theories (some real, some imagined), and scientific discoveries so advanced the average person lacks the education or experience to evaluate them.
What do all these things have in common? They are disputes that bolster the conviction that the rich and powerful are lying to everyone. And when you believe celebrities, billionaires, global corporations, and the U.S. government are lying to everyone, you quickly adopt a starkly Manichean view of humanity.
This is an “angels vs. demons” way of looking at people.
There is no nuance, no in-between, no gray areas. Reflecting on a difference of opinion, the Manichean will never say, “his heart is in the right place, but he’s wrong on this issue.” Instead, the Manichean says: the one who disagrees with me is a wolf–part of the evil cabal that is promoting lies–or else he is a sheep, too afraid to ask questions and therefore, he will never understand the deeper things.
The Manichean view allows you to justify making an enemy of anyone who disagrees: your best friend, your sister, your Sunday school teacher, your pastor. Anyone. I have seen more than one family driven to divorce over these issues.
What is the answer?
“Reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing they breed quarrels” 2 Timothy 2:23.
Are the disputes interesting? YES! Do you have an opinion? YES! Do you believe your opinion is the right one? OF COURSE! (Who doesn’t?)
But the Bible says “REJECT FOOLISH AND IGNORANT DISPUTES.”
Are some disputes foolish and ignorant and others too important to reject? Does Paul expect Timothy to reject some disputes, but not others? I don’t know.
All I know is that Jesus encouraged unity in the church. He did not encourage investigating the latest rumor or researching current events. Those things must be done by someone–but it does not have to be YOU.
Doesn’t our nation have enough people out there doing the research? Not only professionals, journalists, law enforcement officers, and other investigators with decades of professional experience, but also plenty of self-proclaimed “internet sleuths” that will never stop researching.
The so-called “internet sleuths” do not need your help. They do not need my help! Instead, we are warned to reject disputes that lead to these horrible quarrels. We need unity. We need unity in our churches, in our homes, in our marriages.
So what do you do while waiting for answers? Study the word. If that seems unsatisfying, I am simply giving you the answers I believe God has given me. As I’ve written elsewhere, as a lawyer and professor, investigations and research are my bread and butter. But God continually, daily, constantly leads me to stop researching the alleged secrets behind the events of the day, and to focus on his word. Every single day that seems to be God’s direction to me: ignore the claims, the disputes, the latest and greatest scandal, and focus on God’s word and the unity of the Body of Christ.
And resist the desire to see people in Manichean terms: the good are not perfectly holy and the bad are not pure evil. Things are always more subtle than that. Most are in the gray area at the middle. And we must love them there.
God, teach us to value love and unity more than “being right.” May they know we are Christians by our love, John 13:35. Be glorified in your church. Be glorified by the peace and love among your people–even when we disagree.
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Household Words: 