David Diga Hernandez - The Dangers of Division and A Call to Unity

The Holy Spirit clearly instructed me to share this message with the Body of Christ, specifically the online community, so I’m being obedient to share that word right now. Now, you know how very rarely I say that the Holy Spirit has given me something specific like this, but this is what the Holy Spirit says: I’m tired of all the bickering. I’m tired of inflated egos. I’m tired of the gossip being excused as commentary. I’m tired of the public assaults on my ministries being excused as obedience to me. I never told you to attack one another. You’re lying to yourself if that’s what you think. Your need to be right makes me sick. Your division has grieved my heart. Chasing clicks and views, you’ve traded truth for trends. Your hunger for entertainment has replaced your desire for the sacred. I’m calling my church to unity, to love. I’m calling you to take the way of peace. Get back to what matters. Don’t miss the opportunities before you. Now is not the time for division but for multiplication. Much of what matters to you now will not matter when you stand before me. All that will be allowed to remain is what you truly did for me with pure motives and the souls that were won. Stop trying to win arguments and get back to winning souls. So that’s what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do. That’s the word He put on my heart, and this is why I’ve always made it a point to never attack another man or woman of God or even another ministry for that matter. You’ll never see me do that, nor would I want to do that. Only by the Holy Spirit’s grace have I kept myself from that kind of toxic drama, and that’s one of the reasons I believe that God has favored and raised this ministry the way that He has. So that’s a side tip—some ministry wisdom for those of you just beginning in ministry: stay away from toxic divisions and drama. It’s not going to further your ministry. Stay away from attacking other men and women of God. I wouldn’t dare use the Holy Spirit’s platform for such things, and this is why it’s grieved my heart to see divisions in the church. I’ve watched as believers attack each other online, and not just believers, but also Christian leaders. Please, people of God, we need to pray against this satanic assault. We all have a responsibility to use what God has given us for His glory. I’m not excused from that responsibility, which is why I’m speaking out right now. Ministry influence isn’t a reward; it’s a responsibility. That’s why I’m making a plea. That’s why I’m using this platform to make a plea to the Body of Christ. This is a call to unity because I love the church. I’m calling on every believer, every Christian leader—all of us—to stay focused on God’s calling and to please stop attacking one another. It’s not just breaking my heart; it’s deeply grieving the Holy Spirit. The enemy is seeking to divide the church—don’t do his work for him. We are in a time of great moves of the Holy Spirit, and in these times, not every church, not every ministry, not every believer is going to agree on every point of doctrine or ministry methodology. But we, the Body of Christ, must seek unity, love, and peace above all, despite our differences. Now, of course, it’s at this point that someone will feel the need to write something in the comment section like, «But David, we have to call out error when we see it,» and I agree with you. When someone is teaching or preaching another gospel, when someone is speaking contrary to the fundamentals of the faith, then of course that must be called out. But that is not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about ministry methods and doctrinal disagreements that aren’t cause for division. Now, here’s how you can keep yourself from falling for this sneaky strategy of Satan: number one, look for agreement. What we believe about Christ, His life, death, and bodily resurrection; what we believe about the Bible, its authority, its divine inspiration; what we believe about sin, its consequences, and its need to be avoided; the preaching of the cross and repentance—these are some of the fundamentals around which true believers can unify. Jesus said, «Your love for one another will prove to the world you are my disciples» (John 13:35). Number two, remain teachable. None of us know everything, and while the Word of God is perfect, our understanding of it is often flawed. The scriptures are inerrant; not our interpretation of them. This is why we all need to remain teachable. Sometimes—and we just have to accept this—sometimes the Bible will contradict what we’ve been taught, what we deeply believe, what we’ve heard in someone else’s stories, and even how we interpret the things that we ourselves have experienced. The truth of the matter is, if the Bible doesn’t ever contradict what you believe, it’s not the Bible you believe; it’s yourself. This is why we must remain teachable and humble. In God’s river, there are many streams, and each of us can learn something from the other. For example, I, as a charismatic believer, have been greatly blessed by the Bible study methods of the Baptists. As someone who believes in free will, I have come to admire the passion of those who believe in absolute predestination. As a believer in the continuing activity of spiritual gifts, I still hold great respect in my heart for cessationists, simply because they too love our wonderful Lord. All of us, in some way, could be more like Jesus in what we do and teach, so we must come to appreciate the varying voices within the safety of the Body of Christ.