The next day seeing two that were fighting, [Moses] would have persuaded them to agree, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brethren; why do you injure one another?’”  – Acts 7:26

About a year ago, a shocking video clip of a city pastor publicly lashing out at a fellow man of God went viral on social media.

On watching the video clip, I wrote a blog urging the pastor to make a public apology.

For me it was obvious that by attacking a fellow man of God in such a gross manner, the vocal pastor had left himself exposed to the enemy.

And indeed as we all know, the said pastor is arguably the most scared man of God in the country right now.

Our meditation today is a reference to Moses, who had gone from the Pharaoh’s palace to check on the Israelites who were under heavy bondage in Egypt.

A day earlier, Moses had passed by and found an Egyptian torturing a Jewish man. Infuriated, he hit the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

The next day, Moses was shocked to find two Jewish men fighting trying to injure each other. He then asked that rhetorical question: “Why are you fighting yet you are brethren”? (See Exodus 2:11-13).

Isn’t it interesting that Moses did not ask who was in the wrong, like we usually do?

He simply couldn’t believe that two brothers who had a common enemy were on each other’s throats! Regardless of who had sinned, it was not right for the two brothers to be fighting.

In the Greek, the word for ‘brethren’ is ‘adelphos,’ which implies a community based on identity of origin or life.

It also denotes persons who are united by a common interest or persons united by a common calling.

In Matthew 23:8-10, our Lord Jesus told His disciples; “One is your Master, even Christ, and all of you are brethren.”

In this context, “brethren” speaks of Christians as members of one spiritual family, regardless of their church or denomination.

Indeed, even our Lord Jesus repeatedly referred to His disciples as “my brethren.”

Like the Israelites in Egypt, the ‘brethren’ today have one arch-enemy; Satan who is called the “accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:9-10).

So when you see brethren accusing each other and fighting, you know who wins – the enemy, not God!

The Bible says that one of the “six abominations,” which the Lord hates is “he that sows discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6:16-19).

It greatly grieves the Spirit of God and stumbles the people of God when pastors who the elders start fighting in the media, whatever the reason.

It’s wonderful when brethren dwell together in unity.

The infighting among pastors and churches must stop forthwith because it is an “abomination” to the Lord God.

In the New Testament, believers are admonished to show philadelphos –the infighting among pastors and churches must stop forthwith because it is an “abomination” to the Lord God. ‘brotherly love’ (Hebrews 13:1; 1Thess 4:9; Romans 12:10).

What does ‘brotherly love’ involve? Well, it seeks to do good to all men and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith (see Galatians 6:10).

But even among brethren, there are certain people who deserve respect because they are the elders among the brethren.

Leviticus 19:32 says; “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.”

This scripture directly implies that we have a divine obligation to respect and honour our elders. 

Worthy of note here is that respect for elders has a direct connection to reverence for the Lord God.

You can’t claim to have reverence for the Lord and dishonor elders at the same time.

But what if an elder shames himself publicly? Well, we’re still obliged to cover him like Shem and Japheth did to Noah, their drunken father, and received a perpetual blessing for it.

In a nutshell, the infighting among pastors and churches must stop forthwith because it is an “abomination” to the Lord God. And let no one say they were never warned!