Several things have occurred lately to have me thinking on issues of unity versus contention. I thought I’d share these thoughts as I’m beginning to put things together.
In 3 Nephi 27, we find the Nephites disputing over the name of the Church. Jesus has to come down, chastise them, and then tell them what to name the Church. We often think that the name is uber-important, but perhaps it is less important than Jesus’ statement that a church bearing his name is acceptable, but only if it is following his teachings.
At the Kirtland Sunstone Symposium, John Hamer discussed that when the Church fragmented into various factions, one reason was over the Church name. The name began as the Church of Jesus Christ. Around that time, a bunch of churches began naming themselves by that name. So the church changed its name to the Latter Day Saint Church. This caused some to leave, believing that the Church must have Jesus’ name in its title. Because of such disputations, the Lord again had to reveal the name of his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We assume that it is named as such to distinguish us from the ancient saints, but perhaps it was just to distinguish us from other churches called the Church of Christ.
The point is, there is a pattern here. Something as small and silly as the name of the church caused a serious contention. People left the Church over it.
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