"Divisions Among You..."

In 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 I found an interesting statement…

17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!

God knows that there will be divisions among us and He expects it. That is a pretty bold statement and even more so in our pacifist and accommodating society. We are not so different from the church of Paul's day. But at the core of that controversial statement there is a question begging to be asked...what is the purpose of the divisions? Yes, many of our churches are divided by our own selfish stuff, but there is more to this since Paul says that some have God's approval. Are the differences among you (us) because God approves of some and not of others? That's what it says.

Okay...what is that approval? Is it a position/authority approval? For example, God has called some to be pastors and has set His approval on their position. Maybe...I don't doubt His calling and blessing on those lives.

Or...is the division or differences to separate out the truth? Today more than ever...we need the truth to shine.