Did Jesus Create Cliques?

I am going to speak to you from my heart, and I must say, when I do this I often get myself in trouble! But it has been said that a minister’s job is to “bring comfort to the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable!” And since all who profess the name of Jesus are ministers, then it is appropriate for me to share these thoughts with you.

In my youth, living in the world, striving with the rest to “be somebody,” I was always disgusted with the cliques that confronted me. Maybe it was because there were so many that, in my insecurity, I did not fit into. Remember grade school? There were those who were more accepted than others. The overweight boy was always called last to the team to play “kickball.” The “smart” kids rarely hung out with the “dumb” kids. Groups were separated by social or financial status. In my case, I was rarely asked to be on a basketball team (I was too short to get the ball in the hoop).

Then there was high school. Things got even worse. The jocks’ clique. The druggies’ clique. The bad kids’ clique. Transition rarely happened, and if it did, it was a very difficult process.

From the time I was a small boy music was part of my family. As a baby, I crawled between the foot tapping of my dad as he played the guitar. As a youth, playing music became an obsession. Why? It was in my soul—but more than that, I longed for acceptance. I would think, Look at those rock and roll musicians! They have money, fame, nice cars, and girls! Just the kind of acceptance any young, insecure male wanted. After living in a music store and playing in many different groups, I felt good about my playing abilities, and received acceptance from those who could not play as well as I.

Then I discovered the ego guys. They had their followings—their cliques—and only a chosen few fit in. Ego cliques. They played the drums or sang well, played the guitar exceptionally. Or maybe they shot pool, or some other bar game, better than average. All had one thing in common—they felt they were better than others. Feeding their egos, cliques of admirers gathered around. It reminds me of the old song that goes, “Everybody is trying to be somebody.”

When I became a Christian I realized that I no longer had to pretend that I “was somebody.” No longer pretend, because now, in Christ, I really was somebody! Christ was freeing me from the fear of non-acceptance. I did not have to be afraid of what people thought of me because I was a child of God. If God was now my Father, and He accepted me, what did it matter how others thought of me?

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15.
I wish I could say I have this confidence in Christ at all times. It is easy to be hurt—to struggle with the thought that for some reason you are not accepted. It makes you wonder, Why am I not liked by some people? Is there something wrong with me? Did I say the wrong thing? Am I dressed inappropriately?

Looking further in the Words of Scripture, a very different picture emerges. Jesus built a kingdom based on love and acceptance! What wonderful words to those outside the cliques of life—for those who have felt rejection. His fellowship was based upon these eternal principles. “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Hebrews 2:11.

Jesus had to deal with the cliques of His day. Yes, there were cliques, though that word is not found in the Bible. In His day they were called sects. A sect is “a small faction united by common interests or beliefs.” Some were called Sadducees (Acts 5:17), others were called Pharisees (Acts 15:5), and even Nazarenes (Acts 24:5). To fit into these cliques, you had to say just the right things and do just the right things, and respect the clique’s leaders. If you didn’t, you were ostracized.

On one hand, we see Jesus (Hebrews 2:9), the One representing love and acceptance--on the other hand we find the cliques, acceptance into which is based on selfish interests and egos. There is a world of difference between the fellowship of Christ and a clique. It is wonderful to know that Jesus’ love and acceptance is not based on the clique mentality. He accepts us “just as we are.” It is no wonder that His closest and most loyal friends were those who were the outcasts of society. They felt acceptance—and that acceptance transformed their lives.

When I joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I thought to myself, I have now found the saints of God—the fellowship of the brethren of Christ. Little did I know that we, and I include myself in saying we, often give lip service to “the caring church” motif. We talk about love and acceptance, but find ourselves falling into cliques. These control churches, nominating committees, and various organizations in and out of the denomination. They are one of the biggest stumbling blocks to new believers. These, too, are longing for acceptance, but are often left in the cold by the clique mentality.

I remember trying to speak with a leader of a Christian organization, whom I looked up to and respected. As I tried to open the conversation, the man lashed out at me in an unkind way. Confused, hurt, trying to figure out what I did or said wrong, I walked away. Do we realize the power of our words? How they can hurt or heal? Do we accept those around us, or do we place conditions on acceptance?

A friend of mine had never visited an Adventist Church before, but one Sabbath morning he decided to go for the first time. After Sabbath School he stood nervously in the foyer by himself as people formed into little groups to visit—cliques. No one came up to my friend and shook his hand, or even offered a greeting. He was thinking about leaving when an older gentleman walked up, smilingly held out his hand, and said, “You must be a visitor?”

“Yep,” my friend nervously replied.

“So am I!” responded the older gentleman.

It is easy to fall in with those you feel most comfortable with. But Christ calls each one to break out of your comfort zone. Examine yourself. Do not shut your friendship and acceptance of others up in any cliques that you knowingly or unknowingly have fallen into. Hold out your hand of fellowship to those around you. Ask yourself, Am I really in the fellowship of Christ or am I limiting myself to just a few selective cliques? Do you shut someone out because another whispered something in your ear about that person? Do you accept people “just as they are”? May God grant us the power and insight to be forever free from the cliques of this world, that we may belong to the fellowship of Christ. “But we would see Jesus. . . for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”