Kilkenny Cats

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Galatians 5:14-15


There were a pair of proverbial cats in Kilkenny, Ireland, who fought till only their tails were left. Most likely the story is a parable of a contest between Kilkenny and Irishtown, two municipalities which fought about their boundaries till little more than their tails were left creating this popular limerick:

"There once was two cats of Kilkenny
Each thought there was one cat too many
So they fought and they fit
And they scratched and they bit
'Til instead of two cats there weren't any."

Too many times we see Kilkenny Cats in churches - people who are more concerned with the boundaries of their fiefdoms than they are with the boundaries of the Kingdom. They make sure their fingers are in every pie. They make sure that they get their due. When two of these people get together they either “bite and devour” one another, each seeking the dominant position, or they form an alliance in order to control others better.

Jesus taught repeatedly that the way to “power” and influence in His kingdom was by having a servant’s heart. He taught that the way to get more authority was to give your authority away. He taught that the way to live life fully was to give your life away for others.

This can happen not only in individual churches, but also in the Christian community. We must beware of seeking dominance for our own local church. We must not let one group of believers fight another group and thus give the cause of Christ a black eye. I’m not speaking about the essentials; the virgin birth of Christ, His sinlessness, Christ as the only Way, Truth and Life; salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ. I’m talking about all the other little nit picking, critical and negative issues that humans just seem to thrive on. Sometimes it seems that we create issues just so we can find a position of power in a little subgroup. We would rather be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in God’s great ocean! But we have bigger fish to fry (if I may mix my metaphors)!

We have a common enemy, the Devil. And according to 1 Peter 5:8 he “prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.” Let’s follow the advice of the very next verse “Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.” Let’s stop the turf wars. Let’s stop biting and devouring one another.