NOTES for Rom 16:17
In the Christian world there is a certain byword: ecumenism. To be sure, the division of the Church is a grave problem that brings both grief and temptation. And Paul's words today speak precisely about divisions: beware of those who bring divisions and temptations. The second word in the original is skandala, and it has entered our modern language without translation. The danger of divisions and scandals, mainly confrontations in the style of "you are wrong," existed, as we see, as early as about A.D. 58, when the epistle was written. The apostle says that people who sow strife serve themselves, not Christ.
We sometimes think that one division or another can be justified and understood. No, it cannot. When a scandalous confrontation in a family leads to divorce, it is grief and sin. In the Church it is the same. This is an offensive thought for Christians of every confession. There are also words on this subject from the same apostle Paul: "you who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness" (Gal. 6:1). They are offensive too, because we are often guilty against these words. In a scandal there are always at least two sides. I am afraid both must be considered scandal-makers.
But here is what matters: an ecumenist expects to hear from the apostle something like, "admonish such people so that you may remain together"; an anti-ecumenist expects, "deliver them to Satan." But the apostle says, "avoid them," and this is an entirely exact translation of the Greek ekklinete. Avoid them, because your road is not here. Where is it? The apostle wants the recipients of the letter to be wise in what is good and akeraious, pure, uninjured in regard to evil. "Simple" in the Russian and Slavonic translations is not the opposite of wisdom. The point is that one should make progress in good and keep oneself from evil ("Children, keep yourselves from idols," 1 John 5:21). The path of unity in the Church is not so much in sorting out relationships and then restoring them. The path of unity is progress in good. The Church always follows this path, but this is a spiritual reality, while history, as a human view, records mainly what can be touched. Incidentally, we see an example of this in the actions of the Ecumenical Councils: they seek to formulate the truth, not to deal, as people now say, with the bad ones.