The first division in a Church was caused by Paul.
Ha, I like your example, for times when people use idealistic NT unity as their argument.
I sometimes feel like I'm a magnet for church splits. I tend to enter a church when it is at a peak of intensity. Members pour themselves into activity, prayer, reading, volunteer work, sacrificial giving, conferences... and want recognition back for their efforts.
They start debating about who heard God more correctly. Who knows more about which author. Who had more time at the microphone. The pastor senses this chaos and starts building up safeguards, and preaching submission. The people who were teaching classes are suddenly told to stop, without explanation. Programs close, with only a "God told us" explanation.
The congregation overreacts and thinks the pastor is trying to change to a more domineering hierarchy. The pastor starts hiding expenditures and anything that the people can critique. The people get suspicious and think leadership is hiding something, or treating members like children.
Members start writing letters to express their concerns (which is the appropriate method in Protestant denominational churches, but not most independent ones). Then pastors freak out with the letters, get angry, and yell from the pulpit.
A few people get up and say, "I don't need this," while the stoic ones pride themselves in enduring it.
Over the weeks, people find their levels of tolerance and eventually fade out. Some stay to make things work, and preserve the fellowship they've loved.
I have also been in churches where finances were a part of the dissension, but it was not the money itself -- it was how the decisions were made, and whether people were treated with equal voice.
People invest a lot in their churches. It might seem like they are being petty, but imagine giving ten percent of your income, spending 10-20 hours on various ministries, driving the kids to weekly activities (and leading their groups), baking snacks and dishes to pass once a week, cleaning bathrooms and mowing lawns, giving extra gifts, helping members move and get to the hospital... it essentially turns into a second job, a second home to maintain, and a second family to care for.
And then a pastor, who
is paid, demands more from the volunteers. Limits what they are able to do in the church. Does not disclose expenditures. Does not thank people for volunteer work. And sometimes gets angry when they provide input. Or peers into the finances to see who is giving more.
To sum it up, I think they split when people are trying too hard. The ADHD momentum of restlessness, the more-is-better, the pride that cometh before a fall, the desire to be known as someone who is spiritual and connected to God. The cult-like desire to sacrifice until it hurts.
Oh yes, and it is true there are good church splits. Times when God moves people in different directions, to get things done.
Scandal, money, personalities fighting for control, and some wanting to become more liberal and less traditional....
1.Gossip
2.Music
3.Pride
Disagreements over hermetical approaches to scriptures and divisiveness amongst staff
A lack of Christ's love to embrace diversity.
I've also seen churches split for good reasons. Some churches want to plant a church, so a group from the "mother" church splits off to help establish the fledgling mission.