Denominations – Necessary Evil or Necessarily Evil? – Conclusion
The problem of denominations (read divisions) is extensive. As I’ve demonstrated from John 17, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 1 and Revelation 21 the concept of unity is a major theme in the New Testament. In brief, here is a recap on some simple principles we’ve learned to this point:
- Christ prayed for the unity of the church. It was a major concern of his. (John 17)
- The basis of the unity that Christ prayed for is the unity of our Triune God. (John 17)
- Our unity is essential for building up the body of Christ as a whole. (Ephesians 4)
- Christ gives spiritual gifts to each member of the body so that it will be 100% unified down to the last supporting ligament. (Ephesians 4)
- Our salvation is based upon the life, death, burial, resurrection and expected return of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1)
- Our rich heritage, as great as it might be cannot save us. Our rallying point is in the person and work of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1)
- In the end, God’s people will all be one. (Revelation 21-22)
- Our very life depends on the living water that will flow from Christ’s throne. (Revelation 21-22)
One person or even a group of people cannot fix the problem of division in the church. However, we serve a God who can. Might I suggest we do at least these very important things while we wait for God to make all things new?
- Echo Christ’s prayer for the unity of all believers (John 17). Pray the barriers we have created will be broken down in our lifetime. Pray that we can worship our Trinitarian God in unity just as Christ prayed to the Father. Pray that we will set our eyes collectively on eternity rather than the present moment. The problem of division is enormous and the solution will only be found through tapping into the power of the only being in the universe who can redeem what we have destroyed. Jesus said we can move mountains with faith as small as a mustard seed (Mt 17:20). Disunity of the church is a mountain of epic proportions and it cannot be moved without prayer.
- As far as it depends on us as individuals, seek to embrace our brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of their race, culture, location on earth or the denomination they have chosen. If we are worshipping the Triune God together, then in the end we will be one. Our worship will be singularly focused in eternity. Why not beg God to allow a taste of that unity now?
- Can we agree to point to common creeds instead of dividing lines? If believing rightly is the major issue, then the history of the church has provided us a rich tradition of creeds that we can all claim. Why do we all have to go our own way?
- Admit that there IS a problem and we need to work towards a solution through God’s grace.
- Focus our attention on multiplication rather than division. The Great Commission is about multiplication. Certainly we can’t all meet in one building, but we need to strive to bring the sweet message of the Gospel to everyone. Through the power of the Spirit, we need to multiply to the ends of the earth. Division always slows down multiplication.
I believe we should do more than the above, but even this would be a great start!
April 8, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Good stuff! You’ve got me thinking. Thanks for sharing this post.
April 8, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Thanks for stopping by Pete. Your blog is pretty sweet too. I stopped by your website, “Refined” but my browser didn’t like it or something. Links would show up, but no content. I’ll try again later, maybe you are working on it. Sounds like a cool site though.
Grace and Peace,
matt
April 11, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Matt,
Here’s my thought on denominationalism, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately because it came up at my old church and someone called me about it. Here goes:
In the Bible, Christ followers were a relatively small portion of the culture, and they were relegated to a very small global region. There were divisions within the church, to be sure, and they caused many problems. Paul speaks often about Zionists, Jewish believers who were still consumed with Jewish law, and although not clearly stated, it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility to think that different sects were active within the New Testament church.
In this day and age, where Christianity is now global and vast, it is understandable that there would be different sects and denominations. Although I believe that denominationalism has gone awry, I do believe that there must be some sort of standardization of Christianity. In other words, I think we should be creedal in our approach to worldwide Christianity. It’s not a perfect solution, but we do need a clear statement that lays out the core beliefs of the faith, and we need to know who conforms to that statement. The issues that sometimes define denominations are often times issues of preference, and are not appropriate as dividers of churches. A lot of this comes down to maturity and grace. When that isn’t enough, however, there should be a statement that defines and divides us if necessary. That’s my two cents.
April 25, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Steve,
Sorry for the delay in response. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I strongly agree that we should be creedal in our approach. What we believe is extremely important and we have 2,000 years worth of church history to lean on. There is no reason to create our own system of beliefs.
Though the Bible mentions, as you’ve pointed out, a number of sects and divisions, I don’t believe that makes them somehow appropriate. We find the apostles disagreeing over matters of practice, but that doesn’t make the disagreements right. The Bible just records that they happened.
I also agree that there ought to come a point where we are divided if necessary, but that point ought to only be over the person of Jesus Christ. He is the litmus test for authentic Christianity (so says John in his first letter).
June 7, 2009 at 1:05 am
Glad to stumble upon your posts on denominations and Christian unity. We are in a time where the denominations are not all they used to be. They are faltering in the wave of non-denoms. And many of the mainstream churches mask their denominational affiliation. Rather than retain their denomination in name, they often change things up to sound more like a housing subdivision. There is still a name, but now it is more church-centric. So how DO we unify? Can we even devise a common basis of faith and belief among us? Denominational plurality does not seem to be the answer? Nor ecumenism. Reformation? In an idealistic sense a massive overhaul may be what is called for. As fallen men we strive to make this difficult. As God’s image bearers and imitators of Christ we should be able to find a common union. Appreciate your posts. Grace and Peace. – Matthew