1 Corinthians 1:10

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

I have been a ‘baptist’ all my life. I put baptist in quotation marks because, although I have always gone to a ‘baptist’ church, I know the baptist churches here in Australia are quite different from the baptist churches in America. Whereas there are different religions that believe different things about God (or Gods) and some groups have distinct theological and doctrinal aspects to them, there are denominations of Protestant Christianity in which everyone believes that a faith in Jesus Christ and the grace of God is all you need to come into a relationship with God. And yet all these people house themselves under different denominations such as ‘Baptist’, ‘Lutheran’, ‘Anabaptist’, ‘Anglican’, ‘Methodist’, ‘Presbyterianism’, ‘Adventists’, ‘Pentecostal’, ‘Uniting Church’, and many, many, many more.

The big reason for the different denominations are the difference in opinions over theological matters. A lot of these differences are grey areas that don’t change the gospel-oriented purpose of the churches. Some are significant differences, and could be debated as whether they are grey matters at all, but those debates in the first place often distract from the gospel-orientated purpose of the church.

I have no problem with there being different denominations, to an extent. The aspect I think is great is denominations means that everyone is kept on their toes, finding out why they believe what they believe – occasionally challenges each other (hopefully in love), so that the church as a whole can fulfill its mission to the best of its ability. From reading the bible, however, I’d say there are big problems with there being so many denominations. In 1 Corinthians, Paul pleaded with the Christians in Corinth to be of the same mind and the same judgement; to get rid of the divisions between them.

1 Corinthians 12:14-20

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

I think the biggest problem is not when a denominations feels they are better than the rest of the denominations, but when they don’t feel a need to work together with the other denominations for God’s glory. Denominations, through culture and history, often come out with strengths. Ministry, outreach, worship and bible study strengths are all great on their own, but just imagine the power of the Christian church if all the denominations were to work together, with their strengths, to further God’s kingdom.

Next time you meet someone from a different denomination, don’t start comparing differences of theology, start comparing differences of strengths, and how you can use the different strengths together in pursuing the unsaved for God. In our Godless culture, now is not the time for Christians to divide. It’s time to unite.