Jess and I recently upgraded to the “latest and greatest” 4G LTE smartphones (I miss the good ol’ pre-cellphone days!). When we walked into the store, I almost felt overwhelmed by the seemingly unlimited number of choices of phones, plans, cases, and accessories. It reminded me of the scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when the kids walk into the park-like room where everything is edible. They are so overwhelmed by the delicious possibilities that they hardly know where to start.
We live in a get-it-now,
anything-goes, 99-flavor society. Just like at Burger King, we like to “have it
our way.” This mindset is definitely carried over into the religious world.
According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, there are currently
over 35,000 “Christian” groups/churches in America. Talk about a 35,000-flavor
society! Most would say, “One church is just as good as another. It doesn’t
make much of a difference; just pick the one you like best. They all pretty
much believe the same thing anyway.”
When it comes to Christ’s church,
there is really just one choice. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said he would build
his church (singular). He later prayed for oneness of his church
(Jn. 17:21). In Colossians 1:18, Paul called the church “the body of Christ,”
and in Ephesians 4:4, he said there is but one body. How did we go from
one to over 35,000?
You might argue that all the
different denominations are collectively considered Christ’s church. They
worship God and teach that Christ is his only begotten son, so they are all
included in the church that Christ established. You might even point out John
15:5, “I am the vine, and you are the branches…” and say that all of the
different churches are the branches that make up the vine. Aside from the fact
that the verse is not talking about denominations, but individual
people/members (he that abideth in me…, if a man abide not in me…, etc),
it doesn't make sense that different denominations teaching different doctrines
could be considered the same church. If church A teaches doctrine A, and church
B teaches doctrine B, how can they be the same one church?
In 1 Corinthians 1:10-12, Paul
challenged the division that had crept into the church. Some members were
saying they were of Paul, some of Apollos, some of Cephas, and some of Christ.
Paul accused them of dividing Christ. Obviously, people can still be guilty of
dividing Christ today, especially when naming themselves after men (re: Martin Luther(an),
John Calvin(ist), etc.).
In fact, Christ has been divided over
35,000 times!
Sometimes it’s great to have so
many choices. When it comes to things like doughnuts, ice cream flavors, and
even cell phones, the more choices the better. However, when it comes to being
a member of the church that Christ gave his life for, we must be careful to
avoid the “have it your way” mindset because with God, there’s only one choice.
In future posts, we'll get into
how the scriptures describe the one church.
------------------------------
For more information, see the link
titled "Why are there so many churches?"
