The World According To Chris Brewer

I was reading the Word this morning, and I cross-referenced some stuff from my reading in 1 Corinthians 12. In that chapter, Paul hits on a very hard topic that we are all part of the body of Christ, no one more important than the other, and if there be any part of the body missing, the effectiveness of the body as a whole is significantly decreased. This got me to thinking that he is talking about the entire Body of Christ, which is everyone who calls themselves a Christian, actively serves the Lord and others, and is dedicated to the ministry. But these people are scattered throughout various denominations, which is good and bad at the same time.

It’s good that many Christians can interpret the Bible different ways and still fall back on the simple fact that we are all serving the same God and gonna get to heaven someday. But it’s more bad than good because the very fact that we have different denominations (i.e. Baptist, Presbyterian, Reformed, etc.) seems to tear apart Christianity instead of unite it.

In my view, denominationalism is unbliblical for two main reasons.

1. When you look at Acts, churches constantly sprung up all over the place. The apostles made it their life mission to go share Christ’s message with people everywhere, and as a result churches were formed and eventually networked with each other. You don’t see anywhere that a church had broken off of another church, had a different set of beliefs, etc. Yes, in each of Paul’s letters, the churches he wrote to had specific issues but they remained united in their common beliefs in the Word. Nowhere do we see different denominations…instead there was the church at Ephesus, the church at Corinth, etc. There were different locations mentioned, not denominations.

Nowadays we see that there are Baptist churches, Presbyterian churches, Pentecostal churches, etc. There are so many denominations that it could make a new believer go crazy.

2. Denominationalism as a belief in itself renders the “body” concept Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 12 useless. Each denomination has a set of beliefs based on some human’s interpretation of the Bible, which means that instead of us as Christians working together and unify, and try to come to an agreement on Biblical issues, everyone each went their separate ways and believed what they wanted to — thus leaving the simple belief that you’ve got to be saved to go to heaven, the only common bond between some denominations. That is purely unbiblical. Here’s what 1 Corinthians 1:10 says, in the Good News Bible:

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ I appeal to all of you, my friends, to agree in what you say, so that there will be no divisions among you. Be completely united, with only one thought and one purpose.

Whoops, someone screwed it up somewhere down the line of history. Here’s 1 Corinthians 1:13 in the Message translation. This was Paul speaking directly to the church at Corinth.

I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?”

So my question is, why are there so many denominations? You tell me.

I get so sick of denominationalism. I’m not condeming anyone…I love everyone and I know truly the one thing that binds everyone together who is pressing forward in the faith is that we are all Christians, and we are striving to the best of our ability to follow Christ.

I have to explain myself every time I tell people I am simply a Christian, nothing more, nothing less. Most don’t seem to understand that I don’t believe in denominations — they always ask “what denomination are you.” I then explain that I simply want to live for Jesus, follow His Word, and win souls for Him. That’s what being a Christian is all about in the first place.

Isn’t it time we all focused on what really matters in our faith, rather than splitting hairs over what divides us all? We need to live as one body under Christ as Paul instructed us in 1 Corinthians 12.