If your neighborhood is anything like mine, there is a church on every corner. The population of the county I live in is a little less than 56,000 and I would not be surprised if there were 150 churches. Without getting into church splits and all the baggage that entails, let’s ask this question instead: Are there really that many theological and doctrinal issues that divide us? While there are some real distinctives, such as between Protestants and Catholics, the truth is most Christians are more alike than we are different. To define the differences between Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians we really have to get kind of nit-picky. The basic tenants of the Christian faith – in other words the things that really matter – are shared by all Christians everywhere.
Please read this post from the original Internet Monk. The discussions and debates can be a distraction to those of us inside the church and a stumbling block to those on the outside, but at the end of the day we are more alike than we are different.
What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1 Corinthians 1:12-13
On a similar topic this post from the archives of The Master’s Table considers the existence of different denominations from the viewpoint of scripture. Did Jesus himself suggest denominations that while separate work toward a common goal?
https://themasterstable.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/does-that-mean-denominations/
The longer I serve Christ the more I become convinced that many of our differences come down to our being called to a certain part of the kingdom (some call it a stream) than it does with actually being very different from each other. We ought not to separate because our assignments are different (and therefore our focuses). We ought to esteem one another and encourage each other all the more as we see the day approaching.
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