WHY SO MANY CHURCHES? Ive been to a number of churches. Some big, some small. Name them. They all seem to believe in the same God, but worship in a lot of different ways. Does it really matter? Growing up, i have many friends and we do almost all things together except church. I always wonder, why not? If we believe in the same God? Look at the military, all the different religions and churches are represented, but only one chaplain holds one service where everyone comes together for worship. I ask, isnt that just like the church we read in the Bible? Someone argues that all Christian churches are okay even if they do not all teach the same things. How can that be true? Have you ever wondered why there are so many different churches and with different practices and beliefs? Is it possible that every denomination is right? Does God approve this kind of division and confusion? And does it does it even matter to God? Is He pleased with the current situation in the Christian world? Friends, its amazing and seriously confusing for a person who is seeking the truth. One church over here teaches this practice and another church is teaching the opposite. One church says that item A is sinful and another church says that item A is mandatory. Who is right? Can they both be right? And of course, some people will tell you, That is good! It is good to have variety. Just attend the church of your choice. And they will say, One church is just as good as another. We are all going to the same place anyway. There are just different paths leading us to the same location. Dear friend, may I respectfully tell you that the Bible says God is not the author of confusion. My New Testament bible tells me of only one church. But when I look around me today, and I see those who profess Christianity, I see thousands. The question is how did we get from one to thousands? And the answer is? Something went wrong. Something went severely wrong. But you see, It didnt go wrong with God. It went wrong with man. You and i. Now, if you travel back with me to the first century to the day that the Lord established His church. You get out and you see all of these converts to Christianity, about 3,000 of them. You walk up to one of them and you ask him, Sir, I would like to know what denomination you belong to? What would he say? He would probably say, I dont know what you are talking about. I mean what church do you belong to? Is it Methodist, Pentecostal or Catholic, or the Baptist? Hed say Sir, I dont know what you are talking about. I have never heard of a denomination. I have never heard of these groups youre discussing. All I know is that I became a part of the church that belongs to Jesus Christ. The church of Christ And that would be exactly right. Because there was only one. Acts 2:47; Matthew 16:18. Jesus promised A...upon this rock I will build My church. Not churches. The apostle Paul later echoes the sentiment of the one church as he is speaking to the elders in Ephesus. He tells them to Shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. (Acts 20:28) In the book of Ephesians we are told that God has put all things under Christs feet and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church which is His body... And so the church of Christ and the body of Christ are the same thing. And then the singularity of the church is nailed down in Ephesians 4:4 when He says There is one body. Dear friend, when one reads the New Testament he is impressed by the fact that there existed only one church. Well, what if someone came along and wanted to start some different divisions of that one church? Different denominations if you will. Would that be okay? I want you to listen to the words of the apostle Paul as he writes to the church in Corinth. He says Now I plead with you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment. I Corinthians 1:10 Now friends how does that mesh with what we see today? With have different denominations and divisions and sects that are all teaching different things and they all think there teaching is the truth. This is opposite to the New Testament concept of the church. Now, look at the church in Corinth? Some belonged to Paul, others to Apollos and others to Cephas and others for Christ. In response, Paul said, Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? In the First Century Church, we see the seeds of denominationalism. Divisions were starting to form and Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, condemned this. And he makes it clear that this is not of God. Okay, as we seek to answer the question, Why so many churches, I want us to notice that God predicted that there would be a departure from the New Testament pattern. You see, despite the clarity of the New Testament with regard to the oneness of the church and despite the warnings against division, God knew that divisions would come. In fact, the Bible foretells of it and warns against it several times. Its the conversation between Paul and the Ephesian elders. He tells them to shepherd the church... which was purchased by the blood of Christ. He says that AFor I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. And the reason that this is so interesting is because one of the first departures in the church was with regard to its leadership and its organization. Now, another warning concerning departure is found in I Timothy, chapter 4. Lets read this one together. It says, Now the Spirit speaks expressly (that is the Holy Spirit is speaking very plainly here) that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. We will see in history that two of the specific departures that will later take place relate to forbidding marriage and not being allowed to eat certain foods. Now, thus far we see that according to the New Testament pattern there was only one church, but we also see that God predicted that there would be a departure from that New Testament pattern. Alright, lets get to the key question. Why so many churches today? How did a basic Bible belief system with a unified group of people turn into literally thousands of different denominations with different practices and different beliefs? Well, history tells us that very early on there came along splinter groups who had ideas and doctrines contrary to that of the first century church and contrary to the doctrine that they had received and practiced. Some of these groups include: the Gnostics around A.D. 125 the Montanists around A.D. 156, the Manicheans around A.D. 244, and the Novations around A.D. 251. Now, one of the largest and most significant divisions that relates to the early church relates to its leadership and involved the Roman Emperor by the name of Constantine. Now, from the beginning of Gods plan, a church was supposed to have elders and deacons as leaders. And you can read about this in I Timothy and Titus. And these elders had authority only over the congregations where they were members. That is the way God established it. Each congregation was autonomous. But you see, over time elders began meeting together to discuss problems relating to the various congregations. When you get to the 300s A.D. the Roman Emperor Constantine was starting to have interest in this growing group of people known as the church of Christ. In A.D. 313 he passed the Edict of Milan which ended the persecution against Christians. And you can imagine this gained him favor with Christians in and around Rome. And so the Roman government began gaining a lot of influence with elders in the church of Christ and the end result was a very adverse effect on a large portion of Christs church. You see this new relationship led to a meeting between elders in the church of Christ and Roman officials. This meeting took place in A.D. 325 and history calls this event The Council of Nicea. This meeting gave rise to the first officially recognized departure from the original New Testament church. Now, this newly created denomination took a Latin word, Catholic, which is translated Universal, and established a hierarchy very similar to that of the Roman government. They literally took the example of the Roman government and built a church that was based on that model. And so in this new church there were men who were over several churches or groups of churches which was a very clear departure from the New Testament pattern. This is what is called Roman Catholic Church. Now, Christians who were faithful to the Bible, those who stood against this newly created Catholic denomination, they were persecuted and ostracized. They had to meet in hiding. But the pure New Testament church of Christ continued to exist. Now, historically speaking after the formation and establishment of this Catholic church, it grew in strength and number and political power. They created new doctrines and man made traditions and they enjoyed growing political endorsements from the Roman government. In time their doctrines were made mandates and required of all of the members of the Catholic church. These included: Latin Mass, Purgatory, The First Official Pope (they called him God on Earth), Transubstantiation, the mandate of the celibacy of the priest in 1015. Up to this point, there were only two churches. The church of Christ that began on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem that still existed and the Catholic. Now, history tells us that in 1054 the Catholic church split into two denominations. The Roman Catholicism and the Greek Orthodox Church. Now, during this time the Bible became more and more unavailable to the common man. And this period became known as The Dark Ages. And the Catholic church just continued to add man made doctrines. Examples included: Indulgences in 1192, The Confessional Booth in 1215, Sprinkling replaced immersion for Baptism in 1311, and the Pope was declared infallible. By 1500 a lot of activity occured, because men such as Martin Luther who began to stand up and say This is not right! Martin Luther was a German monk and he hated the selling of indulgences. He challenged the Pope saying The Bible is only source of authority. Martin Luthers widespread opposition to the Catholic church ignited a protest movement which is historically known as The Protestant Reformation. Pentecostals are part part of this group. In 1521, another denomination appeared shortly before the Lutheran church came on the scene, it was known as the Ana baptists. They started as a protest against the Catholic church and its practice of infant baptism. Ana means again. They baptized again those who had been baptized as babies in the Catholic church. But what is really interesting, is that the Anabaptist movement spawned several other churches to include the Baptist, the Amish, the Mennonites, and brethren in Christ. And as religious freedom expanded denominationalism continued to grow and to multiply into dozens of factions. This laid the foundation for a multitude of denominations that exist in our present day. Some of these churches began with a noble desire to break free from some clearly unscriptural practices. Others began with less than noble reasoning. For example,the church of England (Anglican Church) started in 1534 after Henry VIIIs wanted to have his marriage to Katherine of Arago finished. The Roman Catholic church refused to give him divorce, the result was the separation from the Catholic church and the formation of Anglican Church. Now, if you will go back to the top of this article, i mentioned that there isd only one true church. This is the church that began in A.D. 33 in Jerusalem. It is the church of Christ, the one we read about in the pages of the New Testament. And from history, we see that all other churches were man made denominations. Hopefully now, you can see why there are so many churches. And here is the message that we really need to take to heart. Since Jesus condemns division, we need to be a part of that one church that Jesus established. The one that He bought with His blood. Not one of the man made churches that came along later in history. Now, what does all this mean for us today? Does this mean that all denominations are wrong? Friend, all of the saved people belong to the church. The one built by Jesus. The same one that existed in Acts chapter two. The same one that we read about throughout the New Testament. The one that existed prior to all the denominations of man. Now, the question is How do I become a part of that church? The one wherein is salvation. How do I become a part of the one church of the New Testament? And the answer is... the same way they did it in the New Testament. Youve got to obey the Gospel. You know sometimes people in the religious world will tell you that There is nothing you have to obey. They will say that You only need to believe. But I want you to listen to the words of Second Thessalonians, chapter 1, verses 7 and 8. The Bible says, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, Now listen to this He is describing the day of judgement. He says that some people are going to receive rest, some people are going to receive punishment. He says when the Lord comes in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God. Now listen. A...and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your see, we must obey the gospel. Obeying the gospel can be summed up in short words: Hear, Believe, Confess, Repent. Friends, the church of Christ still exists today just as it did in the First Century. You know some people misunderstand the church of Jesus Christ. They think that it is another denomination I am not advocating that anyone leave his or her denomination to join another one, but find a place where the gospel is preached more than the doctrines of the church. A church whose aim will not only be filling their pews with people and increase their finances but to enhance a relationship betwwen you and Christ. and that will qualify you to be a part of the church and indeed part of the kingdom.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 11:18:24 +0000
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