Different but Necessary!

This BLOG post has been on my heart for a long time now and I feel that God has given me the words to communicate it appropriately (at least that is my prayer!).   I have a wonderful mix of Christian people in my life; family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, etc.  We all profess Christianity as our belief system, but we might all do that in a different way through different denominations.  Since rededicating my life to the Lord over 7 years ago, I have really questioned God on the subject of several denominations within the same faith.  Why do we have so many?  Is any denomination more right than the other?  Does God take pleasure in one denomination over the other?  I have really prayed and sought God on this for answers.  There are some examples in scripture that have pointed me to answers.

First of all, I feel that God has revealed to me over the last several years that different denominations serve a valid purpose for the advancement of His kingdom.  We are all unique individuals and He is given us a unique “worship DNA” so to speak.  Some are naturally bent towards worshipping God through lively music, mission trips, sacred traditions, intimate fellowship, etc (the list could literally go on and on and on).  So as long as Jesus is the person we are worshipping and professing as messiah and Lord, it doesn’t matter if I go to the mega church down the street or a home church next door, as long as that is where God has called me.   Different denominations and church settings allow for the unique expression of how God wired a person to worship Him.

In 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul warns the Corinthians that they are becoming divided by proclaiming their allegiance to Paul or the disciple Apollos.  Paul said their allegiance is to Christ and not to the messenger.  Isn’t this what we do in modern day Christianity?  We proclaim allegiance first to a church or denomination that, oh by the way, is Christian.  I think we too need to heed this same warning.  I am a Christ follower first and foremost and I happen to worship at this particular church that God has called me to.  We must never hold our theology as more important than Christ himself.  Our theology can become an idol and the object of our worship.  This is very dangerous.

I think why this is a passionate subject for me (I’m quickly treading the line of soap box here!) is that I think it really grieves the heart of God when we get a superiority complex within the Christian faith.  When we start believing that our way of doing things is better than their way, it does nothing to build the body of Christ for the advancement of His kingdom on earth.  There are times when we can agree to disagree and offer grace and understanding as we all seek to share in the mystery of our Christian faith.  In the book of Acts, Paul and Barnabas differed greatly on including Mark on their next mission trip.  Paul felt that Mark couldn’t be trusted due to previous actions and Barnabas wanted to extend grace and include him.  The two of them were both right in their stance.  They agreed to disagree and thus went their separate ways.  So what did God do?  He used this division and spread the gospel twice as far than if they would have stayed together!  I think it’s a prophetic picture of how the Christian body can take hold of this spiritual reality of advancing the gospel, even if we don’t all do it in an identical way.  When we start to point the finger at each other and gain a superiority complex, the gospel becomes stifled.  Now does this mean that anything goes?  No way.  I’m specifically speaking to Christian churches that follow the bible in their teaching and hold Jesus as the messiah and Lord.  Does this mean that we might not agree on how to interpret everything in the bible?  Of course (take the multiple biblical theories on the end times!).  At the end of the day, there is still a sense of mystery to the Christian faith that is absolutely beautiful.  Seeking Christ above all else will prove more beneficial than seeking to defend a certain theology at any cost.