A man was standing in outside of a church. A passer-by began talking to him; he asked: "Are you a Christian?" to which the man answered "yes." He exclaimed: "great, me too; what kind of Christian are you? Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant?" The answer was: "Protestant." "Me too; what kind of Protestant? Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal?" "Pentecostal." The man got excited: "me too; are you an initial evidence or a third wave Pentecostal?" "Initial evidence." "Me too; what kind of initial evidence? Are you a AOG, CRC, COC, CCC?" "AOG." Now, he got really excited: "Me too; are you Premillenial, Post Millenial or Amillenial?" The guy outside of the church said: "Amillenial" and with that the passer-by, becoming very angry, screamed: "Heretic!" and walked away.

The church is constantly splitting. Small differences will come up within the church that two groups can't agree on, and they split their separate ways. They embrace their methods of worship as if it is the only truth. In fact, the church has split so many times, and has created so many different methods of doing things, that a large sum of the things the church does has become robotic. Many people in the church have lost the passion for God and are content with just going through the motions. There is a perception that people outside the church have formed; that Christians are divided. It's not a hard thing to fathom; it's an obvious truth that is causing obvious problems.

I believe that it is very important that we continue to look back at the source of our beliefs; Jesus and the early church that He created. In Jesus' day, there was one church, and it was called the way. Now I'm not saying that denominations are bad, in fact I totally agree that it is necessary to have different atmospheres of worship. Not everyone is the same and, therefore, there are all kinds of ways to worship God. We need to all come to the understanding that everyone is different, and we all require different environments of worship, but claiming that one method is better than the others is the sprout of evil.

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Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am not an eye," would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you." In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:14-27)

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. (Romans 15:5-7)

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Why is the perception that Christians are divided? We have Protestants and Catholics. Within the protestant denominations, we have Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and many differences within those denominations. I grew up Catholic and was always taught that the Catholic Church was the one "true church." I was also taught about the Trinity, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus. Later in life, I left the Catholic Church and went to a non-denominational church, and later, a Methodist church.

I have never understood the aloofness between the Christian denominations. From what I understand, all the major Christian denominations believe that Jesus was sent to die for our sins, that he was crucified, and that he rose from the dead, which fulfilled the prophecies. The pettiness that is sometimes shown between the denominations can be disheartening. Does it really matter if we believe in predestination, sanctification, or purgatory? All Christians have the same basic belief, and we all read from the same bible, albeit, the Catholic bible has more books than the protestant version of the Bible.

Great minds have always viewed different interpretations of the word of God, from Martin Luther, to John Calvin, to St. Augustine, to John Wesley. I think that it is important that we don't point out the differences, but that we should focus on the similarities. If we, as Christians, believe that it is our duty to spread the word and love of Jesus, should we really focus on who is "right", or should we focus on preaching the word of Christ? Too many times, I think we get caught up in the nuances of denominational differences and fail to see the big picture. All major Christian religions accept the Nicene Creed as their statement of faith. If this is the case, why must we try to prove who is right and who is wrong?

I truly believe that if we love each other, regardless of the differences, and show the love of Christ to others, that we can change the perceptions that those outside the church have of Christians. If we show them that we are unified in our basic core beliefs, they will be open to explore the faith and make their own decisions. After all, Jesus loved everyone He came in contact with, and we know how He changed lives.

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When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

"Christians are divided. They can't agree with other Christians about what they believe, so how is anyone supposed to believe that what they believe is the truth?"

If we're honest with ourselves, this is the impression we're giving the world. They see us arguing over trivialities of the faith, such as which method of baptism is best or whether worship can only be with traditional music, and wonder how any of us can think we have the "right" set of beliefs.

We, as followers of Christ, need to focus more on the things that we have in common: a belief in the God of the Universe and His love for us, the grace that He pours out on us all, the death and resurrection of Christ that saves us from our sins, and the hundreds of years of history that we can each call our own. God has never seen any of us as different from any others. We shouldn't create problems and differences that aren't there.

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Heavenly Father,

We are all Your children. You knit us each together in our mothers' wombs, and You know us inside and out.

We are all precious to You.

Help us to see all people as You do, and to remember those things that unite us. Help us to love people, regardless of what they do or do not believe.

Show us how to do this. We know it is possible with Your guidance.

We love You. Let that be the most important thing in our hearts.

Amen

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