A man had a dream one night. In his dream he died and went to heaven. When he got to heaven he seen a number of doors and a line of people at each door. As he took a closer look, he noticed there was a sign above each door. Each sign represented a different denomination. Above one was "Baptist". Above another was "Presbyterian". The sign above the door next to that one had "Assembly of God" written on it. The man got in the line to the door representing the denomination of the church he was a member of. He was intrigued to think that each denomination would have their own place in heaven. As he walked through the door he looked both to his right as well as to his left. Imagine his amazement when he looked and seen every Christian from each denomination entering the same heaven! There was no division in heaven after all!
Today, there are more denominations than you can shake a stick at. Depending upon the source, there are between 35,000 - 40,000 denominations! Can you imagine that? Where did all these denominations come from? Looking back at history, some denominations were formed when a group would split off from another denomination. These splits would often be the result of disagreements over insignificant things. Some denominations were formed as a result of someone wanting to be "in charge" or wanting things their way.
In reality, you can see that denominations are man-made. I don't believe for a minute that God is in to denominationalism. All denominations do is divide the Body of Christ. They simply divide the church. No wonder so many look at the church world with such disdain. I've been to meetings as well as district meetings of denominational churches. What I witnessed was a building up of the denomination and the leaders extolling the virtues of their denominations. There was very little mention of Jesus or His church. How very sad.
It is estimated that approximately one million - that's ONE MILLION - people leave the institutional denominational church each year. One MILLION! Can you wrap your mind around that? Statistics tell us that the largest percentage of those leaving the "church" are young people. You see, people between the ages of 18-39 are simply not attending church like they used to. They've opted to stay outside the brick and mortar walls of a church building. The majority of those leaving are not giving up on God - they are giving up on "churchianty". They are tired of the nonsense that goes on in so many of today's churches. Most of these folks say they are leaving this organization man calls "church" for their own spiritual welfare! Many of them thrive outside the four walls of the church building and the bondage that so many churches put upon the people.
Listen, the church - God's church - transcends denominational walls! God's church doesn't concern itself with the division of the sign that's over the door. The church - God's church - is not an organization - it's a living breathing organism that's alive and well. Let's break down dividing walls! If we can agree on the fundamentals of the faith, we have a basis for fellowship. Let there not be a "big I" or "little you" among us. Let's come together as God's people and break dividing walls!
As David so eloquently put it, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1)
Enjoy the journey!
Ray
No comments:
Post a Comment