One Church (and 100th post!)

I noticed that I was approaching my 100th post.  I wanted this to be something especially significant, something that really put a message out there for the glory of God.  What could be more glorifying than His Church united as One?  So, what started out as a Facebook post is now my 100th blog post….

Some denominations have great passion and openly display worship with all emotion and glory to God, yet they misunderstand context such as the power of the tongue giving life or death and that it is not about the power of positive thinking but of being careful about how our words can destroy another’s life through things such as gossip or verbal abuse.

Other denominations may be well educated with scripture but they lack passion in worship and fall short with application. There are those who have tradition but their practices have kept them from moving forward and they have become irrelevant and lost touch with modern culture. Let us not forget those who have built the most beautiful cathedrals but don’t understand that that people make up the temple of God.

There are those who reach out to the lost but are weak in discipleship and those who are strong in discipleship but apathetic towards reaching out, and those who are strong in accountability but lack compassion and grace. Some are filled with grace and compassion but lack accountability.  I can go on and on.

I am not saying this to be negative or judgmental at all.  I am not calling out any particular denomination.  I am simply using realistic situations today to prove the point of this post. I believe that denominations have never been part of God’s plan for His Church.

I use these examples as pictures of today’s fractured church. Each denomination is strong in some ways but fails in others.  Instead of offering accountability with mercy and accepting it with grace, we choose to split according to our own ideas of what we believe as truth. If we are going to be completely honest with ourselves, none of us has it all right and division is never God’s desire (although He allows it because of our fallen nature).

All through God’s Word (the Bible), division is the result of sin.  It started in the Garden of Eden with the very first sin which separated mankind from God. Soon after, the first family was broken apart.  Then nations divided and so on.

Even when God is the One who divides (such as the kingdoms divided due to the sinfulness of kings). Unity has always been God’s plan. He even sacrificed His very own perfect, Holy Son in order to unite Himself with sinful mankind. From this, the Church began, and once again, sin divided.

United we stand. Divided we fall. As I reflect on this, I am led to believe that if we could just look at the state of the Church, and take all the strengths of each denomination and put them together, what would result is a picture of God’s One Body – The Church.

Imagine…

Picture a church that is great with passion and outward worship, one that freely, effectively and appropriately displays a worshipful response to the movement of the Holy Spirit, instead of quenching it because of fear of what others might think –  or seeking any personal attention or emotional experience for personal gain (choosing the applause of men over the God we are supposed to be worshiping). Combine this with rich tradition and understanding of God’s laws that is also relevant to today’s culture with a focus on the people, (the Body of Christ) as The Church and not the building. Imagine a united body of Believers centered on having a rich spiritual health, and prosperity for the glory of God desiring to use all things for the furthering of His Kingdom and not material gain for personal pleasure – a church passionate in discipleship in order to equip the saints to go out into the world and reach the lost for Christ. What if we were a united people with a willingness to sacrifice personal comfort to introduce the hurting to the Comforter, a Church strong in boldness and accountability while at the same time filled with grace and compassion? When we find God’s people coming together like this, we will have found God’s Church.

Thinks about this, If we built on these strengths and worked together to strengthen our weaknesses by the power of unity in the Spirit, then we would be THE CHURCH (still imperfect, but working together as one body).

It is not accurate to call any denomination the Church of Jesus or the Church of Christ or the Church of God or the United Church of Anything when that body is separated from others because they believe they are the only ones doing things right. This is totally missing the point of being His Church. If you are a denomination, separated from the rest of the body, you are not united in Christ. There should not be a first united denomination of any kind. To me, that title means “united to those who think like us” which means separated form those who don’t.

The message the lost world is getting from this as that we are not a people united as the Body of Christ. This is a huge stumbling block we have created with the birth of denominations. It is contrary to The Great Commission because it is contrary to the whole point of Scripture which is unity through Christ, by Christ, in Christ, for the glory of God alone.

His church has no division. People can think differently and believe differently but there is only One God, One Spirit, One Bible and they are all in agreement. No denomination is the chosen denomination.  No denomination is perfect.  God’s chosen people are those who repent and receive Him and none of us are perfect so no denomination can be.

Disagreement comes when we turn away from the Holy Spirit and all denominations are guilty of this at some level or else we would be united. If the Holy Spirit is the guide, there is no division. This is why I believe that denominations root in sin.

We began as One Church, but then evil crept in. The desire to control (instead of trusting God to mold hearts to His will), led to a trust in man which began the divide that just keeps splitting. One tiny bit of leaven did this. Division of His church was never God’s plan. A correct, Spirit Filled understanding of His Word will always reveal Truth that unites.

Division was/is the consequence of sin. It weakens.  It is satan’s weapon of choice.

Division was/is the consequence of sin. It weakens.  It is satan’s weapon of choice. I’m willing to bet even unbelievers would agree with this! Think about it, what if, instead of dividing over differences, each side thought of the others as more important than themselves? What if each side chose love instead of self-righteousness? What if each side chose grace instead of power? Everyone involved in division shares ownership in the consequences that result. Our world has suffered greatly as a result of satan’s game in God’s church.

The state of our nation, our world, is on believers. The hope of our salvation rests in unity with Christ alone. We must come together in repentance for the glory of God and the salvation of the lost. We must put our differences aside and focus God shining His light into all of our dark ways and follow that light as a guide towards unity in One Spirit of agreement with Him. We will disagree with one another. But we can still seek common ground to build on. We can focus on things that are not true, not honorable, not right, not pure, not lovely, not admirable and not excellent or praise worthy or we can focus on those things that are!

What if we extend grace and forgiveness in exchange for judgement and condemnation (that only God can righteously do)? What if we exchange a spirit of fear for a Spirit of love? These things rest in Jesus Christ and the power of His Spirit!  Our hearts should be broken and contrite. We should confess and turn from our wicked ways.  Then and only then, will reconciliation take place and we will once again be the ONE denomination, The ONE UNITED CHURCH “IN” CHRIST “FOR” CHRIST “BECAUSE” OF CHRIST! This is when a Great Awakening will spark a revival like nothing that has ever been seen or known in history. UNITY IS NOT AN OPTION! IT IS A REQUIREMENT! So, what are you willing to do about it?

Boldness

Sometimes I am told that I can be bold. This is funny to me. The reason is because I have been everything but bold all my life. There was a time when I was timid and sweet. Yeah…really! I know that’s hard to believe. But, my timidity was ungodly and allowed abusers to take advantage of me. It did not glorify God (Rom 8:15).  God does not call us to be timid (2 Tim 1:7). He calls us to boldness that is accompanied by the fullness of His grace abounding in love. He calls us to fight for His justice. He calls us to defend the weak and help the poor. He calls us to be mighty warriors. He calls us to be shepherds.  Jesus did not consider himself above sinners, but a servant to all.  He dined with them, loved on them, defended them with boldness – and changed many hearts as a result. He calls us to be accountable (which is never easy). He calls us to transparency (being real, not disclosing every private detail of our lives). As I am reading over this, I am beside myself at how He has changed me through the reading and meditating on His Word. We are not called to be popular, liked or to have an easy “happy all the time, feel good life” full of carnal riches and personal glory. He has told us that we will have trouble in this life…but our hope is that He is with us through it all. Jesus  was not a handsome man, nor a man well liked by his community. He was rejected by his own people and his own religion to the point of being put to death by those very people…for their sake.

So, who am I to think I deserve better?  I will continue to be bold. I will continue to be transparent. I accept that at times this will be frowned upon (even and especially by other believers who don’t understand). Rejection is something my God accepted for me and He did not deserve it. So, how can I be unwilling to accept the rejection that may come when I am bold and transparent in His Name?

The Holy Spirit in me compels me to be a voice for the voiceless. He compels me to stand for justice. He compels me to defend and stand with those who are hurting and unable to stand for themselves. He compels me to befriend the rejected, lowly and poor in spirit. He compels me to be real (honest) regardless of consequences. I have seen many “friends” come and go because of this. Yet, I have gained a richness that I could never have known if I hadn’t taken the loss. As a result I can count the loss as gain when I compare it to the richness of the glory I have found in Jesus Christ. I count it all joy for the cause of Christ. This warrior will choose to march on. I will continue to trust in Him to make me bold, strong and courageous as I fight this battle in His army. He is my Commander in Chief and I will never lose a battle as long as He goes before me. My biggest failures in life have been when I have chosen to go into battle without Him. He never lets me go too far before drawing me back in line.  May my life be one that will cause others to recognize that I have been with Jesus.

To God be the glory. Great things He has done!

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Acts 4: 13