Has Christ been divided into factions? 1 Cor
1:13a
When I have read that question in 1 Corinthians I have always read
it as applying to a local community of believers, but the Body of
Christ is not just a local congregation but the universal church.
If we change the question to, 'Has Christ been divided into
denominations?' The answer is obviously still no, yet we as the
Body of Christ accept the status quo and make no effort to change
it. Yet, Jesus in his prayer in John 17 asks:
20 "I am praying not only for these disciples but
also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.
21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I
are one-as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be
in us so that the world will believe you sent me. John
17:20-21
When the world looks at us I don't think they see a fulfilment of
that scripture, they see many denominations and organisations that
are often divided and sometimes even in conflict.
So how did we get here and what do we do about the situation? For
anyone who knows even a little bit of church history how we got
here is obvious. From the reformation onwards, every time God has
restored a truth to his church the old has always fought the new
and we have ended up with one or more new denominations. What we do
about the situation is not as easy, but I think it must start with
recognition that the line between human organisations created to
serve the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God has become blurred.
In believers minds when you talk about the Church there is no
distinction between the people, the community of believers and the
human organisation that allows leaders to serve the Church.
Why is this distinction important? It's important first of all
because it's the truth, but there are also a number of practical
outcomes. Firstly no matter how good the organisation is and how
much it has done for the Kingdom it is still a human organisation
that has responsibilities that can be at odds with the work of the
Kingdom. Secondly we cannot serve two masters so if the needs of
the organisation come into conflict with the needs of the Kingdom
then one of them will loose and we will end up hating either the
organisation or the church except we see no difference between the
two. Lastly and probably most important of all it means that the
organisation is not submitted to the Body of Christ and can
effectively do what it likes without fear of discipline because
there is no one that they are responsible to. An example of this is
the discussion over homosexuality that occurred in some traditional
church organisations. These organisations where not submitted to
the Body of Christ as a whole so the collective church leadership
had no authority to tell the organisations that they were out of
line.
So what practically should we do about this? Well nothing
immediately except be willing to let God change our organisations
when he tells us to. This is such a massive undertaking that only
God can do it and when it happens you will only be able to call it
a miracle. I definitely look forward to seeing God do it.