“I URGE YOU, BROTHERS, TO WATCH OUT FOR THOSE WHO CAUSE DIVISIONS AND PUT OBSTACLES IN YOUR WAY THAT ARE CONTRARY TO THE TEACHING YOU HAVE LEARNED. KEEP AWAY FROM THEM. FOR SUCH PEOPLE ARE NOT SERVING OUR LORD CHRIST, BUT THEIR OWN APPETITES. BY SMOOTH TALK AND FLATTERY THEY DECEIVE THE MINDS OF NAIVE PEOPLE”. (ROMANS 16:17-18)
THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND so-called Christian denominations! How can anyone possibly hope to find truth? Reminds me of that old saying.... like looking for a needle in a haystack. What is a believer to do? Should we ignore denominations altogether? Should we just not go to church and worship on our own at home? The answer to both questions is no.
What we must be seeking is a body of believers where TRUTH, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, where you as an individual are encouraged to develop a personal relationship with the Lord, where you can join in Biblical ministries that are spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth and glorifying God. Sounds really appealing doesn’t it, but its clearly not so easy to find in the “jungle” of denominational confusion.
Church, which is the body of Christ in brotherhood, fellowship and action... is important to our salvation, spiritual growth and health. All believers need to belong to a body that fits the Biblical description of a God-blessed assembly of believers. We need relationships that can only be found in the body of believers, we need the support that only the church can provide, and we need to serve God in community as well as individually.
So how do you find such a body of believers? Please understand, you might have to cross many thresholds of many churches before you find the one where the “heralding of truth” reverberates in the hearts and minds of its members. Pray for God to lead you to a body of believers who are worshipping Him in “spirit and truth”. He will hear that desire of your heart expressed in earnest prayer to Him, and He will guide you to a doorway where Biblical truth reigns supreme.
You must pick a church on the basis of its relationship to Christ and his teachings. It will not take you long to discover how the body responds in serving the community... is it an inward or outward focused church? You want to be in an outward focused body. Christian mission is outward, serving the community, widows and orphans – those in need and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pick a church where the preacher is preaching the Gospel, preaching from the Word of God – the Bible without fear and is encouraged by the congregation to do so. Don’t be deceived into thinking that social gospel or civic action or national political agendas preached from the pulpit are God-blessed... they are not. True Biblical preaching comes only from the Word of God. Hearing the truth from Scripture with ways to apply God’s teachings to your life, including helping those in need, is what worshipping Him in “spirit and truth” is all about.
Christ and His church is all about your relationship to Him and to each other. As believers, there are certain basic doctrines that we must believe, the essentials of the faith. Our very salvation depends on an unencumbered belief in “exactly” what the Bible teaches. Beyond what the Bible explicitly teaches, there is reasonable latitude on how we can serve and worship. And that perceived “latitude or freedom” is often perverted to selfish ends.
Do not be deceived by the arguments of denominational proponents who say that the silence of the Bible on certain things is our freedom, our latitude for being diverse, independent, creative and so on an so on. They will say... this is how the Bible implicitly authorizes the great variety of denominations. They will say... denominations are diversity and not disunity. They will say... this allows believers to be individuals in Christ, expressing their unique differences. They will even say... the point of these divisions is never Christ as Lord and Savior, but rather honest differences of opinion by godly, albeit flawed, people seeking to honor God and retain doctrinal purity according to their consciences and their understanding of His Word.
Absolutely none of that argument is valid or can in anyway be defended from Scripture. It sounds good... it’s appealing... but it is NOT of God. It is in fact the argument that has crossed the lips of men who have lead God’s Holy Church into the denominational jungle that exist today. It is an argument that divides and destroys brotherhood and fellowship in Christ. Remember... “GOD is not a God of confusion” and that fact trumps everything man conceives and says!
Christians follow a perfect God with a perfect plan for salvation and redemption, but you won’t find “perfect” in a body of believers today. You can’t, we are all sinners and susceptible to the unholy influences of God’s adversary... Satan.
Satan USES religion, especially Christianity, to confuse the believer and unbeliever into NOT finding truth and into turning away from God & pure worship. He wants us to never follow scriptural principals in our lives. Any denomination that does not follow Christ's example and does not uphold God's Holy Name is false. Jesus had a very dim view of such ones who would claim Him but were never really with Him... “Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23; Luke 13:27)
Their future will not be among those congregations of God’s Church who truthfully and faithfully served the interests of His Kingdom... “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46)
The church you attend matters. What you believe matters. The way you are “saved” matters. How you worship matters. How you serve the living God matters. Precision in your understanding of God’s Word matters. Your life “in Christ” matters to God.
The "jungle" is a very scary place... filled with all sorts of things that can hurt you! So, choose wisely the body of believers you will fellowship and serve the Lord with. God is aware of “hearts seeking after truth”... earnestly seek Him and He will guide you to the right door... where truth lives.
