So many churches are doing their own little thing in various corners of their own little town. Thank God for exceptions, but generally there is little unity and co-ordination.
The unity of the believers that Jesus spoke of and advocated has all but disappeared. In Australia and most likely the United States look under "churches" in the yellow pages of any city and youīll see Pentecostal, Baptist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, Salvation Army, Uniting Church, Anglican, and others.
A new believer may well look at that list and say "Which one should I go to?"
Oh yes, unity is there within the individual groups or denominations. Yet mention joining up with others and itīs as popular with the leaders and members as suggesting a holiday in prison.
There may be a "ministers fraternal" once a month in a given city, but it seems a pow-wow combined with coffee and cake is as far as it goes.
Unity did happen occasionally in the past, prior to and during the Billy Graham crusades in various locations. Then the local denominations forgot their differences and united to assist Billyīs team in winning souls. However it was short-lived.
There is rarely any united effort to get people into the kingdom of God. Many so-called gospel tracts today are aimed at getting bottoms on the seats of a local church. Of course they will not admit that, but their tracts speak more of "come and join us" than they do of the gospel of Christ.
This may be why the only form of evangelism practised by many is "come to our church and get saved." Naturally, if anyone does, they are expected to join that same group and follow their doctrines and decrees. Yet Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, He said make disciples, not "invite them into your church to follow your doctrine."
So now we have many "doctrines"; some based on human tradition. One church will believe and practise divine healing, others will say itīs not for today (an outright denial of Hebrews 13:8). One church will worship on a Saturday, most others on Sunday. Some will speak in tongues, others will say that is of the devil even though it was practised in the Early Church, and Jesus told the believers to wait for the day of Pentecost. The Bible says they "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
The current situation began with the departure from the word "believer" - which is what they were called in the Early Church. Their doctrine was simple; take heed of what Jesus said, and do it.
In later centuries the believers began to pick at the Bible like a rummaging crow at a leftover meal. The thinking was: Yes we will believe and practise that bit, but that other bit weīll ignore. Hence denominations began. Today, one denomination will shun others who donīt agree with them, even though they all purport to follow Christ.
The solution to this mess? It is revolutionary. Every denomination wanting to be true to the faith should rename to the "Church of Jesus". They should call themselves "believers" and nothing else: abandon human tradition: do everything the Bible says. If they donīt know how to do that, ask the Holy Spirit for help.
The unity of the believers that Jesus spoke of and advocated has all but disappeared. In Australia and most likely the United States look under "churches" in the yellow pages of any city and youīll see Pentecostal, Baptist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, Salvation Army, Uniting Church, Anglican, and others.
A new believer may well look at that list and say "Which one should I go to?"
Oh yes, unity is there within the individual groups or denominations. Yet mention joining up with others and itīs as popular with the leaders and members as suggesting a holiday in prison.
There may be a "ministers fraternal" once a month in a given city, but it seems a pow-wow combined with coffee and cake is as far as it goes.
Unity did happen occasionally in the past, prior to and during the Billy Graham crusades in various locations. Then the local denominations forgot their differences and united to assist Billyīs team in winning souls. However it was short-lived.
There is rarely any united effort to get people into the kingdom of God. Many so-called gospel tracts today are aimed at getting bottoms on the seats of a local church. Of course they will not admit that, but their tracts speak more of "come and join us" than they do of the gospel of Christ.
This may be why the only form of evangelism practised by many is "come to our church and get saved." Naturally, if anyone does, they are expected to join that same group and follow their doctrines and decrees. Yet Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, He said make disciples, not "invite them into your church to follow your doctrine."
So now we have many "doctrines"; some based on human tradition. One church will believe and practise divine healing, others will say itīs not for today (an outright denial of Hebrews 13:8). One church will worship on a Saturday, most others on Sunday. Some will speak in tongues, others will say that is of the devil even though it was practised in the Early Church, and Jesus told the believers to wait for the day of Pentecost. The Bible says they "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
The current situation began with the departure from the word "believer" - which is what they were called in the Early Church. Their doctrine was simple; take heed of what Jesus said, and do it.
In later centuries the believers began to pick at the Bible like a rummaging crow at a leftover meal. The thinking was: Yes we will believe and practise that bit, but that other bit weīll ignore. Hence denominations began. Today, one denomination will shun others who donīt agree with them, even though they all purport to follow Christ.
The solution to this mess? It is revolutionary. Every denomination wanting to be true to the faith should rename to the "Church of Jesus". They should call themselves "believers" and nothing else: abandon human tradition: do everything the Bible says. If they donīt know how to do that, ask the Holy Spirit for help.
