Where Religion Went Wrong - 7 - Denominationalism

“…I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine…Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are… Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hath sent me. And the glory which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world…” 

John 17:9, 11, 20-24 (condensed) – Yeshua speaking 

The very next chapter, Chapter 18, begins with Messiah being betrayed. This was His prayer for us – that we would be unified in Him and the Father, that we would be “one”.

Simple internet inquiry will show that there are a multitude of denominations of Christianity within our country and many more globally. We don’t worship together, we don’t usually work or minister together, and many times we don’t even get along! Can we even pretend that we are “one”?

Furthermore, as of recent years between 75 and 80% of our nation’s population identified themselves as being Christians. Can we look around and say that these 75% of individuals are “one” in any way? Billions of people globally are Christians, yet do we know them or minister alongside them? Are we connected? Are we “one”?

Some say that, though there are many denominations, there is still only one Body of Christ. I would agree that there is, in fact, only one Body of Christ. I would disagree, however, that these denominations are all “parts” of that Body and constitute a complete whole. I would argue, instead, that the Body of Christ is fractured, divided, and definitely dis-unified, and that it is hidden somewhere within a fractured religious system.

I would also argue that it is time for that body to be consolidated – re-unified into the force it was intended to be – a force to be reckoned with – ministering to a desperate world, healing the sick, and preaching the Gospel of Messiah!

This will not be accomplished by promoting one “right” denomination above all others. Nor will it happen by creating yet another denomination to add to the list. It will only happen when we return to the leadership of our Messiah – His ways. We must rally under the banner and Truth of scripture, the Word of YHWH! We must learn to lay down disagreements and hold ourselves only to scripture’s authority and guidance. We must “swim upstream” to properly understand that guidance, and we must learn to work together and in harmony without division and in-fighting. We must become one!

Why? Read the above passage again.

Yeshua states that His people being unified in Him would allow the world to “believe that thou hast sent me.” Isn’t that our mission? Isn’t that the message we are hoping to portray???

 In our current state, we cannot communicate that message clearly or convincingly. In fact our critics doubt that our God is the One True God exactly because of our divisions! We are hindering our most important message! And the only way to remove that specific hindrance is to tear down our walls and reconnect, re-unify!

Yeshua Himself said,

 “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” 

(Matthew 12:25) 

I do not believe the true Kingdom of YHWH is divided against itself. We, however, definitely are; and as long as we remain so, we cannot minister for His Kingdom here on earth. We pray for miracles, and we pray for souls, but in order to see our prayers answered, we must be unified in Him.

I believe a word of caution is in order. We are not seeking to only be unified with each other, but also to be unified IN Messiah and our FATHER. That is the only banner under which to rally – the True Word of YHWH. No attempts to come together under any other “authority,” “truth,” or “leadership” will be true unity as Messiah intended it. Such a movement could very easily be used by an organization, or even a single individual, to try and gain power or influence, and we should be extremely cautious of this. Not every call to unity is a call to unity in Messiah! Not everything that glitters is gold.

But as the true Body of Christ finds their way back to unity in Him, we will once again begin to see the true workings of Messiah’s church on earth! We can simply read the book of Acts to see the implications of that – thousands of souls saved at a time, the lame walking, and the dead rising! Personally, I believe we will see these things again, but first we must come together, turn back to His ways, and worship Him in Spirit and Truth.