According to my research on the internet there are currently over 45,000 denominations of Christianity in the world. Yes, you read that right. Not 45,000 CHURCHES…but denominations of churches.
Look, denomination is a math term. Go with me if you will back to the 1st and 2nd grade where we first learned how to do math. It started with the basics of counting…adding and subtracting. When we mastered those basics…usually by the end of 2nd grade..we were ready to move on to the 3rd grade where we were schooled on multiplication and division. (Do you Remember learning and reciting the times tables?)
Division was a bit more complicated because it required mastery of adding and subtracting TOGETHER in the same math problem. To make it simple my third grade teacher Mrs. Oldham (actual name) was tasked with the job of teaching us LONG DIVISION. That required the introduction of two new creatures…numerators and denominators.
(Help me here…it has been 65 years since 3rd grade…)
The NUMERATOR was the WHOLE or total number…and the DENOMINATOR was the number by which the WHOLE number was going to be divided. Hence…30 numerator…10 the denominator…gives us 3…the number of groups we would have after the WHOLE class, 30, was DIVIDED by 10…which gave us the number of groups…3.
Pretty basic stuff. But since I have lived 73 years and now take my Christianity seriously I have come to realize that math does not lie…although liars can make math lie. In today’s modern anti-Christian world they fed us the pablum that “diversity is our greatest strength.” That has to be one of the greatest whoppers the world has ever told us.
In the book of Amos, the Bible asks a very simple question…”Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” That explains exactly why the Body of Christ is so ineffective in expanding God’s Kingdom here on earth. Our churches are a house divided.
I often here the lament of Christians when they are having a discussion about Christianity…THE BIBLE SAYS IT…I BELIEVE IT…AND THAT SETTLES IT!! But that is a crock…we have different DENOMINATIONS because we can’t agree on what the Bible says. Hence….DENOMINATIONS. The correct response to the previous question should be…”Our denomination teaches it…our pastor is ordained by his denomination…and that settles it.”
Let me help you prove a point. If you have the courage begin asking some of your Christian friends what RELIGION they are and they will answer Baptist,Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, Pentecostal…or my favorite NON-DENOMINATIONAL. Do you get it? They respond with THEIR VERSION of Christianity. Aren’t ALL CHRISTIAN denominations…ugh…Christian? Why do they identify their denomination as their religion? Aren’t all DENOMINATIONS simply sub-groups…versions…of different versions of what the Bible says? The Bible says it…I believe it…that settles it….yeah, right.
Hmmmm….Divide and conquer…the oldest trick in the book.
Webster defines RELIGION as “an organized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices. In other words religion is how you live out your Christianity…your religion.
Religion is rule following…Christianity is a heart changing life-style. Sadly, most Christians follow their version of the rules…hence denominational-ism. Let me ask you again….What RELIGION are you?
As many of you know I spent my previous life…before salvation…as a high school football coach. Hence…Coach Dave is a reality. I AM a Coach. Today…I try to coach Christians. See Here.
So, let me double back here and lean on my coaching experience. For those of you who enjoy football there is nothing like the atmosphere at a Big Time College Football game…OSU-Mich for instance. The most important moment of the game is the least understood. It is the huddle.The huddle is the moment when all 11 players come together in UNITY and run the play called in the huddle. Each player has an assignment and he must carry out that assignment in order for the play to be successful. Coaches (pastors) are no good to the team if the players don’t know and execute their individual assignments.
Look around any town in American and you will see multiple churches each running their own individual plays. In fact, the players won’t leave THEIR team (Denomination) and go huddle with the other team (Denomination) down the street because they don’t agree with the other teams Coach (pastor) and how he thinks the game should be played.
Check out this article. It explains the reasons that the “denominations” are divided. Ready? Gay marriage. Moral Issues (abortion), Women in leadership, Worship music, Spiritual gifts, Baptism, Politics in the Pulpit, Alcohol.
I get it. The Bibles says it, I believe it, and that settles it. Yeah right, You believe your denominational INTERPRETATION of the Truth.
How do we every expect to defeat the enemy when OUR TEAM can’t even agree on what is right and what is wrong…?
Final thought. People don’t go to a football game to watch a team huddle…they go to see what difference the huddle makes.
Huddle up, daggone it. Stop serving your denomination…
