By: Undre Griggs, Jr.
We have all noticed there are thousands of divisions (denominations) among the followers of Christ. A division is defined as the action of separating something into parts. In similar fashion, a denomination is defined as a separate branch of the church. But why are there so many divisions among the church? The Apostle Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit helps us understand what creates divisions.
1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV): I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
It is likely we all agree there should be an earnest desire for Christians to be united in fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ. It is less likely we find the same consensus when it comes to agreeing with one another. Divisions come from our disagreements and our unwillingness to be perfectly united in mind and thought with God and the brotherhood. We have to desire truth (fellowship with God) and we have to deeply love one another (fellowship with brotherhood); as love and truth (words of the Lord) will last forever.
1 Peter 1:22-25 (NIV): Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
Divisions (denominations) will continue as long as we are unwilling to focus on the word that was preached to us in the Bible. Jesus Christ is the founder/perfecter of our faith and we need to remove the opinions that contradict that understanding. We must stop slowing ourselves down with all the additional concepts; standing firm in the principles that our creator set in place over two centuries ago. Reminding ourselves that anything created after or added to perfection would only unsettle the perfection Christ formed.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV): Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
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