DENOMINATIONALISM - ONE BODY, ONE HEAD

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
1. You all speak the same thing
2. There be no divisions among you
3. You be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (from I Cor. 1:10)
In other words: unified
We Need to Speak the Same Thing
There is only one doctrine just as there is only one Jesus. When doctrine is used in the plural it is always doctrines of demons or doctrines of men. What Jesus taught is true doctrine and this is found in the Bible. The Bible was not written by man and his wisdom but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is the Word of God. We must not add to it and we must correctly interpret it by sound principles.
One of the main reasons that there are so many differing teachings is because the scriptures are not properly interpreted. Scholars from major theological seminaries agree upon using certain principles to interpret scripture. These principles include following grammatical laws, recognizing the culture and history behind the writing, and considering the context within which the scripture is written. If we used these principles (along with others often agreed upon) we would not have as many variations in our teachings. The following is a list of 12 principles compiled from Bob Reid, teacher at Faith Tech Ministries:
1. God's word contains no contradictions in word(s) or principle.
2. Any interpretation derived should be fair and honest (to God).
3. Any interpretation should be consistent with grammatical principles.
4. Any meaning derived should be consistent with historical background and customs.
5. Christian experience should be founded on the Bible and not the reverse.
6. To discern a fair interpretation of scripture, it is wise to know the theme of the book from which it is taken.
7. Get all scriptures on a given subject before attempting to interpret. A partial omission in a text does not prove anything.
8. The Old Testament does not contain any requirements for us except for those that have been clearly carried over into the New Testament.
9. The Bible contains both natural and spiritual passages. That which is clearly spirit must not be taken natural and vice versa.
10. Scriptures must not be taken out of context.
11. Just because certain actions and statements of men appear in the Bible does not mean they meet God's approval.
12. Any true interpretation or meaning will be spiritually exciting, will bring you closer to Jesus and challenge you to love Him more.
If we truly apply these teachings, we will find much more doctrinal agreement and much more maturity in the Body of Christ.
God Wants No Divisions among us
There are divisions today because of carnality and sin. We need to seriously repent of our divisiveness, whether it be the hierarchy of being a born again believer verses a Spirit filled believer (i.e., Baptist vs. Pentecostal/Charismatic) or because someone prefers something done differently than someone else.
Stop and think for a moment of any division that you know of in the Church between two or more believers. Make a list of these divisions. Ask yourself if these should exist and why they exist.
Division Should these exist Why do they exist
After you have made your list, where possible, resolve to reconcile these situations. If you are "at odds" with a brother or sister, try to resolve that division. Maybe you need to repent and change your attitude or maybe you need to pray for someone else's attitude. When possible go to that person and work through the situation by studying the scriptures and/or praying together. Accept each other's differences when the issue is a matter of preference and not a Biblical command. Submit to one another. Even Paul implored two women who disagreed to be of the same mind in the Lord. He encouraged other believers to help those women. (Phil. 4:2,3)
When believers gather together, each person has different preferences because we are individuals. Some people would like a teaching before singing and prayer. Others prefer singing and prayer before a teaching. This is not a problem when we accept and submit to one another. However, when we become dogmatic in our preferences (e.g., singing and prayer must come before teaching) this can cause division. How often have we heard of church splitting over the color of carpet?!
But people have left the church on issues not much more important than this. They have left over a building site (or building issues), styles of music, forms of worship, etc.
Let there be NO DIVISIONS
For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.' (I Cor. 1:11,12)
If Paul were alive today this passage might read, "For it is obvious to me that there are divisions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you says I am Baptist, I am Assembly of God, I am Lutheran, I am Wesleyan, I am Methodist. Is Christ divided? Was Luther or Wesley crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Luther or Wesley?...
We need to repent. We are not a multi-headed body nor are we a multi-bodied head. I am referring to Christ and the Church. There is one and only one head. This head is Jesus. He gives us instructions and is our authority. He is to be our only head. No man, whether it be Wesley, Luther, or your pastor is to be your head. Only Jesus is our head.
In the same manner, we are to have only one body and that body is the Church. Currently, it is divisive. We need to study and apply I Corinthians 12. It talks about us having different functions in the manner that a physical body has different parts (eyes, nose, fingers, toes, etc.). But, we are one body. It is sinful to willfully hold to the false teaching that there are many bodies (i.e., church denominations) in the body of Christ. There is one body and we are it!
It is very simple, so simple that a child can understand. When you repent, believe and receive Jesus you become a member of the body. That is when you become a member of the Church. There are no additional requirements, nor should there be. If Jesus, our Head, did not make additional requirements of us, we should not make them of each other. You do not need to take a Bible class, become a member of a denomination, nor do any other works to make you a bonafide member of the body of Christ (the Church). When you repent, believe and receive Jesus, you are complete in Him because of what He did on the cross. You are fully a part of the body. Any additional requirements cheapen the value of the cross. When we expect additional requirements, we are saying that to be a "true" member we need the cross of Christ plus denominational membership or the cross of Christ plus a "membership" class (or both). This is error and is divisive. This is man-made religion, not God-ordained! God desires "that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (I Cor. 1:l0b)
Some of you may be thinking that the church you are in is not a denomination. You're thinking, "I'm ok. She isn't referring to me." However, you are being just as divisive if your "non"-denominational church behaves like a denomination. You are being divisive if you recognize any organization as a body of Christ instead of all Christians being the body of Christ.
If you are still with me and haven't gotten mad and shut this book I will explain further by using some practical examples.
Example #1
If you are in a denominational church you are probably associating with people of the same persuasion (i.e., that go to that church.) You are too busy and too focused on going to that denomination's church services and activities that you do not spend time with other Christians. If you are a Baptist most of you wouldn't dare go to a Pentecostal church because they are strange. (They might speak in tongues!) If you are a Pentecostal you wouldn't go to a Baptist church because you think their service is boring and has no life. Their praise and worship service is lacking the exuberance you are accustomed to. You are now divided by denominationalism and doctrine. Yet we are supposed to speak the same thing…. We don't even believe the same thing!
Denominations tend to promote themselves rather than or in addition to Christ. Christ needs no substitutions or additions. He is all in all. He is to be our all in all. Promoting your church is idolatry. God is calling the Church, His Church, His Body, to repent of this idolatry. Until we repent, we will not even recognize the other members of the body. (No wonder we are so crippled!)
Example #2:
How often do we invite someone to come to "our church" rather than to "our Jesus!" How often we waste our funds to build a denominational program or our denominational building rather than the body of Christ?!
Some would say, "But we need that program to teach people about Jesus." What about using the Bible in its purity or Biblically based teachings (using God-called teachers) rather than a mixture of denominationalism and Bible to teach people about Jesus?
Some would say, "We need a building (a "put in your denomination" church) so that people will come to us on Sundays to hear about God. What's wrong with Christians going to them and telling them about God? This is more Biblical. Besides denominational church buildings bring glory to the denomination rather than purely to Jesus. The Mormons do a better job at naming their churches than we do. At least they call themselves the Church of Jesus Christ... rather than Baptist Church, Methodist Church, or Presbyterian Church.
Example #3:
Too often people have the concept that the denominational church building or the denominational church service is the Church. We, the people, are the temple of God. (I Cor. 3:16,17; 6:19). We, the Christians, are the members of the one body of Christ (I Cor. 12). God does not live in temples made with human hands (Acts 7:48). He lives in human hearts. We are His holy temple.
We are One Church
“Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” (Rev. 18:4,5)
Church, stop compromising! Come out of her!
There is well-founded history behind the denominations. The men who started them were godly and holy. God revealed more of Himself to them during their lives and as a result they left behind their "old wineskins" to follow the truth they understood. They had to leave their preconceived ideas and former ideologies in order to do this. Other Christians left their beliefs when Luther and other reformers preached their insights of the truth. They refused to continue to believe in "justification by works" but instead received "justification by faith." They refused to believe in the "sole authority of the Pope" but received the "sole authority of the scriptures." They refused to continue to accept only certain individuals as priests but instead recognized the "priesthood of the believer." This is how the Protestant denominations we see today came to be.
Acts and much of the New Testament gives a description of the first century churches. Shortly thereafter Catholicism (the Roman Church) began its rise (about 300 A.D.) The Bishop of Rome and his church began its rise about the mid 500s A.D. The Papacy gained more and more power and authority up through the Middle Ages.
Throughout this time true Christians were persecuted and martyred by the Catholic Church. Luther understood that we are justified by faith along with other tenets that the Catholic Church did not believe. As a result, the Lutheran church was "born". In a similar manner other denominations were "born". The last official denomination formed was the Pentecostal denomination. This was a result of the Azusa Street revival where Christians were baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke with tongues.
Where We Are Today
Now it's time to leave behind all these denominations. They are old wineskins. God wants us to live and act like One Church, recognizing who He is and who we are in all simplicity, without denominational walls dividing us.
We are to have the Same Mind
We need to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment. Each denomination has its own mind (i.e., its own set of doctrines). Not all of these doctrines are the same (nor accurate). We need to repent of those that are man-made or false and not Biblically sound. If we disagree on an issue we need to be willing to "contend in the scriptures"… the battle of the Bible if you will. We need to use our spiritual sword to bring the truth back.
We need to work through our ideas, thoughts, and concepts and line them up with what God says in the Bible. Then we will have the same mind, which will be the mind of Christ, and the same judgment.
Come out from her, My Church, and live My holy Word,
Ask of Me, I'll give you eyes to see.
For you are blind in many ways,
But ca1l to Me I'll be your mainstay.
For I have loved you with a lasting love,
And I died for you.
That you might respond to Me,
And love Me as I do you.
Open your eyes for I am in your midst.
Open your eyes. Open your heart.
Open your lives and love Me like you did.
Follow truth. Follow Jesus.

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Not all of the 12 principles listed below are agreed upon by all theologians.
For more information and teaching on this topic, contact
Bob & Karen Reid
Faith Tech Ministries
900 Long Blvd. #463, Lansing, MI. 48911
(517) 694-1957
Web Page: http://www.faithtech.org
I have modified this principle from Bob Reid’s original to exclude the words “or promises” because the New Testament says “For all the promises of God in Him (Jesus) are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2 Cor. 1:20)
Although I have never witnessed this myself, I have heard people mention this. I have read about a specific case of a church almost splitting over the color of the roof of it’s building.
Some would say that calling a church the "Church of Jesus Christ" is saying "I am of Christ" and is not really any better that the other names. However, the entire body of Christ could be properly called "The Church of Jesus Christ."