(lego -speak the same thing) (I Cor 1:10)
1 Cor 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
If you read Paul’s instruction regarding the church, then look at the condition of today’s Church, you might assume two things. Either that his instruction is impossible, or that we have failed miserably in following biblical instruction.
There are approximately 41,000 Christian denominations in the world in the world today. The majority of that growth took place after the year 1900. Prior to that there were only 1600. Taken from, Eric Hatfield’s Blog,
No matter how you look at it, this number reveals a deep problem.
41,000 different denominations does not sound
at all
like
AGREE WITH ONE ANOTHER.
EPIC FAILURE!
Okay, now that I’ve vented a little bit…
Paul’s uses of the word “agree” are not meant to portray Christians as mindless programmed parrot puppets reciting doctrinal truth. When Christians speak of Jesus they should sound like they are talking about the same person. When friends spend time together they think similar thoughts and have similar passions. It’s the same way with Jesus, when Christians hang out with HIM, they take on His character and His passions. They know His mind and think His thoughts. They are like married couples who can finish each other’s sentences after years of living together.
The result of our deep connection with Jesus should be that when we hang out with each other we should be speaking the same language. It should sound and seem familiar because we have the same BFF (Jesus).
Paul reasoning is that our agreeing with each other is for the sake of UNITY! We are not to be self promoting but unified in promoting HIM. If we were truly focused on Him we would not be splintering into countless factions, like an out of control cancerous growth!
So, I tell myself to think twice before blabbing my independent and perhaps unfounded thoughts about God. I need to focus on Jesus, His word, His church and His people.
Prayer: Jesus, I cannot unify 41,000 different denominational issues, but I can unify my heart, mind and unruly mouth to agree with my brother. Help me sound like you today.
Hi Glenn, I agree with your main point – that christian divisiveness is a scandal and we should be more united – but you have misunderstood the 41000 figure. These are not separate denominations, divided from each other but separate organisations which in general don’t know each other and hence are not necessarily divided from each other by anything more than distance.
Best wishes.