'"Divisions, Denominations, and Religions"

 

It is not surprising that there is conflict and disagreement in the world, there is such a variety of culture and human diversity it's a wonder we get along as well as we do. It is even expected that out of this diversity of cultures, a variety of religions and spiritual beliefs would emerge and develop. 

However, it is surprising and has always been troubling to me that the Christian church has been plagued with such adverse divisions throughout its history. The very essence of the Christian faith calls for unity, love, and single-mindedness. 

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

(10)  I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

Yet, there is a continuous string of serious contentions that have arisen from the very onset of the New Testament Church. It has cast a dark shadow on the Gospel in the eyes of many; they question the truth of the Bible because those who profess to believe it can't agree about what it actually says. 

Have you not wondered why this is? Does it not create a dilemma when trying to share one's faith? Especially if the one you are talking to wants to challenge your belief and ask why they should believe you above the group residing in the church down the road. If you are a true believer you surely want to steer them in the right direction, yet you certainly don't want to diminish the character of the Church down the road, or Do You? There was a time I could not have given you an answer, I was entertaining the idea that the truth of the actual faith had been lost and no church possessed it in its entirety. That can very easily lead to discouragement and even the abandonment of the faith altogether. I suppose the fact we can still convince ourselves that our little group or denomination has got it and got it right at least has the tendency to keep us believing. However, that doesn't help the poor fellow looking in from the outside nor does it spur fellowship with the brother or sister in the church down the road. 

How are we to understand all this head-butting within the Christian Church? Are we to just concede to the idea the Bible is not coherent and itself produces confusion and conflict? How many times have you had someone respond to you concerning a biblical text, "Well, that is just your interpretation!" They are implying of course either the actual meaning cannot be known or they have the one and only correct understanding. 

I am not going to suggest that every Christian doctrine and element of Christian Worship is a walk in the park to understand. I am however going to suggest if it is truly a Christian doctrine and essential to Worship the seeming ambiguity can with effort be clearly defined. The problem is not with the scriptural text, but our own human weaknesses and sinful nature. I once heard this question posed to Dr. R. C. Sproul whose reply was simply "Because we are all sinners." That's a good answer in a nutshell, but it needs to be expounded on a bit more for our understanding.

We need to settle it in our own minds first of all that Jude is correct,  Jude 1:3 ESV

(3)  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

If we are able to settle on the fact there is a faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints, we are in a position to begin our search for that faith. We also must be aware also according to Jude, Jude 1:4 ERV

(4) Some people have secretly entered your group. These people have already been judged guilty for what they are doing. Long ago the prophets wrote about them. They are against God. They have used the grace of our God in the wrong way—to do sinful things. They refuse to follow Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

There are and have been from the beginning those in Christian circles that have their own agenda, whatever it may be. They are there for some personal gain or affluence, their concern is not the good of the church, but their own advancement in whatever movement they are putting forth. They need you and your support, so they use whatever means of deception and confusion are necessary to win you over. So we can conclude from the start everything boasting the name Christianity and putting forth certain teachings is not genuine Christian doctrine nor Christian worship. These groups after a close examination and comparison to scriptures can be discerned, a basic familiarity with the Bible and a brief read of the Christian Creeds and Confessions of church history will weed them out fairly quickly.

But what about that little established country church down the road that has been a pillar in the community for years but doesn't carry the same denominational name as yours? Why are they different and why can't we worship together? This becomes a bit more challenging. Generally speaking, those differences are not major diversions from the faith, and they for the most part all hold to core Christian beliefs that have always defined Christianity. The exceptions to this rule usually fall within the Pentecostal and Charismatic groups which entered the Christian landscape about a hundred years ago. Many such groups still hold to core tenets of Christian orthodoxy with the divisions mostly falling along the debate concerning the continuation of the Apostolic gifts mentioned in the Bible. However, some have diverged so far from the faith that they fall into the group Jude warns us about in verse 4 above.  What appears to be confusion and division to those on the outside is usually not serious division at all. We simply have separated ourselves because of our human sinfulness which a genuine application of Christian teaching would eliminate.  If we came under severe persecution and had to go into hiding, we wouldn't have a second thought against gathering with that little church down the road in a secret location for worship and support of one another. However, this does not excuse us from our sinful practices and hardness of heart toward one another in the meantime. Paul reminds us, Philippians 2:1-5 ERV

(1)  Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings,

(2)  then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think.

(3)  In whatever you do, don't let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves.

(4)  Don't be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.

(5)  In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought.

It seems however Christians have difficulty obeying their own scriptures, especially outside their own groups or donominations. We have our beliefs and bless God we are not going to change them. The sinfulness Dr. Sproul was talking about was our tendency to have it our way regardless, even if we offend or injure another. Our weakness is in the mind, the scriptures instruct us how to strengthen the mind, but again we have trouble believing our own scriptures. 

Romans 12:2 ESV

(2)  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Much effort has been spent understanding the human mind and discovering why we believe what we believe. The mind is constantly looking for truth, once certain factors are met and it perceives some idea to be true, it accepts that idea, and that truth is lodged in the mind and it resists all other ideas that contradict that perceived truth. 

In an article written in Psychology Today, Kimerer L LaMothe Ph.D. states, "If the effort of moving with a particular belief or practice ignites a blast of pleasure or joy or healing within us, then our immediate impression is that this symbol or teaching or practice is true, and it is. It is real and true for us because it has allowed us to discover something about ourselves that strikes us as who we are and want to be."

There are many factors involved in the mind confirming or accepting an idea as true. LaMothe would continue by saying, "People with different sets of talents and gifts will find their self-creating powers exercised by different approaches. Those with a large capacity to reason will find more pleasure and truth when engaging perspectives that offer rational arguments for their program. Those with a strong emotional life will warm to dimensions of religious life that emphasize devotion and love. Those with a vibrant kinetic, sensory orientation will gravitate towards forms of belief and practice that allow and encourage them to exercise this capacity for movement as an instrument of discernment." 

This accepted truth is very difficult to dislodge, even when evidence is provided to prove the idea false. LaMothe would continue, "Most of us are conditioned from early childhood to think of ourselves as seeking the "right" answers at the many decision points we encounter. Moment by moment, day by day, we want to believe that we are analyzing situations skillfully and basing our opinions and behavior on the correct conclusions . . . . our tendency to pay closer attention to evidence and arguments that support our own firmly held conclusions, and to simply discount contradictory evidence. . . . many people have been raised with a moral injunction against lying that they automatically assume that a remarkable story or claim must be true. It's just too difficult for them to consider that some people willingly lie . . . . Affinity bias is the common tendency to believe, or agree with, the ideas of people you like or admire, and to discount or disagree with those you dislike." 

This affirms the tendency to remain in a particular denomination if raised in that denomination. It also affirms the tendency of accepting a certain denomination's beliefs as truth if your spiritual experience occurred in that denomination.

The Aeon Website post an article by Miriam Schoenfield that states, "Many of the beliefs that play a fundamental role in our worldview are largely the result of the communities in which we’ve been immersed. Religious parents tend to beget religious children, liberal educational institutions tend to produce liberal graduates, blue states stay mostly blue, and red ones stay mostly red. . . . Suppose I’m raised among atheists and firmly believe that God doesn’t exist. I realize, had I grown up in a religious community, I would almost certainly have believed in God. Furthermore, we can imagine that, had I grown up a theist, I would have been exposed to all the considerations that I take to be relevant to the question of whether God exists: I would have learned science and history, I would have heard all the same arguments for and against the existence of God. The difference is that I would interpret this evidence differently. Divergences in belief result from the fact that people weigh the evidence for and against theism in varying ways. It’s not as if pooling resources and having a conversation would result in one side convincing the other, we wouldn’t have had centuries of religious conflict if things were so simple. Rather, each side will insist that the balance of considerations supports its position – and this insistence will be a product of the social environments that people on that side were raised in."

What all this means is, it's going to be difficult for us to agree on any certain belief, religious or otherwise because of the way our mind works and processes and accepts ideas as truth. Our minds are processing the received information differently, thus resulting in different conclusions concerning its truth. It is helpful to understand this and simply be aware of our own prejudices and biased influences.

There also needs to be a distinction made between a belief of the mind and what theologians call saving faith. It is true that all who have saving faith believe in God and hold to biblical teaching, but everyone who believes in God and biblical teaching does not have saving faith. As Mr. Schoenfield states above, a child raised in a Christian home and taught biblical teaching at church will most likely have a belief in God and profess the Christian faith. However, that belief does not give him saving faith, it is simply a truth accepted in his mind because of his cultural influences and applications of ideals imposed upon him by trusted individuals. You might ask him or her if they were Christians and believed in God and Jesus Christ. They most likely would respond in the affirmative, because it is an accepted truth in their mind, yet they possess no abiding love for Christ. Whatever religious response occurs in their life if any is not rooted in love for Christ, but simply a religious affiliation with their accepted truth. 

This presents a problem in societies such as ours here in America, we have all experienced cultural Christianity, growing up with all these influences around us affirming the Christian faith. The result is multitudes of people having an accepted truth concerning Christianity in their minds, yet their hearts remain unregenerate. As a result, our churches are filled with people who profess the faith but do not possess the faith, a real abiding love for Christ. Our government is filled with politicians who act upon this accepted truth, but use it to their political advantage and have no real love for Christ. 

Don't misunderstand, a Christian culture is a good thing, it makes for a great society. However, it does not strengthen the Church but the contra weakens it. Without genuine abiding love for Christ, we lack genuine abiding love for each other, thus we argue and divide ourselves over the smallest matters of religion. This is the reality of the visible church and has been from its beginning. The reality of what theologians call the invisible church is truly one abiding church walking in love for Christ and love for one another. Because of our bias and particular approaches to scripture, we may come to different conclusions on certain doctrines, but our love for Christ and one another abides and we unite ourselves together in the faith. Because of the development of various religious traditions and doctrines that have emerged over the years with varying degrees of ambiguity, we may find ourselves more comfortable in one particular denomination rather than another. As our liturgy and forms of worship may suit us better in one than it does in another, we will find ourselves going to this church rather than that one down the road. However, when the pressures of persecution are applied, our genuine love of Christ and one another units us in faith that was once and fall all delivered to the saints.   

May God bless,

David