Denominations

A Church Divided Over Leaders

10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, 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. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

1 Corinthians 1:10-17


I read this passage a little while ago, and it struck me that we do this everyday.

Think, Denominations. First thing people ask when you say you're a Christian, and go to such and such a church is "What denomination is it?" they want to know if you are Lutheran, Wesleyan, Baptist, etc. But recently I've started hearing about people that consider themselves non-denominational. I kind of like that idea. We divide ourselves up and say, "I believe in the Bible, I believe in Jesus, but I don't believe that. I've heard of people that have disputes about their beliefs and what is better because one is this denomination and one is that denomination.

Is this what God wanted? For us to believe in Jesus, and argue with one another over weather Martin Luther or John Wesley more correct in his interpretation of the bible? I think even if we are all, say, Wesleyan, we are going to interpret things a little differently. God wants us to just love one another, and teach others about him. He doesn't want us to say, "I follow John Wesley" or "I follow Martin Luther" or "I follow so and so." No, He wants us to say "I follow Jesus." and leave it at that.

(Don't take this as me bashing on denominations completely. I still consider myself Wesleyan at this point and have some very close Lutheran friends. I'm just saying think about it. Why do you believe what you believe? Is it for the right reasons, or the wrong ones? If you disagree with my thoughts, I respect that. But please, comment.)