How denominationalism destroyed christianity- part 1

Correspondent | Friday September 4, 2015 14:55

 

It is not easy to convert to Christianity solely because it is confusing and frustrating to extract truth within the religion. Because you have one church over here that is teaching this practice and another church that is teaching the opposite. One church says that item A is sinful and another church says that item A is mandatory. Who is right? Can they both be right? And of course, some people will tell you, “That is good!” for it is good to have variety and just attend the church of your choice. Others will tell you that, “We are going to the same place (Heaven) it is only that we are just on different roads while one may argue that they agree to disagree.  I have read the entire Bible 10 times in search of truth. I have prayed several times to God for Him to help me understand His word. I have prayed to Him in spirit and followed His prayer guidelines. When I read the New Testament, I read about only one church. But when I look around today, and I see those who profess Christianity, I see thousands. Now the question is how did we get from one church to thousands? And the answer is…something went severely wrong. But it did not go wrong with God, but went wrong with man for Apostle Paul in his letter to the church of Corinth notes that God is not the author of confusion but of peace.

For one to learn about the church, he does not have to rely only on the Bible, but read thoroughly about the branch of Christian theology called ecclesiology. Ecclesiology is defined as the study of the nature and mission of the church. As indicated before, during the first century there existed only one church established by Jesus Christ and recognised by God but after 21 centuries, there are thousands of man-made churches misleading the entire human race. In this masterpiece, we learn about the Church of Jesus Christ and later on we learn about all cults, sects, schisms and all man-made churches (denominations) starting with the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Seventh - day Adventist, Mormon Church, African Independent churches and African charismatic churches.

When one reads the New Testament, it is crystal clear that one church existed. According to the New Testament, the word ‘church’ is a translation of the Greek word, ekklesia which means a called out assembly. It refers to God’s people who are called out of the world into fellowship with Him. In a nutshell, the church is God’s redeemed people and a holy nation whose members are citizens of a heavenly kingdom. A group of called out believers in any location is called a local church.

According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ promised to build one church. Peter and the rest of the apostles would be given keys to the kingdom. The apostles were to use the keys of authority to open the door to the kingdom by establishing the church.  This is the church that the prophets foretold that it would be built in the last days in Jerusalem.  Indeed, the church was established in Jerusalem in the day of Pentecost when the apostles received the Holy Spirit as Jesus had commanded before he ascended to Heaven. To enter this church, one had to start by obeying the Gospels. This obeyance included hearing the Word of God, believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, repenting of one’s sins, confessing Jesus Christ as the Son of God and being buried in baptism for the remission of sins. The church in the Bible met on the first day of the week and worshipped in spirit and in truth. They observed the Lord’s Supper, taught Biblical doctrine and it was a place of fellowship for believers. They sang praises to God without the aid of man-made musical instruments. They offered up prayers to God through Jesus Christ. They gave as God had prospered them.

Each congregation was self-governing and independent of all others. Elders and deacons were only over the local congregation of which they were members. Jesus was the head of the church and the headquarters were situated in Heaven where Jesus Christ is. The Church of Christ was to be one and all believers were to be of the same mind and the same judgement.

In the Church of Christ women were not allowed to preach. The baptism was performed by total immersion or dipping in water. All the church elders were married and their children were well-behaved. The Church of Christ allowed monogamy. Members of this church did not observe any laws regarding what is to be eaten and not to be eaten.

*Jason Ranthatsa is a freelance journalist with interest in theology and politics. He can be reached at jranthatsa@gamil.com or 74533614.