Churches may remain split, but followers can be more united

Stop. This one's going to be heavy, so let's take a deep breath. Now, let's ask ourselves a question: Why are there so many churches around here?Why are there so many different denominations, subsets of denominations, divisions and practices within the Christian faith? What's the point?

Five hundred years ago there was a movement in which the church underwent a major split. Most people know this as the reformation. At that point Western Europe had one major church -- the Catholic church -- until a monk named Martin Luther nailed a list of objections he had regarding the way the church was using and abusing its power to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany, and changed the course of Christianity in a major way. No matter what side of the reformation you land on, there is no denying that it was quite possibly the biggest church-split in the last 2,000 years, and we have never been the same since.

In fact, since then we have divided ourselves over and over again. Sometimes we have split over significant issues that threaten the integrity of the Gospel message. Other times, we have split over superficial squabbles like dancing, wanting permission for divorce or appropriate dress in a worship service.

The division is at times quite disturbing, but nothing new. Even in the early years, followers of Jesus were split over teachings, doctrines and practice.The clearest example of this is found in 1 Corinthians 3. Here, Paul is addressing the issue -- and he is not as gentle as I have been. He starts by calling the Christians in Corinth out. He draws a line between the maturity of their faith with that of a nursing infant -- not the most mild of descriptions, but effective nonetheless. Paul is frustrated with the Corinthians because they are drawing battle lines and dividing themselves based upon whose teachings they follow. The debate thrives and begins killing the witness of their church, and so Paul is compelled to address it.

Paul writes with both concern and a stern approach because some claim to follow him and others claim to follow Apollos. This definitely sounds like conversations I've heard and had with Calvinists, Baptists, Arminians and Lutherans. Everyone clings to their top thinker, their head theologian, and generally will not budge. Two of my own favorites are Rob Bell and C.S. Lewis. I remember having lunch with other youth leaders and relating to them what one of these great thinkers had to say on a subject, when suddenly one of my friends stopped me and said, "Well Chris, the rest of us worship Jesus." How true is that, and how embarrassed was I? And this is exactly what Paul is relating to his friends in Corinth. He is reminding them that he is just a servant of Christ, as is Apollos. They are not to be placed at the head of the movement, as that spot is reserved for Jesus.

Paul spells it out for us, plain as day:Jesus is the head of the church, every piece of it, and if Jesus isn't the head of a particular group, then that group is not part of the church. What does this mean then for us in a post-modern culture where there is a flavor of church for everyone, a church on every corner, and even a few on the Internet? It means we cannot let church meetings divide us. Where you go on Sunday morning has no bearing on who you are. If you define yourself as Presbyterian or Lutheran, you are missing the point. Sunday morning church gatherings are where we come to encounter Jesus, and learn to love God a little better. These meetings are not our identity -- Jesus is our identity. He is the one who reached down from heaven to redeem creation, to give us life to the full, to heal the sick and broken.

The Methodists do not have the ability to do this on their own, nor do the Episcopals, Catholics or Pentecostals. All of us together rely on the same strength, the strength of God, to bring heaven to Earth. That is where our label resides, not in division, but in unity, in the simple truth that Christ is the foundation, and what we build on top of that foundation must rely on him in order to stand.There may never be an end to The Reformation, but what there can be is a more united movement to love our neighbors and show them what life in the love of Jesus looks like.