"DENOMINATIONS: The Great Divide in the Body of Christ!"

When I began to research this subject at the prodding of one of my friends, I was astonished at what I uncovered.  I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was THIS BAD!  Did you you know that there are more than 41,000 Christian denominations globally?  That's right, 41,000!  Every Christian I asked last week never came close to the correct answer. Even the closest answer I received to the truth was obscene;  a paltry 2,000!

So what does all this mean?  How did we get to this place?  It is the epitome of "selfishness"...pure and simple! I always say, "There is no limit to the depths of human selfishness!"

The Apostle Paul said it best, "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 same judgment." (1 Corinth 1:10)

After reading this scripture, I can see where one might be confused about what Paul was writing to the church at Corinth; of course, I am being facetious! The word "denomination" does not exist in the Bible, however, its root word means "division" or "to divide." Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.  The more you divide anything, it's overall effectiveness becomes diluted!  I like the word "impotent" meaning "without any power!" The church has become impotent.

Our modern theology reeks of "institutionalism" and "exploitation." Millions of Christians are being sacrificed everyday on the altar of manipulation, greed and perversion. In short, it's all about money.  The almighty dollar, greenbacks, sawbucks, moolah, benjamins, duckets...whatever you want to call it, it doesn't matter. The affections of Christians have been turned away from the Lord God toward their beloved church buildings, bishops, pastors and denominations. 

I overheard some Christians correcting one another a few weeks ago when one called the other a "baptist."  The one seemed to take offense that this man would "accuse" him of being a baptist. Then the brother stuck out his chest and declared, "I am a card carrying member of the COGIC!" What? A card carrying member of the COGIC!  Are you serious? What the hell does that mean?  What about Jesus?  Where does He fit into this denomination equation? This is so sad. The sacrifice of Christ has been reduced to this.

Our priorities are all screwed up.  Every denomination has created its own version of the Bible that fits their respective comfort level with individual and collective sin.  Any behavior can be rationalized and/or justified. From Tertullian to Aristotle to John Calvin to Martin Luther to Richard Allen to John Smith to TD Jakes, John Blake, Jim Jones and even Reverend Ike; it all the same theme. After all, if I faithfully follow Jesus, I can't indulge in the sin I most enjoy.

All this mess started around 320 AD when a selfish ruler named Constantine made a decision that following Christ would not be financially beneficial to him or his kingdom. He asserted that in order to achieve maximum effect, the Word of God needed to be "modified" to satisfy his personal goal of immortality.  At the end of the day, he knew that if the people worshipped God, they would NEVER worship him! So he set himself up as a god, creating a statue of himself that would memorialize him forever. He mixed in his "pagan" rituals with the principles of God and thus diluted and perverted the perfect law of liberty.

As a look around today, all I see are 41,000 copies of the original "blueprint of deception" crafted by Constantine.  The sad truth is that I believe we have finally "perfected" it!