Justin Bell, Minister, San Saba church of Christ
Division is one of the most destructive forces against the Church ever devised by our adversary. Just before our Lord would go to the cross, He prayed for unity “so that the world may believe”. Religious division has created more atheists and agnostics than anything else in this country while at the same time It has become so common in our culture to have one small town, dozens of churches, and we all fight over which one you should attend. This was never God’s plan! Let’s turn to the New Testament to learn about the Church that Jesus established (Eph. 2:19-20). We recall that the church is described as the eternal purpose of God (Eph. 3:9-11). Therefore, it is necessary that we are educated by God’s words about the Church and not merely by the ideas of men. The Church was founded by Christ after His death (Acts 20:28) on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Jesus established one church (Eph. 4:4) in which there is to be no divisions (1 Cor. 1:10) and Christ Himself prayed for unity before the cross (John 17:21). Division in the religious world should not be something we simply shrug our shoulders at and say “That’s just the way it is”. But rather something that causes us to be pierced to the heart and cry out for unity (Eph. 4:3) that can only be attained when we hold to the teachings of God’s word and do not go beyond it (2 John 9). The Church of Christ does not teach division, but unity (Col. 3:15). Let’s stop calling ourselves Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, and Non-denominationalists. But simply be Christians only, wearing the name that was given to us by God (Isaiah 62:2; Rom 16:16) and worshiping together under one roof.