Denominations: Have They Brought Civil War Within The Church?
Is there a civil war within the church? I believe it is common knowledge that there is. Could it be because of race, denomination, or theology? Maybe. I wanted to ask this question to the audience reading this. Do you believe that the church is divided, and why? Division is not something new. In this blog, I wanted to talk about how there was division in the early church and how they handled it. I then wanted to talk about the divisions that occurred during church history, after the first century. Then, I wanted to write about what we can do to stop this, if possible.
First, I wanted to talk about the divisions and issues that rose in the early church. This is something that most people would not think would make its way into the young Christian church, but it did. In the book of Acts 6:1–7 narrates to us the situation of the distribution of food to the widows in Jerusalem. The Hellenistic Jews were being overlooked as the Hebraic Jews were being served first (The Holy Bible). We need to understand that the Hellenistic Jews were Jews that chose to live the Greek lifestyle, and the Hebraic Jews were Jews who lived according to the Law of Moses.
It seems that the Hebraic Jews were getting preference over the Hellenistic Jews, just because the Hellenists chose to live as the Greeks. What can we observe from this? Even in the early church, a type of preference was taking place from one group over another. Now this led to the Hellenists complaining about their current situation. Which was already leading into a possible division between these two groups of widows. That was not very Christ like. Was it? Fortunately, the Apostles acted wisely, and got the disciples together. They also discussed the situation and came up with a solution. They would choose seven God fearing men full of the Spirit and wisdom to oversee the distributing of the food as the Apostles preached the Word of God.
There was also another issue that arose in the early church. The book of Acts 15:1–19 narrates that there was a strong debate among the Jewish believers concerning the gentile believers (non-Jews); on whether the male gentiles should be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. The young church was divided on this matter. Some believed that the gentiles should be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses as the Jews did. While others believed that they should not put a burden over them that they themselves could not bear. All the early church leaders were at this council; Peter, Paul, Barnabas, James (the Lord’s brother), the elders, and the rest of the Apostles. This disagreement was more of a theological issue, because it had to do with the devotion and worship of the new gentile believers. They did not know what it was to keep the laws of Moses or of circumcision. They decided to hold this council meeting they talked and debated about the situation at hand. There were also live testimonies from Peter, Paul, and Barnabas on how God through grace and faith in Jesus Christ were doing great things among the gentiles. After the testimonies; the council came to a decision to let the gentile believers know to stay away from food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood (Acts 15:1–21 NIV). This was another situation that may have had a disastrous effect on the church, if the elders would not have united and talked it out.
Here is one more example I wanted to use of division in the early church was in 1st Corinthians 3:4. The Apostle Paul was writing about how some in the Corinthian church were saying, “I am from Apollos” and others were saying, “I am from Paul” (The Holy Bible NIV). Here we see that believers themselves in the church of Corinth were choosing sides. Paul himself had to address this. Who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are just ministers (1st Corinthians 3:5).
What was happening with the Corinthian believers is that they were divided by their view of leaders. Their eyes were on men. “Apollos was an Alexandrian Jewish believer who came to Ephesus and gave a bold witness in the synagogue there. Due to some defects in his message, he received further instruction in the gospel from Priscilla and Aquila. He went on to Corinth and became and influential leader there. Apollos was with Paul when he wrote 1st Corinthians (Mare).” According to “Mare” Paul and Apollos were united when Paul wrote 1st Corinthians. Why were the believers choosing sides? Even though Paul set them straight on the issue; furthermore, salvation is not about what men you follow it is about Christ. We can see early on different reasons why people in the church would divide against each other. These three biblical examples that I have used in this first part of this blog shows us various reasons for division. Some reasons were for cultural or racial issues, theological issues, and leadership issues (Paul & Apollos). All of this was seen already in the early years of the church.
Secondly, I wish to talk about the divisions that occurred after the first century during church history. As I stated previously, history has a way of repeating itself. There continued to be arguments and debates over theological doctrines. Here is one example of that. There was a major theological debate on whether Jesus was equal to God or lower than God. This disagreement led to the council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. They discussed, argued, and debated over this doctrine, and this led to the Nicene Creed. They concluded that Jesus was equal to God (Hill 80, 81). In the 1500’s the reformation started to take place. Brave men like Martin Luther and John Calvin, and many others were lifted up and spoke out against the corruption of the Catholic church. Luther would teach that salvation was by faith and grace. Different Christian denominations would come out of this reformation as well (Hill 250–264).
It is common knowledge that there are many Christian sects and denominations that make up the church today. Even though Biblically Jesus teaches we are one and that is truth, but the reality is that in this one church are many cultures, opinions, doctrines, traditions, and leaders. Which can lead to a divided church for different, and any one of those reasons. With that being said, here are some statistics on some Christian denominations today. Christianity is ranked as the largest religion in the world today. U.S. Adherents 247 million in 2010, UK Adherents 45 million in 2010, percentage of Christians worldwide: 32%, US — 246,780,000 (79.5% of the Population), Brazil — 175,770,000 (90.2% of the Population), Mexico — 107,780,000 (95% of the Population). “According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there are approximately 41,000 Christian denominations and organizations in the world.” The Roman Catholic church is the biggest denomination in the world with one billion followers. There are 800 million Protestants in the world today. There are also 260 million Orthodox Christians in the world today, 304 million are Charismatic (14%), 285 million are Evangelicals or Bible believing Christians (14.1%), and 279 million of the world’s Christian population are Pentecostals (12.8%). In the U.S. there are 1500 different Christian groups of believers (Fairchild). These statistics show that there are different denominations of Christianity, and within these different denominations though they believe in Jesus; they may differ in doctrines, worship styles, and cultures.
Consequently, most people know that there are divisions in churches in general. I asked a friend of mine who is a Pastor in one of the Grace Brethren Churches, and I asked him; “Pastor, do you believe there is division in the church today?” He replied, and told me; “Yes, absolutely.”
The reality is I am Pentecostal by denomination and there have also been divisions in the history of our Pentecostal denomination as well. There was revival in Azusa Street in Los Angeles California in 1906 led by Pastor William Seymour. Witnesses say people were getting baptized in the Holy Spirit, with supernatural healings, and race barriers were being broken. As black and white believers were worshiping together in unity. Charles Parham, though a believer and a fellow minister, did not agree on black and white believers worshiping together. Parham did not agree or believe in racial equality. He also called the move of God emotionalism. Parham blamed Seymour for this, and took part of the congregation and started another mission (McGee 21–22). Even within denominations there is and have been divisions and disagreements.
Unfortunately, wars, divisions, and church splits, have made the church look bad in the eyes of believers and unbelievers alike. I have personally heard people that are unbelievers comment; “What is the point of going to church?” “There are hypocrites, gossipers, and they are always fighting with each other.” “For that I stay the way I am out here in the world.” Those remarks are sad and truly unfortunate. These wars and the divisions in the church in general are not only affecting the believers, but it is also affecting those unbelievers from being saved and coming to the walk and ways of the Lord. The church must unite! Division was not what Jesus desired for the church. Jesus said in John 17:23; I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (The Holy Bible). This is also the result of a Free Enterprise Religion here in the United States.
Third, I wanted to talk about what we can do to change this. Is it even possible? What do we need to do? Are there obstacles? Yes, but before I continue I do want to talk about limits or boundaries to unity. The Bible talks about what saves us from God’s wrath is our faith and confession of Jesus as savior (Romans 10:9–10). Once we are saved believers are one in Christ (Galatians 3:26–28). God wants us to love one another. I do not believe we should unite as believers with hate groups. An example of this is with the recent events in Charlottesville, VA, with the tragic events of the protests. Which were led by the white supremacists hate groups. According to Glenn Masuchika; the white supremacists believe that they are fighting a holy war for America to please their white God (Masuchika 90). They see every other race as their enemy, and they really believe that they are God’s soldiers doing this for Him. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44). The white supremacists are missing that commandment from Jesus. We need to pray for this nation, and we need to pray for the church as a whole. The one true church. Which Jesus said, that the world would know because of our unity (John 17:23).
Therefore, how do we unite? Is it possible? Since all those who confess Jesus are literally born again (John 3:5). We are brothers and sisters in Christ. That is the core belief. That Jesus died and rose from the dead on the third day. Then, as believers we must follow the Holy Scriptures. Believers may have opinions on certain things, such as theology, but we must respect that up to a point. Our core beliefs can be summed up as salvation, the deity of Jesus, and the Bible as the literal Word of God. When we see opinions that are way off, and go against the Bible and our core beliefs; then we need to back away from it. If it is simple theological opinions that can go either way; we must respect those opinions.
The church must love one another; because without love we are just a resounding cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1). The church must put their denominations, prejudices, opinions, pride, and egos to the side and truly love each other. The church will not always agree on everything, but God commands us to love each other. We must thank the Lord that Jesus died for us and gave us eternal life through him. Christians need to pray for one another all over the world. We have brothers and sisters in Christ who are being persecuted and put to death for their testimony of Jesus. Let us unite and continue to make a difference in this world. Imagine if we can all put our differences to the side and just focus on God. How powerful would that be? What if we can truly all be one voice as one body in Christ. What changes would the church be able to bring spiritually, socially, and politically? Not only in this nation, but in the world.
In conclusion, the reason I decided to bring this theme of the Civil War within the church; is because I became a Christian in a Spanish Pentecostal church. In over twenty years of serving the Lord I have seen a division within the Spanish Pentecostal churches. You have the legalistic churches that believe a woman should not wear pants, make-up, and jewelry. Then you have those that are considered liberal because they let their women use them. During my walk in the Lord I have seen heated debates and arguments over these issues. There are more important things than that to worry about currently. Again, the Spanish Pentecostal churches need to put these opinions, pride, and egos to the side and love and respect each other’s opinions on these simple matters.
One final thought, after doing research and meditating over this theme. I have personally come to the conclusion that the church as a whole will never be truly united. Not until we are in heaven with the Lord for eternity. Humanity has the tendency to have different opinions, prejudices, different theologies on certain topics. This is what makes us human. Humanity is imperfect, fallen, and broken. As long as we are in this imperfect body we will battle with our own flaws and personal weaknesses. I praise the Lord that He has love and patience with His church. Jesus still loves us and works with us. Therefore, we can continue to fulfill his purpose in each and everyone of our lives.
Works Cited
Fairchild, Mary. “Christianity Statistics.” ThoughtCo, March 14th, 2017, https://www.thoughtco.com/christianity-statistics-700533.
Hill, Jonathan. “Handbook to the History of Christianity.” pp. 80–81, 250, 264, Zondervan, 2006, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Mare, W. Harold. New Testament Background Commentary: A New Dictionary of Words, Phrases and Situations in Bible Order. Ross-shire, UK: Mentor, 2004.
Masuchika, Glenn. “Soldiers of God: White Supremacists and Their Holy War for America.” Library Journal, no. 9, 1998, p. 90. EBSCOhost, lbc.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.20652787&site=eds-live&scope=site.
McGee, Gary; Newberry, Annette; Hedlun Randy. “Assemblies of God History, Missions, and Governance.” Seventh edition, pp. 21–22, Global University, Gospel Publishing House, 2014, Springfield, MO.
The Holy Bible: New International Version Containing the Old Testament and the New Testament. Logos. Zondervan, 2009.
