today while I was in the shower, i was wondering to myself which denomination was "right." Baptists? Lutherans? Presbyterians? and then it dawned on me that my point of view was extremely narrow. These are all Protestant churches. So then I started wondering which was "right," Protestant or Catholic. then it dawned on me once again that my point of view was extremely narrow. Protestant and Catholic are both Western Christians. In our society, we never consider that there are in fact Eastern Christian churches. The two main ones that come to mind are the Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. So then I wondered if Western Christians or Eastern Christians were "right."
To clarify, when I use the word "right," I mean most correct in their theology. If one church is the most correct in their theology, it does not make the other churches completely wrong. Is absolute perfection in theology something that exists? I don't know, that's why I was wondering which church is "right."
With that said, it then dawned on me that there wasn't a correct denomination. Denominations as they are today are completely against the will of God. If you are a Christian, you belong to the Christian church, not the Protestant Church or the Catholic Church or the Greek Orthodox Church. John 17: 20-23 are a prayer from Jesus. They are as follows, "My prayer is not for them(the disciples) alone. I pray for those(us) who will believe in me through their message, that
all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me,
that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
Paul also talks about unity in the church in 1 Corinthians. he also talks about the Body of Christ, which is the church. Do we as Christians function as one body today? Simply, no. The Christian church has split and divided itself because of differences that we deem significant. However, these differences do not change the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior. what is Christianity? I say it is a personal relationship with Christ. Is this found in all the demoninations? yeah. If it isn't, then that church is not Christian. so my question is, why are we divided when we believe in something greater than these differences? Imagine the impact of one united Christian church. It would be incredible.
So that is my qualm with all of us as Christians today. We don't get the big picture. Does it really matter if you are completely immersed when you are baptized, or just sprinkled on the head? no, it doesn't matter. Baptism is a public confession of faith, it doesn't matter how wet you get. If anyone can make a case for how wet you have to be in order to be baptized, I will shut up and not talk about theology anymore. So I am done now. all I am saying is that if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you are part of the Church of God as we are called to be. I have never been affiliated with a denomination and now I never will be. In my mind, they don't exist because we are all the Body of Christ. Read 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27. I would have put in in here, but it was too long to type. But read it anyway.
