Our Great-grandmother Church

Acts 16:4 "And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. 5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily."

Today the United States even has hundreds of denominations and perhaps thousands of non-denominational churches!  In fact it is reported that there were 217 denominations in the United States in 2006. (Hartford Institute for Religion Research). Why so many? Christians are not of "one accord".

Christian denominations may be segregated by doctrine, government, name, leadership, founders, and now even silliness such as music preferences and rituals.  Each of these aspects may create a separate denomination, but mostly the reason for so many denominations are two fold: 1) pride in how to worship or 2) the perception that others are wrong in one or more of the aspects above.

Ephesians 4:3 "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

Paul established that there is "one body" or one church. "Of course that's MY church which is the one true church!" most people think. That's how we all think, but I try not to think that way.
I have attended Calvinist and Armenian doctrinal churches. I have attended holiness and non-charismatic churches. I have attended formal and casual churches. I have attended strong Bible-based churches and others that are more emotional, based on evidence of the Spirit. Most of us are great-grandchildren of the "one body" of which Paul speaks!

I attend my present church, not because I am a proponent of their doctrine, but because their doctrine, music, ritual, and fellowship is near what I believe from a scriptural standpoint. Is my church THE BEST? It isn't perfect by any means, but it's very close to scriptural. I have agreement with my denomination, but it is not the perfect denomination! It has an amount of wrong doctrine. That's due to  interpretation because that church professes what its founders professed.

Where I differ with my own denomination, I put my pride aside and submit. It doesn't mean that I relinquish my belief for acceptance, but that for accord I don't cause chaos in my church over prideful differences. Christians always must be open to the Spirit, and if the Spirit says "You're wrong!" then make the change.

Pride would entail others to belief exactly as I do! Meekness would make the allowance that others can formulate their own beliefs. Even if we both use scripture, and we differ, it's not God who contradicts, but one of us sincere Christians who understands wrongly. Even two spirit-filled Christians may have different doctrines. It's because we are human and our ability to understand even the leading of the Holy Spirit is flawed. It's not Jesus who is defective; it's ME and it's YOU!

Therefore, one church is what is ordained, but we have numerous denominations. One church is the ideal and denominations are the result of pride. Of course there are essentials which are necessary, but on issues non-essential, we must allow some leeway. However, even essential vs. non-essential is debatable. In Acts 15 the Jews believed that circumcision was an essential. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit they put away their perception of truth and said "Maybe there is room for Gentiles to believe a little differently!" You see, circumcision is something that the Jews accept as essential for them, but allowed that it may not be essential for the Gentiles. The reason they became of one accord and in unity is because the Holy Spirit worked in them all! As it turned out, there was a right position which solved the problem:

Romans 2:29 "But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."

Jew and Gentile had circumcised hearts, both peoples were inwardly Jewish. However, the outward show of circumcision of the heart for the Jews was removal of the foreskin. The Jews needed that! The Gentiles didn't! They were united by the Holy Spirit, all hearts were circumcised and they became of one accord!

Then, the Council of Jerusalem (see  COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM) settled the issue for those who misunderstood each other and God's will. The decision was for each Jew and Gentile to compromise, not on one faith, one Spirit, one Christ and one baptism, but on ritual. The Jews gave up the idea that to be a Christian, the penis must be removed of it's flesh, and the Gentiles were asked to give up some of their pagan customs which caused consternation in the Jews.

The council issued decrees. Basically, it was to focus on Jesus Christ and quit badgering each other on inconsequential ideas. This decision with it's decrees was ordained by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem (Acts 16:4 above). It was the Holy Spirit who resolved the issue and the church leaders who were led by the spirit in how to maintain doctrine and unity!

The result of holy people seeking common ground was not heresy for the faith was kept (Acts 16:5).  They each sought God's will, not their own and God reigned supreme. Satan failed in his attempt to divide and conquer!

Circumcision of the heart won out! Circumcision of the flesh was dismissed as unessential. It was recommended that pagan ritual cease to appease those it offended. The results were that they (Jew and Gentile) were unified in the spirit and peace was had (Ephesians 4:3).  The church was still one body (church), there was still one Spirit, one Lord (Jesus), one faith (Christianity), one baptism and one God who was Father to all! You see, petty things were put aside and one church prevailed in one accord!

With the Reformation, the church split because of doctrinal issues! Like it our not, the original church was catholic (universal) and the apostles and their followers were the church. Many sects failed to understand and became heretical in essential doctrine. That's a reasonable split because "their Christ" became different than what scripture taught.

With time the catholic church split off. They assumed the title Roman Catholic Church and at that time denominations were formed. Later on, that denomination split and we had Orthodox and Roman Catholic denominations.

With continued abuses in Roman Catholic Church doctrine Luther was expelled with his 95 Theses or doctrinal differences. That resulted in the Protestant Church which had split many times since!

After a period of time, Ana-baptists split off forming new denominations. It was on ritual and the efficacy of baptism. Also, it was on doctrine: paedobaptism vs. credobaptism (infant vs. believer's).

Then the Anglican Church split off over leadership (authority) and doctrine. Actually, it was an error to split on doctrine in this case, but leadership was a valid reason.

Since then there are three grandmother churches with one "great-grandmother". The latter is the apostolic universal church which began to grow (Acts 16:5 above). It was a church of one accord in the Holy Spirit with one faith, one Lord, one baptism, and one God. Great-grandma did good!

The three grandmother churches are: the Roman Catholic, the reformed or protestant denominations and those who are Anglican in nature. (There were peripheral children who wondered away at different times).

Like it or not, the truth is that as a baptist, my mother church is Anglican since the early 1600s, and my grandmother church is the Roman Catholic since the 1500s. All our great-grandmother churches is the one which grew from the Counsel of Jerusalem because the Holy Spirit fixed differences and those in disagreement humbled themselves; or more accurately, the Spirit humbled them all!