The Wisdom of Sects

This week, our pastor started a series on different denominations within Christianity (specifically Protestant denominations, since we Protestants have so many of them coexisting in the same areas).  Our church is Independent Baptist and the first denomination we talked about was Methodist.  It was really more of an overview of the denomination as represented on the United Methodist website and I won't go into it here.  That's not what I'm here to write about today.  What I'd like to talk about is Christian denominations and sects themselves.

Now, I understand that this is a sensitive area for a lot of people.  The very fact that there are different denominations in Christianity has caused puzzlement and embarrassment to many Believers.  I remember myself experiencing these emotions when the subject came up in talking to a Mormon and also a Jehovah's Witness--both of which are non-Christian cults and should not be confused with legitimate Christian denominations, though Mormonism has recently launched an ad campaign to "Christianize" itself in the eyes of the world (Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus was Michael the Archangel--contrary to Hebrews 1, and numerous other passages--and that he only died for Adam's sin and that we must atone for our own faults through hard work and evangelism--contrary to 1 John 2:2 and Ephesians 2:8-9--; Mormonism teaches that Jesus was just one of an infinite pantheon of gods, including a divine couple that physically parented Jesus, Satan, and all of us together...and that we can all ascend to godhood ourselves with our families if we are really good Mormons--and if any of that sounds remotely Christian to you, I suggest you go back and reread your Bible from the beginning).  Both the Mormon and the Jehovah's Witness flatly rejected the truth claims made by legitimate Christians because, they said, "Mainline Christianity is so fragmented."  "There are over a thousand different denominations within Christianity, but we know that Jesus wanted his church to be one," said a smug Mormon. "Mainline Christianity is fragmented into denominations and sects.  It's not one, so it's not of God.  The Chruch of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints [Mormonism] is one, so it must be of God!"  Unfortunately, his logic proved self-refuting when I pointed out that there are a hundred or more sects within Mormonism as well, with various degrees of legitimacy.  The same is no doubt true on some level of the Jehovah's Witnesses, though they will deny it.

And though the cultists are defeated by their own arguments and the blatant lies their teachers try to hold up against Scripture, a burning question remains in my mind and in the mind of many Christians (I feel) who have faced similar arguments: why do we have sects and denominations within Christianity?  Why would God allow this to happen to His Church?  Some propose to borrow a solution from the cults' arguments and say that only one denomination is the true Church and every other denomination represents a group that fell away (to one degree or another).  But the problem is, which group is true, then?  All Christian denominations agree on virtually every point: the Trinity, salvation by grace through faith, the Bible as the word of God, Jesus as the Son of God, the crucifixion covering all our sins, the resurrection on the third day, the future resurrection and heavenly reward of all believers and the future resurrection and eternal damnation of all unbelievers, the duty of the Church to win the lost...the list goes on and on.  Denominations are split along the finer lines of differing interpretations of doctrines and different methods of church governance--matters where either the Bible says nothing at all or what it says can be legitimately interpreted either way.  So, since there is no real distinction in the truth content of any of the denominations, how can we mark one as the true Church and the others as "deceived"?  Usually the person trying to use this solution will betray the fleshly arrogance of their solution by arbitrarily marking their own denomination as the one true Church and branding all others as heretics.  This is no solution unless we really want to get caught up in "church politics" which have everything to do with human ambition and pride and nothing to do with God.

So, why the denominations?  Why would God allow something so horrible to happen to His Church as to allow it to be divided in such a way?  Let me propose something radical: the denominations are, in part, God's plan and God's wisdom for the Church.

Please, before you tar and feather me, allow me to explain how I came to this conclusion.  As I said, this week, we were discussing the denomination of the Methodists.  One thing the pastor noted was that Methodists were famous for their social activism.  The United Methodist website not only has statements on evangelism and moral issues like homosexuality, but also on recycling and disaster relief.  The pastor asked a question: "How socially involved should a church be?"  I didn't know, so I responded with a related question: "How socially involved should a Christian be?"  The Bible holds no clear answers.  There is no verse saying, "Thou shalt recycle," nor one that says, "He who recycleth shalt thou cut off from the congregation."  The Bible contains examples of Christians who were very socially active and those who were more withdrawn.  Neither are said to be more or less righteous, as far as I know.  I said that I supposed it came down to a matter of personal conviction and preference, which Christians are at liberty to have as outlined in Romans 14.  "So, if you're more socially minded, it would make sense for you to join a Methodist church," said the pastor.  That's when it clicked for me.  That's when I saw the wisdom of sects, or, to put it another better way--the wisdom of differences.

The fact of the matter is that every human being is unique and salvation doesn't change that.  God doesn't overwrite us on salvation with a nice uniform Baptist or Methodist (or whatever denomination or non-denomination you'd like to name) mentality.  In fact, He seems to delight in our differences and increases them by giving us all different spiritual gifts.  What one church group can minister to all the diverse needs and use all the diverse strengths of such a mixed crew?  The answer is simple: none.  You can no more serve the needs of every Christian with one branch of Christianity with one uniform-to-the-last-minutia set of beliefs and practices than you can fit every Christian on Earth into a single church building every Sunday morning.  God is aware of this and gave us the liberty to have differences of opinion and allowed for us to have fellowship with Christians who understand things exactly the way we do.  I think this diversity is a part of His plan.  The Church is His body and, as the Bible says, "The body does not consist of one part but of many" (1 Cor 12:14).  What a disaster it would be if our entire body were composed of brain cells!  We wouldn't be able to stand or hold a shape.  We'd have some really great thoughts though in the few seconds we were able to survive without blood, oxygen, and an immune system--and that'd be it!  Thankfully God in his wisdom made our bodies of many billions of distinct types of cells and further set them in different parts with different functions.  Similarly perhaps He creates different churches and brings different sorts of Christians to each of them so that each church may fulfill its own unique role.  Then, having over a thousand different denominations and sects doesn't make mainline Christianity false or a disappointment to Christ: the diversity actually serves His cause.

There is one thing, though, that does not serve the cause of Christ, and on this point the Bible is very clear: Christian in-fighting.  When we judge each other because of our differences--which the Romans 14:4 & 10-14 clearly forbids--we elevate ourselves and our distinctive nature above that of others.  In our worldly pride, we're like the eye saying, "Because I see, I'm better than the ear" or even "I see and the ear doesn't: therefore, the ear isn't really a part of the body" (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).  We argue and bicker.  We put one another down.  We play organizational politics like unbelievers.  We label ourselves and each other based upon that which divides us rather than the identity in Christ which we all share.  In this, we clearly sin.