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Out of all the Asian countries that I have lived in over the last 4 months I can easily say that I enjoyed the Philippines the most! I loved the food, I loved the people, and I loved the freedom to tell my testimony to any person who would listen. And though there were many great things about the Philippines it also broke my heart in some ways.
In a lot of ways, the Philippines had aspects that closely reminded me of the United States. The Philippines has many denominations of Christianity; So does the United States. The Philippines has largely accepted a community of gays; So does the United States. The Philippines is a Christian nation; So is the United States. As I noticed these things I realized that the messages and important topics that I would want to breach in the Philippines would be relevant to the people of the United States as well.
I’ve never really known the difference in denominations until a conversation with a co-worker where she explained exactly what her baptist church did and did not believe. It was an interesting conversation the denomination is not a topic that one hears about often. I grew up in a Baptist congregation, but I currently am in a community with a non-denominational congregation. This conversation immediately challenged me to think about what I believe and if that church I was attending was on the same page. And I heard about the division between the denominations here in the Philippines, it brought that conversation back to the front of my mind.
I’ve come to the conclusion that denominations have caused division amongst the Body of Christ by choosing to validate only their favorite parts of the Bible and by focusing only on the gifts and spiritual disciplines that the denomination chooses to walk in. In short, denominations divide the Body of Christ based on preference, gifts, and spiritual disciplines. I do not believe that is inherently a bad thing. But some how we as Christians have found to away to pervert the gifts of God using them to create division rather than appreciating each gift as part of a body that should be working together.
“But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?”
??1 Corinthians? ?12:19-24? ?MSG??
http://bible.us/97/1co.12.19-24.msg
I obviously was not around when denominations were created, but I would believe that in the beginning when they were established the whole body simply believed in and taught the whole Bible. I would imagine that denominations were started as a way to lump together people with similar gifts to operate in a power of greatness when more the two or three are gathered in His name. I imagine that even with those good intentions that eventually pride rose to surface contradicted the unity in which they were first founded on. I imagine that this church was a group of people passionate about intercessory prayer. And this church over here was a group of people passionate about door to door evangelism. And this church over here was a group of people passionate speaking in tongues. While this group over here was passionate about exhortation and encouragement. I would think that int he beginning based on the need that group or congregation stepped up to plate offered get their speciality in a certain area as a gift servanthood to the community in need. As I said I imagine so I sincerely doubt that is what actually happened, but why could not, is it now working that way?
How can we be a united Body of Christ?
So when I learned that denominations were so important in the Philippines that kept churches from interacting together to spread the Gospel it hurt my heart. When I learned that we may be planting another church in the same community that already has the same denomination church simply because of the preacher wanted to plant his own church rather than serving and supporting the church that is already in the neighborhood, it hurt my heart. When I learned that the people in the community were so confused by the denominations that they either chose not to participate at all or simply went to another religion, my heart hurt.
How do we become ONE Body of Christ as Christians around the world?
I wish I knew the answer to this question for both the Philippines and the United States. I do not believe that the answer is segregating ourselves based on the gifts that God has given us. I do not believe that the answer is separating ourselves from the community of Christ “to do it better” somewhere else. I do not believe that the answer is anything other than what brings us together in mission, community, and intimacy with Christ.
But how do we get there?
