T. Allen Burr Ministries

This post was initially published in Paxton Media Group papers in Southwest Indiana and Southeast Illinois.

“I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.”

1 Corinthians 1:10 (NLT)

40,000. That’s the number of Christian denominations worldwide. On the outside, that may seem impressive, but in reality, I find it rather sad. Why did the Church splinter? Why has the Church divided itself? Throughout history, there have been a number of reasons for the Church splitting into different denominations. For example, in 1054, the Church was split due to disagreements about liturgical practices used by the Eastern church, and the Western/Roman church ordered that the Eastern church conform to the Latin rites. The Eastern church refused, and so they were excommunicated. Thus, the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches formed into two camps. 

The 16th century saw the spread of Protestantism following the attempts to reform the Catholic Church by believers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, John Knox, and Thomas Cranmer, though most people have only ever heard of the first two. These reformers were trying to correct the course of the Catholic Church from what they perceived as being errors and abuses. However, when the Holy See wouldn’t listen to these men, the reformers sought to establish one true Church. Later on, the infamous King Henry VIII would further divide the Church, in short becasue he wanted his marriage annulled and the Pope wouldn’t grant it. The division of the Church has continued in this way for centuries. 

When He was on Earth, Christ prayed that all who would come to believe in Him would be one as He and the Father are one. (John 17:20–21 NLT) This message of unity was extremely important to Jesus, as the Apostle Paul repeatedly appealed for the believers to be unified. In Ephesians 4:3, he says: “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” And in Romans 12:5, he says: “We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” There are several more instances of this message being relayed to the believers across the ancient world.

At this point in history, reuniting the denominations back under one banner would be a Herculean endeavor, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t try to mend the bridges between them that have lain in disrepair for so long. No matter if you’re Catholic, Baptist, Episcopalian, Pentecostal, Orthodox, Methodist, or any other denomination of Christian, I challenge you to find and build your relationship with other believers on the commonalities between your beliefs. Lay aside your disagreements and focus on where you do agree. Christ prayed that we would be one as He and the Father are one. How will it look to the world if all they see us do is disagree and squabble