1 Cor 11:18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
Paul was not into ecumenicism. The division and heresies were supposed to make the approved stand out. If there is an approved then the rest are unapproved.
We tend to approve and even rejoice over church splits or a new church in town.
Rom 15:20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:
21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.
There is much redundancy in Christianity. We have created a buffet or smorgasbord Christianity. People fuss when another of the same kind of restaurant or service opens in town. Yet, the same people see no issue with 80+ churches in town with a new on starting every six months or so. Indeed, people jump from church to church like bar hoppers or Mars Hill folks looking to see or new some new thing.
If it is true, it is not new and if it is new is not true when it comes to Christ and the Word. Every church in some way has the same layout. There is music, prayer, sermons and an offering. You can mix up the duration or order of those elements, but those are the basics.
In the beginning, there was one church per town. Considering it is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one book that was once delivered to the saints that makes sense. It was when men's carnality and their private interpretation and iniquity entered that we had splits and heresies. John did not say they went out from us because they had a different vision. He said they went out from us because they were not of us or to make it clearer saved.
We are into marketing and branding and such trying to bring them in when Paul said we were to come out from among them, not be like them to win them. It is the light of God and His Spirit that should draw them in, not our Madison Avenue skills.
You know what branded them? Persecution and holiness. What were they marketing? Salvation by grace that will lead you into persecution that may mean suffering, jail and even death by lions. They had no prosperity gospel message. We talk about dying to self, but they said come and die with us that we may live.
That is the kind of Christianity we need to get back to if we wish to see revival. Want to give the unbelievers a shock? Close all but one of the churches in town that have the same doctrinal beliefs. Let those pastors work together to build His kingdom rather than country clubs, book clubs and whatever else is going on that does not build His kingdom. With the new manpower we could have 24/7 church so no one can have an excuse or miss out on ministry because they work Sundays and Wednesday nights.
Make church about Him seeking the unsaved and serving rather than always receiving. There is so much that could be done if we united and used buildings for rescue missions, homeless shelters, food banks, and other kingdom reasons than house less than 100 believers. Many have less than 20 maintaining a building that is used maybe four hours a week and is deteriorating. God may have been using that group once, but has moved on if the baptistry has been dry for years and membership is dwindling, not growing.
I am afraid some people worship their decaying building more than the Lord who may not have built it in the first place. If God closed the churches in America that were started by the will of man and carnal splits I suspect there would be very few churches left and maybe only one in town.
God does not care about buildings. None of the original seven churches in Revelation exist today. Many blame the culture, but Christianity thrives best where the Church is not man blessed. Indeed, Roman culture was not thrilled with Christianity for the first three hundred years, but then the true Church was small and not a part of the adulterated version that happened after Constantine's decree.
May God give us back our understanding for I feel we have been like Nebuchadnezzar in our pride and have fallen because of it. May we enter a time of restoration to what Christ called us to do and what Church is. May unity of the approved come to shame and exhort the unapproved. Maranatha!
Daniel 4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
