“Point of correction: I am expected to speak out against error and
evil. And I will continue to do so no matter where the evil is found. There
must be divisions among the congregation. Of course, there
must be factions among you to show which of you are genuine! 1Cor 11:19(ISV). ” Yes, but generalizations are not in the
spirit of love. Is it right to say Igbos love money, that the Riverine are immoral?
Where do these sins not abound? Likewise all sins and struggles can be found in
each denomination. In fact if ever there is a perfect church or denomination,
the very fact that I, let’s not say you, join them makes them imperfect. “Watch your tongue brother…” Understand me: God works with people with a
perfect heart not just an organization. You can serve a ministry yet not serve
the interests of Jesus. People may preach Christ, not error, yet their hearts
are wrong; their correct sermons born only of strife. Some are preaching Christ because of their envy and rivalry, while
others do so because of their good will Phil 1:15(ISV).
Denominational numbers may multiply yet
the kingdom of God is at a standstill… “What
do you mean?” This redistribution of brethren: today they are Winners,
tomorrow Redeemed, the next they are on The Rock; moving about yet no new soul
is added. What fraction of new members are people just getting born again? They kept praising God and enjoying the good will of
all the people. And every day the Lord was adding to them people who were
being saved Act 2:47(ISV). God expects addition to the body of
Christ those being saved… “We have a baptismal register…” Can we steer away from there?
“Do you believe in ecumenism? Should we dissolve all church
denominations into one super church?” Far from it for then we would lose the
different flavours of the fullness of God: there are varieties of ministries, but the Lord is the
same 1Cor
12:5(ISV). I believe in unity in diversity. Serve Jesus, not
a denomination. Seek to serve Him within the context and safety of a ministry; but
it is Him we seek. Strive to be
recognisable as His servant; not just an organisation. He is far bigger than
any single and all ministries. None has fully captured the essence and
revelation of the Lord; none has the monopoly of any of His manifestations.
“So
what are you saying?” Let us put it this way; before the Lord returns this
bickering has to give way to maturity. And so we shall
all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son
of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's
full stature Eph 4:13(GNB).We all, all of us who truly believe in
Jesus from every denomination will get there. And guess what? It won’t happen
because of an ecumenical conference. It will happen as we walk in love (Eph
4:15), and by his
spirit (2Co 3:18). Who do you serve?
No comments:
Post a Comment