Denominationalism:
For good or ill
Pope Francis
YEMI OLAKITAN
Christendom
today has experienced denominationalism more than any other religion in the
world. According to the World English
Dictionary, denominationalism is a sectarian spirit or policy or the division into denominations or sects. Denominationalism
is the inclination of religious groups to experience schisms and separate into
different groups over disagreements about doctrinal matters. In the Bible, it
was the will of the Lord Jesus Christ that Christians should remain a united,
indivisible unit, operating in love since love is the basis of the Christian
faith. Jesus prayed, ‘‘Holy Father; keep through your name those
whom, you have given me that they may
be one as we are. John 17:11. ‘‘I do not pray for these alone, but also
for those who will believe in me through their word; that they all may be one, as You,
Father, are in Me, and I in You; that
they also may be one in us , that the world may believe that You sent
Me.’’ John 17:20,21. However, over the
years, Christianity has been divided into numerous denominations. The questions arise; how beneficial is this to
the body of Christ? Is the denominationalism the path of the Lord? Shouldn’t all Christian denominations come
together? What are the causes of denominationalism in a religion of love?
History
revealed that in the first century,
there was only one church, the Roman Catholic Church which was the earliest. After the fall of
Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Jewish Christian movement was scattered and under heavy
persecution. The Roman Empire legally
recognized Pauline Christianity as a valid religion in 313 AD. Later in that
century, in 380 AD, Roman Catholicism became the official religion of the Roman
Empire. During the following 1000 years, Catholics were the only people
recognized as Christians. Roman Catholicism was then, the only Christian
denomination on earth.
In 1054 AD, a formal split occurred between the
Roman Catholic and other Orthodox
churches. This division remains in effect till today. The next major division
occurred in the 16th century with the Protestant
Reformation under Martin Luther. Protestantism is one of the three major branches of
Christianity, along with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. It shares
with all other Christians’ core beliefs in the doctrines of Trinity and the
divinity of Jesus, the necessity salvation and the centrality of Jesus' death
and resurrection. Protestantism came
from the split with Roman Catholicism during the Reformation in the 16th century.
Led by Martin Luther, John Calvin and
others, the reformers broke from the Roman
Catholic Church due to abusive ecclesiological structures and
theological differences. Protestants share an adherence to the centrality of
scripture as well as a doctrine of
salivation in Christ Jesus.
Different Protestant denominations
have to varying degrees maintained or rejected Roman Catholic forms of worship.
Anglican and Lutheran churches have maintained liturgies and rituals similar to
those of the Roman Catholic Church, whereas other denominations, such as
Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, and United Church of Christ, have
developed less liturgical forms of worship. Most Protestants practice baptism
and communion as key rites of Christian initiation and ongoing devotion. Though
originating in Europe, Protestant Christianity has spread all over the world
through missionary activity and has members from nearly every country, race,
and ethnicity.
Those who remained faithful to Roman
Catholicism believed that the central regulation of doctrine by church leaders was necessary to
prevent confusion and division within the church and corruption of its beliefs.
However under the leadership of Martin Luther, the protestant movement
also had disagreements on issues of doctrines and different denomination began
to emerge as well. Today, Christianity has seen an outpouring of countless
churches and denominations with different doctrines and practices though all
believe in the Lordship of the Lord Jesus and the infallibility of the Gospel.
In Nigeria
alone, there are hundreds denominations as there are different faces of human
beings. Every day, there is a massive proliferation of churches and
denominations. People receive callings and set up their own churches in their
living rooms, church movements had been created in shops. Why does this happen? Why are there so many denominations? Why can't
Christian groups simply agree to disagree and remain part of a single
organization? Is this good for the body of Christ? Does it help the advancement
of the kingdom of God?
In
a chat with Pastor Dimeji Isaac of the Christ Temple, Lekki, Lagos, he said,
social forces: class, racial and ethnic groups, regional divisions, and
nationalism often lead to split in Christendom. According to him, it is good
for churches to remain under one denomination, however, the differences in
human outlook, the difficulty in administration and the stubbornness of people
will make it difficult for Christianity to operate under one denomination.
Speaking further, he said, ‘‘the main thing is that we are all followers of our
Lord Jesus and we believe that the Bible is the word of God. These are the
things that qualify one to be Christian. If we all obey the word of God and
follow the commandments of our Lord Jesus, then it does not matter the
denomination as long as Christ is preached’’ he said.
Deaconess
Shola Abimbola of the Global Church of the Living God does not share this
opinion. According to her denominationalism is from the devil. ‘‘We are serving the same God. Why should we
be separated into different denominations? Jesus preached love. It is clear from the
scriptures that he wanted his followers to remain united as one. It is greed,
individual ambitions, rather than the love of God that lead the Churches into
various denominations, It is clearly not of God,’’ She said and she marveled at the number of
denominations in Christendom today. Deacon
Ola Philip opined that denomination is not a barrier as far as we are serving
the living God. ‘‘When you look at it
from the beginning, prophet- hood started from Noah, to Abraham and the same God that called Moses, also
called Samuel and they never said the
God that called them was different. They all came with harmonious teachings and
that’s why the word of God is the same. In that sense denominationalism is not
bad at all.
On the
cause of denominationalism, he said, ‘‘Jesus said that in the last days, there
will be many false prophets. They are all in town today. Each one of them
called themselves Founder or General Overseer and brings up doctrines that suits
them, that is why we have different denominations. Fake prophets contribute to
denominationalism. Christ says that, there is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called in one hope of
your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; one God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.’’ Ephesians 4:4-6
In another
chat with Pastor Tolu Fowotade of the Mountain and Fire and Miracles Ministry,
he said that denominationalism can be beneficial. It is not a problem at all.
According to him, the word of God is a mystery and it speaks differently to
people with different meanings. According to what God wants to say to them and
their level of relationship with him.
One denomination cannot help the advancement of Christianity. Jesus had twelve disciples, they do not reason
the same way. When the apostles received the baptism of the Holy Ghost at
Pentecost, they were given diverse gifts and callings by the same spirit. The Holy Spirit operates in different dimensions
to different people and gives different gifts, different focus, and diverse
operations by the same God. This is why
there are different denominations. The
word of God is so deep and full of meanings so denomination is not a problem at
all. It is a reflection of the diversity of the gifts and callings of God’’ he
said.
Speaking
further, pastor Tolu said, ‘‘if a man of God is teaching a topic from the
Bible, let’s say, he is speaking about the story of the woman with the issue of
blood. He teaches the word according to the way the Holy Spirit lead him to
teach it. Another man of God will pick the same topic and the same scripture
and teach it from a different perspective and the congregation will still be
blessed. Therefore, though the spirit is one there are diverse operations. It
is not possible to operate under one denomination,’’ he said.
Funmilola
Jacobs of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, said, ‘‘denomination is
unavoidable because Christianity has become the greatest religion in the world.
It has spread farther than any other religion known to mankind. This spread
could not have been possible without the efforts of different denominations,
ministry, callings and missions in the body of Christ which are all working
towards the same goal which is to spread the gospel and bring humanity into
repentance. If we remove denominationalism from the history of Christianity, I
do not think that we could have gone this far. Take Africa for example, it was
the efforts of missionaries from various denominations such as the Catholic
Church, the Methodist Church and the Anglican Church, the Lutheran Church all
working in various fields that brought the light of Christianity to Africa. I
don’t even think that one denomination is capable of taking the gospel to the
whole world as Christ commanded. Denominationalism in my own opinion is the
will of God as long as we all preach the Bible undiluted and stand under the
Lordship of our lord Jesus. If we all follow is teachings and obey his
commandments, then denominationalism is a blessing and not a course,’’ she
said.
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