One Body, One Purpose

"'Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.'" -Jesus in Luke 11:17 NIV

Dictionary.com defines denomination as "a class or kind of persons or things distinguished by a specific name" (among other definitions of the word).
      There are multiple denominations in existence (Baptist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, etc.). These are the names believers often align themselves with and define themselves by. They have different cultures and variations in what they believe and so they identify themselves differently. Unfortunately, many times they forget to just be aligned with Jesus. That is the name we are to be distinguished by.
      When did "Christian" stop being enough for us?
      While I can see why believers may want to set themselves apart from others (because of groups not truly living after God, but instead using His name to justify their hatred and sin) by identifying themselves with their denomination, I believe that having multiple denominations has divided the body of Christ. We don't need to name ourselves differently if we are consistently seeking to live by God's standards. If there were enough of us living united and after God's heart then people would naturally be able to weed out the fakes. Instead, though, we have taken it upon ourselves to try to make it easier to set ourselves apart rather than trust God to preserve His name. It's almost a cop out to be honest because it's easier to be distinguished by a name than it is by a life style.
      Now let me be clear. I don't think denominations are evil (I go to a denominational church), I just think that they have divided us. We sometimes ignore or avoid those who live and believe differently than we do. We don't take their counsel seriously or listen to what they are passionate about because we make the excuse that they believe differently. I'm not talking about those who act and believe outside the Gospel (we need to guard ourselves against being influenced by those people), I'm just talking about people who do so differently from us.
      It makes me think back to the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The Samaritan went out of his way to take care of the man who came from Jerusalem. The Jew had been robbed, beaten, and left to die. The Jews and Samaritans were different. In fact, they had a hate relationship, yet the Samaritan went out of his way for the Jew. That is the behavior that God expects His followers to model. He wants us to have compassion for people as though they are all from our own group or circle.
      How can we bring nations to God if we are selective in who our neighbors are?
      We can have different personalities in the way we run services and spread the Gospel, yet still belong to the same group. There shouldn't be a huge difference in what we believe if we're basing our work on the same text (His word) and command (His voice). We need to stop functioning divided. This is the reason people (mainly those outside the body of Christ) aren't seeing Christ in the world. They are only seeing denominations.
      Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:12-13 (NIV), "What I mean is this: One of you says, 'I follow Paul'; another, 'I follow Apollos'; another, 'I follow Cephas'; still another, 'I follow Christ.'  Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?"
      The Corinthians started aligning themselves with the teacher/preacher, rather than the Subject of their teaching, the One who saved them: Jesus. They were having petty quarrels with people who came from other churches rather than seeing that their allegiance wasn't to their teacher or church, but to Christ. The same thing is happening today. Many have forgotten who their allegiance should be to and so the body is functioning divided rather than under one name. We aren't where we should be because we aren't pooling our talents, energies, and resources to reach the lost.
      It's hard to work with people who are different from us, but that is the beauty of the body. Each person has a purpose. God was creative in the talents He gave us because He knew that not everyone would respond to one specific way (writing, speaking, painting, loving, or etc.) of receiving the Gospel. Our problem is that we have traded the importance of what we do with how we do it.
      Our mission is to reach the lost and raise up disciples for Him. In Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV), Jesus tells His disciples, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you...." We are commanded to love Him above all else, and to love each other (Matthew 22:37-39). Everything we do is to be motivated by this mission.
      Instead of avoiding believers from other denominations (who truly live up to par with God's standard and have Biblically based values), we should really take the time to interact and team up with them outside (and inside) of church to embrace our brother/sisterhood in Christ and work together to reach the lost and carry out our mission. We are Christians above all else.

 One Body, One Purpose.