CAN THE CHURCH BE DIVIDED?
Jack Critchfield

There is a sense in which the Lord's church never divides. Expressions like, "the Lord's church divided over..." are at best badly worded and at worst unscriptural. The body of Christ is the church of Jesus the Christ (Eph. 1:22-23) and there is only ONE (Eph. 4:4). The apostle Paul asked rhetorically, in 1 Cor. 1:13, "Is Christ divided?". The answer was obvious; No!

Paul on another occasion indicated that he worshiped God according to the way his opponents called a "sect" (Acts 24:14); but they were unbelievers. I have occasionally been called a "pastor" or "reverend" by an outsider, because I receive my living of the gospel, but I would not term myself such, for I know the difference. Just as I can understand outsiders misunderstanding the true meaning of pastor and reverend, so likewise the non-denominational nature of the church. But when it is insiders, my own brethren calling us a sect or denomination, saying we are one among many, something is not right!

If someone interjects that a dictionary simply defines denomination as a group of religious congregations, a sort of amalgamation of churches, then I still say that Christ's church is non-denominational and undivided. The New Testament nowhere teaches a sisterhood of congregations; only a brotherhood of believers. Robert Turner wrote, "The universal body of Christ--the church which is his bride, and for which He died, is made up of all saints. It is a brother-hood, not a church-hood; i.e., the units or parts of this "one body" are individuals, not congregations. (1Cor. 12:12-f Jn. 15:1-6)." To this I only add, "Amen."

When the general public asks, "What faith are you?", there choice of words shows their ignorance of there being only one faith (Eph. 4:5). What do you say, my dear brother in Christ? Do you believe what the Scripture says? One dictionary uses faith as a synonym of denomination. Man says there are many faiths or denominations, all acceptable to the Lord. The Bible says otherwise. By the way, the same text teaches one God, Lord, Spirit and hope. Now if there can be more than one faith, body (church) or baptism, why not more than one of these others?

The church belonging to Jesus Christ is comprised of all those who have believed the gospel, repented of their sins, confessed Christ as Lord, and been immersed into Christ's body in order to receive forgiveness of sins. This eliminates from the one true church, the vast majority of those in denominational circles, even before we begin discussing whether or not they are faithfully observing all that Jesus commanded (Matt. 28:19-20).

Finally, let me grant that congregations may divide. The Bible refers to such often, although usually in a condemnatory way. You might even see a sect (denomination) called the "Church of Christ" or "Church of God" result from a party- spirit mentality. Though the uninformed may call us a denomination, Christians should know better. The church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is ONE and can never be divided into equal parts, each acceptable to God.