Why Are There So Many Christian Groups And Denominations?

The fact that many Christian churches exist is a common discussion point for Roman Catholics as an attempt to say Catholics are the only true church.  The attempt is to connect the Lord Jesus’ Jewish disciple Peter as the founder of the Italian church, as Peter was the first to recognize Jesus as the Christ, the Savior of the world as recorded in Matthew 16:13-20.   However, from the Old Testament we know that if a person or group stops seeking God, that doesn’t stop God.  Other groups will rise up.  Christianity is relationship, not religion.  We see this with King Saul being replaced by a young shepherd boy named David.  Saul went away from God.  David made a lot of mistakes but after repenting was described by God as “a man after God’s own heart”.  He was the most famous king of Israel.

Both Roman Catholic and Mormon churches  are very similar as they teach that their particular group is ‘the only true church’. What about the rest of us who love Jesus with all that within us and seek the Father with all that we’ve got?  Saying that you are the only truth is a bit condescending or cultish sounding.  It is the beginning of trouble for that group.

No follower of Jesus should be condescending or cultish.  Yes, there is only one true church of people all over the world who are just like David and love God and His ways. Committed Christians put their relationship with Him first daily.  It is hard to keep these people away from a gathering of other committed believers.

In churches these days people fight about the silliest things.  People get away from the spiritual and get into ‘the flesh’ or pride.  There are fights about how is going to lead worship, what the pastor is teaching, the way church business is operated, and all sorts of things.  Whatever church we participate in, we need to look at the leadership.  Spiritual strength is not found in robes, hats, and religious articles.  The spiritual strength of leadership is found in the level of hunger the leadership have for the things of God.

We certainly could do with fewer church denominations,  especially those groups that claim to be ‘Christian’ but have no ‘christ’ in the place. Jesus builds His church through believers and He knows that there are some people that say they are a church but have no desire to learn God’s ways or God’s Word.  The more the individuals seek God, the more unity will come to that church corporately.

Churches are made up of people.  Just as in a school, a sports team, or any other group, human nature is that people surround themselves with people like themselves.  The beautiful thing, about the Church that Jesus said He would build, is that a loving Christian church transcends the limits of race, social level, income, or physical appearance.  True churches are made up of true worshippers (John 4:23).

Of course, there are groups out there that have gone away from the Bible.  If a church is not teaching the Word of God, you should leave because they are heading to spiritual shipwreck.  The short of why there are so many groups of Christians is that different people like to worship God in slightly different ways.  It’s also like music, some people like country, some classical, some jazz, rock, and some a bit of everything,

There is liberty in God’s Kingdom and people are free to worship with variation.  God is not limited to a 400 year building and 200 year old music.  In fact, the best churches of our generation actually meet in warehouses and other very simple, but usually large, facilities.