For the past several articles we’ve been looking at the call Jesus issues to every
person—“Follow Me.” We learned in the last article that following Jesus means following Him wherever He
goes (Revelation 14:4). One of these places is wherever His followers are gathered, because wherever His people are gathered,
He is in their midst (Revelation 1:10-13, 20; 2:1). But as we noted in the last article, His presence is conditional—He
will not continue to abide with those who will not abide in His word (Revelation 2:5; 2 John 1:9). Let’s look at one
“place” where we will not find Jesus.
We cannot follow Jesus into a denomination, because He won’t be there. That’s
not the popular view, so before you reject it, consider the following:
HIS EXAMPLE. Jesus did not join any of the sects
(denominations) of his day (Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.), for several reasons.
- Their teaching, at least on some points,
was contrary to the will of God (Matthew 16:11-12).
- By joining one of these, He would have promoted
loyalty to a party, rather than to God. Jesus said, “I have come...to do the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38),
and that’s exactly what He invited others to do (Luke 8:19-21; 11:27-28), independent of any of these sects. Can you
imagine Him saying instead, “What we as Pharisees believe...”?
- By aligning himself with one party, he would
have separated Himself from others who might follow Him.
Would it not be possible for someone to do today what Jesus did then—simply follow
the will of God without being part of any party, sect, or denomination?
HIS PRAYER, especially the one recorded in John
17:20-21: “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.” How could Jesus support a division (denomination) when He prayed
for unity?
HIS TEACHING, such as that recorded in 1 Corinthians
1:10-13: “...that you all speak the same thing...that there be no divisions among you...that you be perfectly joined
together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me...that there are contentions among you.
Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’
or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?
Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Read that passage again, very
carefully. Do you see any thing that resembles the current state in the religious world? Many denominations have been formed
around men and the different doctrines they teach. Clearly, from what we read in the passage above, Christ is not pleased.
THE PURPOSE OF HIS DEATH—“that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross”
(Ephesians 2:16). Jesus died to bring people together, not to divide them up. So if Jesus cannot be found in a denomination, where is He? Where can we go and be
assured of His presence? We’ll delve into that question in the next article. Please e-mail us if you have any questions: mailto:prattmont@knology.net
