Should There Be One Church?

“It’s come to my attention that our church logo is on your website. This makes it appear we are associated. Please remove it as soon as possible.”
 
This note came to me from a pastor in my town. When we built our church website, we didn’t want it to be what church websites usually do: compete against the other churches in town for the Christians looking for churches. 
 
Go to any website (including, in spite of us, ours).
 
We featured several of the great churches in our city with a note that said, “There are so many good churches here, you should have no trouble finding one to call your home.” 
 
I wrote back to this pastor, “Oh, man, I am so sorry about that. I should have asked first. Our hope was to show unity in the Body of Christ and feature good churches. We wanted to honor you guys for your faithfulness in our community. Oh, and by the way, you and I used to know one another; I’d love to reconnect.”
 
He replied: “Please let me know when you have taken it down.” 
 
Ouch.
 
I don’t know why he felt that way, but we removed his and all the other church logos from our website since I didn’t think to ask any of them first, and now I wasn’t sure I had the heart to. 
 
But this is a problem. 
 
I don’t exactly know what the issue was. This church is known for solid Bible teaching and a kind of biblical purity that seems to stand against all those “watered-down” churches. But our statements of faith (found on our websites) are quite similar, almost identical, in fact.
 
I am a church planter, and here is what I am afraid of: You can’t get a church off the ground if you don’t find a way to send a subtle message that the other churches in town don’t cut it. 
 
You cannot be about the whole Body of Christ (Jesus’ beloved Bride!) and adequately differentiate yourself so you can find your place in the community. 
 
What is denominationalism, anyway? Is it not rooted in the idea that we have figured out the right way to believe and to do church, and we must separate ourselves from the rest of our brothers and sisters in Christ? 
 
These are people we will do eternity with, but in this life, we can’t mix. 
 
Church History in Brief: 
 
Jesus incarnated and saved the world by His death and resurrection. 
He sent His disciples out to make disciples, and He built His Church.
 
His Church existed all over their part of the world in various Christian communities. 
 
There were many differences as men and women sought to discern truth in the Holy Spirit. 
 
It was rather messy. 
 
Around the 4th century, one particular group gained political power and shut down all the churches that did not agree with them or submit to their leader as the new Peter. 
 
We had one Church for a while, while the rest were persecuted out of existence. 
 
Then there was a schism, and we had two Churches that looked pretty similar. 
 
The schism was over various things, one major one being whether or not the bread for communion should be leavened (seriously).
 
Then there was a Protestant Reformation, thanks in large part to Luther. 
 
Then there was persecution back and forth, with lots of burning at the stake and religious wars.
 
Then, there were a gazillion church splits, and new denominations formed as the “true believers” emerged and started the latest thing. 
 
And then again.
 
And then again. 
 
Now, we are kind of back to what the Church looked like in the first couple of centuries with all sorts of disagreements and sects of Jesus people. 
 
Lots of denominations claim to have all the facts right. 
 
This is represented by one of my older relatives who once told me that guitars and drums don’t belong in the church but that Christians should be singing the old Southern Baptist hymns that Jesus and the disciples sang.
 
It does not bother me that many denominations disagree on secondary and tertiary issues. It would seriously bother me if there weren’t because it would mean that we are once again killing off the dissenters and forcing beliefs. 
 
What bothers me is that we can’t realize that we are part of the same family. 
 
Group up by belief, style, and mission if you want (though I think location is the best reason to group up), but for the love of Christ, have love and brotherhood with the other churches. 
 
The world doesn’t need our line drawing and purity testing about things we cannot even know for sure (like leavened or unleavened bread or which translation of the Bible Jesus wrote (KJV, says my relative). 
 
It needs the Jesus who presides over all Bible and gospel-believing churches. 
 
Here’s a cool idea: Invite someone this week to attend a church other than the one you love. Go with them. Then, you can go back to your church next week!