THE FRAGMENTED CHURCH

The Church is fragmented
It Breaks the Heart of God

image courtesy photobucket.

From almost the beginning of the New Testament church, the church has been fragmented.

At first, the churches at Jerusalem were accepted as the general headquarters for all Christendom but as the church expanded separate sects were established. A case in point was the establishing the church at Antioch where the gentiles were accepted as equals.

From there Paul established churches in many lands each one being a separate body which Paul tried to knit together as one church. In 3 John we find John chiding churches for becoming exclusive and rejecting ministry from traveling ministers.

Time passed and the church was defined by the Roman church and the Greek branches of Christianity. And so it has been down through history where today the church is divided worse than ever.

The doctrines are in many cases exclusive to a particular denomination and within them there is chaos because of the so called liberal interpretation of the Word of GOD.

As I see it there will be a further splintering of the body of Christ which will weaken it and cause it to be defeated in a time when it is being oppressed by foes of every ilk.

In order for the church to survive this attack on every side, it is a must to put aside some of these dividing issues and unite.

One might rightly ask where do we draw the line and how far can we compromise?

Personally not an inch - - is my feelings - - but yet the bigger picture sees that the body of Christ must be represented with a solid front. When Paul faced somewhat of the same issue he said;

Philippians 1:15-18 Though some are preaching Christ out of envy and competition, others do it out of a good heart: These do it from love, conscious that I am responsible for the cause of the good news:  


But those are preaching Christ in a spirit of competition, not from their hearts, but with the purpose of giving me pain in my prison. What then? Only that in every way, falsely or truly, the preaching of Christ goes on; and in this I am glad, and will be glad.

Though Paul didn’t like the way the gospel was presented by some, but as long as Christ was being presented he accepted it in stead of fighting.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, And of love, and of a sound mind.

This verse is designed to strengthen us so that we might see clearly how to meet the foes of Christ and GOD help us to love one another.

Enjoy this lovely song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt_1mQ7Zb5M&feature=related

This post has been linked to Charlotte’s Spiritual Sunday site.  Please visit and enjoy other good words at:

http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/2011/12/welcome-back.html