Bible Question:
Can you tell me the place in the Bible where it says that it is wrong to unite with other churches. Can we worship together as one church??? I don't think so as the uniting of all churches is talked about in the last days is it not?? |
Bible Answer: Hello This very question came up in the prison where I was spending time with the born again inmates. God had placed in the group I spent time with a heart for unity amongst the born again prisoners and they felt the only way to achieve this was for the three Christian church groups in the prison to form a single church body. I advised them that as the body of Christ is made up of many individuals with different functions so too in a larger sense we can see different churches focused on different things. Those differences could be their mission focus, community focus, family focus etc. Different churches have different leaders with different leading styles, and directions. In the prison we were led into unity by God's Spirit not by joining the church groups but by enbracing the differences of those church groups. Although still separate entities, the leaders of the church groups fellowship and pray together and the three groups often come together to worship and learn the word. Although their foundational beliefs are firm their differences in some theology has not become a stumbling block for these groups but rather a sense of awe at how God uses our differences for the greater good. Unity does not mean everyone has to be in the same place or even do things the same way. Think of church unity like this: One church may be a footsoldier with a lance, another an archer, another mounted with a sword. If they are fighting on the same side their differences become their strength, not their weakness, and their unity is under the King against the enemy. Yours in Christ Justin |