Over time, I have come to realize
that there are some things which I had thought were common knowledge which may,
in fact, not be quite so clear to many outside of the realm of the Christian
Church, if not downright misunderstood.
That said, I am going to attempt to hopefully clear some of these up for
anyone who would ever wish to know.
Our first item up is with regards
to the difference between religion and denomination. I have heard, at least a few times over the
last several months, people commenting that various denominations were
different than being Christian. I mean
denominations within the Church, for anyone confused at this point. For example, stating that Catholic, Baptist
and Christian were all different religions.
Now then, while different
denominations and/or traditions may do some things differently, if they are a
Christian church, they follow and serve the exact same Christ as each other
does. Music provides a wonderful way to
understand this a bit more clearly.
Let us use rock music for our
example. Rock music is a specific kind
of music, but it has many different variations within it. Heavy metal, rock-a-billy and pop are all
rock music but each one is very different in the way in which they express
themselves and they appeal to different people in differing ways. They are, however, still all rock and roll
music. Similarly, there are many different
divisions or forms of the Christian church, each one appealing to different
people. Catholic, Baptist, United,
Pentecostal, Charismatic, and so on appeal to different people in different
ways and thus people have a choice in what they find more comfortable and
fitting to their own personality.
However, is opera music considered
to be rock and roll? No, as there are
certain things which are present in one form over another. The same is true with churches. Just because a church exists and calls
themselves a church, does not mean it is a Christian church. So how does one know which is which? By looking to the bare basics and not in how
they do things as a group. Yes, I will
give you a few guide lines to look for.
A belief in one God, made up of
three persons: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. That God created the world and
all of creation. That humanity needs
salvation and that it is possible for each person to receive that through faith
in Jesus, the Son of God. That Jesus was
born of the virgin Mary, lived and preached until He was crucified by Pilate,
and was dead and buried for three days.
On the third day He rose from the grave and later, ascended into heaven
where He is still quite alive and well to this very day. It was this willing sacrifice of Himself that
allows each person to obtain salvation.
Lastly, that Jesus will return again not as a peace keeper, but as Judge
over both the living and the dead.
That is a pretty basic rundown
but if a church believes that, it is probably pretty safe to say they are a
Christian church. However, if they do
not or they believe only in part, then regardless of the name on the door, they
are not a Christian church (for example:
if they believe in one God but believe that Jesus was just a prophet or
a really nice guy, then no, they are not a Christian church).
Different churches do things in
different ways. Do they, perhaps, do
things in ways which are not ideal by times?
Most likely, they are made up of people after all and we can make some
pretty big messes sometimes.
Well, that would be the first
topic in a brief nutshell. I will
endeavour to explain other items in future writings and I pray that hopefully I
have helped to clear some items up for someone.
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