The Body of the Christ is in great need of help. We have too many heads and body parts do not want to fit well together. Much of the Church is waging doctrinal battles where ministers argue their different interpretations of Scripture. Think of the number of different denominations that battle over what it means to be "saved" or "filled with the Holy Spirit" and over "Divorce", "Health", "Prosperity", "Homosexuality", "Gifts of the Spirit", "End time Prophecy: Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, Post-Trib, No-Trib rapture", and even things as simple as the length of your hair or if woman should be allowed to minister. This only scratches the surface!
It is time for Christians everywhere to get serious about our faith and become the united Body of the Christ we are supposed to be with one head, Christ! We no longer have time to play around trying to figure out what doctrines mean. God knows the answers to every issue and He does not flip-flop, it is yea or nay, and it is time for us to receive those answers directly from him.
Flat out, denominations, the splitting up of the Body of the Christ is wrong! Believers should be united into One Body and anything that divides them is wrong! Unity is the way God has destined the Church and not in division. Why are there divisions? The "only" answer is that people disagree on Scripture and form their own groups to have people who will not argue. Who is correct though and what makes them correct?
Some might say, "this is what the Bible is for, it holds all truth and can answer every question". If that is so, what does the Bible say to do when a person is divorced three times, one time just because the could not agree on color of the house and now they want to marry again? Yes, some have an answer and others have different answers. What about the passage that says if you marry again you commit adultery and make the one you are with commit adultery? If we confess this a sin and ask for forgiveness does the issue stop or will we always be committing adultery?
Then there are tougher questions such as one I heard from a minister many years ago, what do you do if a person who has had a sex change gets saved in your church, do you tell them to get another change to go back, live as they are, never marry and live as one sex in the body of another?
How about something simple such as drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes? We have many passages in the Bible in both directions on alcohol, but what is the answer, should Christians drink, and if so, how much is allowable?
While I can come up with Scriptures to handle these issues, how do I know I have the correct interpretation? If you have four different people with different views on these subjects, one or more, possibly even all of them could be in error!
Again, it is time to get the answers from God and to be one Body with everyone in agreement on what the Bible says and not battling over it.
We must remember that God is not dead, nor sleeping, He is there ready to give us help at any time we need it. Jesus said that He sent the "Comforter" to us that shall lead us into all truth. What about the five fold ministries that are here to help us to the full stature of Christ? God did not establish kings in the Church, but servants. We are all to server one another and receive our direction from God.
I cannot count the number of people who say they have heard from God and He said such and such. It is hard to believe that all of these people could be hearing from God as it does not appear they are getting the correct (or even consistent) message. I knew one woman that thought it was God telling her to marry a certain guy and then latter own, it was God telling here to divorce him. Or how about the person who says God told them to invest in certain investment only to have it collapse?
In the words of a woman many years ago on TV pushing a diet, "Stop the insanity"! I remind you that there is a very serious God, who has always been and will always be, that created everything from nothing and has sent forth a blood sacrifice for each and every one of us that we do not have to pay for our sins and that same God is waiting for us to come together and become "one" under HIS leadership.
What will it take to turn you to seek God's face, sickness, death of someone close, persecution, perhaps the destruction of everything your hold dear? We need to come together in groups and seek God's face for answers and leadership. No more should we allow two or more different views of a Biblical doctrine, let us draw nigh unto God and get the answers directly from Him, ending the battles over doctrine.
The harvest in this world is past ripe and spoiling on the vine. We need to be busy bringing in the harvest instead of playing these games with doctrine and fighting like a bunch of spoiled children. It is time to awaken to the fact the God is GOD and there is NO OTHER and live like we know Him!
What can you do? Find people in your own town that will agree to seek God's face with you and form a group with the sole purpose of receiving directly from God the answers and directions we need. Make sure to include a method to prove the messages are from God and have signs and wonders confirming His word. It could take months, years or perhaps only hours or days if we truly set our hearts to hear from God and stop all our fighting. When God gives the answers, we need to make sure all ministries in our town can receive the same and pray until they do. Nor more leaving people behind, we need to be in one accord, in one faith!
Again, remember, God is not sleeping, He hears our every prayer and knows our every thought. He cares about us and has a plan for each and every one of us. We must find out our part in the Body of the Christ and help all the other parts to come together. If we approach our faith with the seriousness we give to eating and living, God will hear and answer!