Unified Divisions

http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/mission/resources/unified_divisions/

[sydneyanglicans.net] 23 Jul 2008--Peter Hughes, the Sydney area director for the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES), has provided a short, interesting look at Church History from a Protestant point of view. He covers a lot of territory in about 20 minutes, and manages to explain things simply and without running down the individual denominations he talks about. He begins by asking why there are so many denominations, given that our Lord Jesus prayed in the prayer recorded in John 17 that his church might be united.

His summary at the end of his talk is worth reporting here, because in it he makes a number of challenging points. He tells us that true believers are already united by their faith in Christ. All Christians should “find other followers of Jesus and help them, no matter who they are, what they call themselves, or where they come from.” He tells us we should not think we can find a perfect church, or be satisfied if we think our particular denomination is the closest to the Bible. “Each church needs to be assessed, not on its denominational affiliation, but on what it teaches and what it does.” We should not be concerned that there are many denominations, because “throughout history God has continued to work through his people: sometimes drawing them together; sometimes dividing them up and sending them out into the world.”