Tag: we use theology to seek and reason about God and His will

T0009 Can Christian Factions Disagree About Theology and Remain United?

Posted on by John Mwafise Woloko

 

Can Christian Factions Disagree About Theology and Remain United?

This is one of those questions that seldom enters our minds as we engage in different Christian activities within conflicting Christian movements. This question is particularly important because God builds a unified Christian movement called the Body of Christ, and demands that we dedicate considerable spiritual resources to maintain that Body’s unity and vitality. To respond to this question properly, we need to explore some important facts about genuine Christians that many overlook.

 

All True Christians Belong to a Single Movement – The Body of Christ

Contrary to the common belief that everyone who calls themselves Christian shares the same identity, true Christians form one organization called the Body of Christ. In Ephesians 4:1-6, the Bible states, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” It is plainly obvious that anyone not acknowledged by God as part of this united body is not a true Christian. In light of this reality, labeling ourselves or identifying with any denominational affiliation is less important than meeting the obligations of belonging to that group. Sadly, many individuals caught in different Christian religious cycles feel compelled to defend their belief system instead of focusing on doing God’s will in their context. As a result, numerous so-called Christian organizations worldwide adhere to and promote conflicting doctrines, preventing unified progress.

 

 

All Genuine Christians are of the Same Mind

Genuine Christians belong not only to one body but also share spiritual unity with each other. Naturally, this is not obvious when observing the current chaos within the divided Christian groups we have formed. Attending a Catholic Church service will never leave you feeling the same as leaving a Pentecostal service. You also won’t have the same feelings and beliefs when you attend a Methodist, Charismatic, and Oneness Pentecostal fellowship. These movements not only exhibit diverse forms of worship but also contain conflicts within their core doctrines and schools of thought. As a result, leaders in these Christian groups hold their own unique agendas and interpretations of God’s message for the world. The encouraging news is that despite the chaos, God preserves a remnant that discerns and obeys His will, despite suffering under biased and subjective ideas and patterns in their system. God reaches out to sincere inquirers everywhere in the world, including among Buddhists, Muslims, atheists, pagans, and even scientists who deeply seek the truth but are unsure how to find it. By His mercy, He always finds a way to reveal Himself to these people and lead them to a community of true Christians who will help them develop spiritually.

 

 

 

 

The imperfection of human systems stems from our fallen state, yet this should not be used as a reason to pursue self-centered goals, as many theologians suggest. A few Christian denominations possess a real and concentrated manifestation of the Holy Spirit within their community. Others experience only a superficial presence of the Holy Spirit, influenced mainly by human theological methods and traditions that lean more towards religiosity than authentic worship of God. Of such the Bible describes as, “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” Moreover, the Bible sternly warns, “And from such people turn away!” (2 Timothy 3:5). Most modern Christian groups are loosely formed assemblies guided by their own desires, with clear examples including inclusive, progressive, socialist, cults, occult, and new age Christian communities.

 

If genuine Christians were brought together from their various contexts to a single location, they would easily participate in any type of fellowship, like worship or prayer, something the current self-centered movements cannot achieve. This is because the Holy Spirit directs all genuine believers and inspires no kind of self-centeredness, contradiction, or conflicting ideologies among them. The Bible captures this in Revelation 7:9-10, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

 

Genuine Christians are not Many

Following Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 7:13-23, we see that throughout the whole church era, only a small portion of the world’s population is truly Christian. This is plainly obvious from today’s materialistic and selfish trends worldwide. Believing the common statistics on search engines that claim genuine Christians number in the billions would be a fatal mistake. These statistics overlook the Bible’s focus on genuine repentance and a life of obedience to God as key criteria. If you’re reading this article, you should aim to be one of the few chosen from the many who are called.

 

Answer

“Can two walk together, unless they agreed?” (Amos 3:3). “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mark 3:24). Based on what we’ve observed, Christian factions differ in their beliefs, disagree on theology, don’t share the same core doctrines for their spiritual journey, and aren’t always guided by the Holy Spirit. Because they differ on these core matters that define the authentic Christian movement, they are not united. For sincere inquirers, it is more beneficial to identify as a Christian rather than seek denominational affiliations. Since most true believers belong to various Christian denominations, your principal goal should be to follow God’s will wherever you are. Nonetheless, you are responsible for verifying that you belong to a fellowship with a genuine emphasis on the Holy Spirit and whose activities are inspired and led by Him.

Share this message with individuals in your community who find it challenging to understand the relationship between the Bible and theology.

Study, explore, gain wisdom, and remain blessed in the Lord!

T0008 Why do we Have so Many Christian Worldviews and Denominations?

Posted on by John Mwafise Woloko

 

Why do we Have so Many Christian Worldviews and Denominations?

When you consider how many groups label themselves as Christian, you can be tricked into thinking they all truly are for Jesus. Sadly, many of these groups merely profess a Christian identity with no concrete substance about Christ. Many of these movements oppose one another, despite not having openly acknowledged their rivalry. In this piece, we focus on investigating the reasons for the numerous Christian movements and worldviews.

 

Many Christians Rely on Poorly Developed Theologies

When the meaning, purpose, and goal of theology in a Christian’s life and the entire Christian community are misunderstood, inevitably, we will base theological development on the incorrect school of thought. Ultimately, the generated theologies will not properly embody God’s will and will completely misguide our Christian journey away from His purpose. All of this leads to confusion, disunity, disagreements, and intellectual pride. This is precisely what we observe among Christians, with their numerous conflicting theologies resulting in countless Christian positions, beliefs, and perspectives all claiming to represent Jesus. The Bible, however, teaches there is one God, one church, one Holy Spirit, one faith, and we should be of one mind (Ephesians 4:1-6, 1 Corinthians 1:13, Romans 12:16, Romans 15:5, 1 Corinthians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Philippians 2:2, 1 Peter 3:8). Our present chaos and intellectual arrogance do not fit neatly within God’s design and purpose. The fact that God works through many of us in these chaotic and conflicting movements does not mean He is satisfied with or approves of our present condition.

Many Christians Have Selfish Agendas

What leads some Christian movements to separate from the rest? What thoughts occupy the minds of Christians who choose to follow their own path without seeking joint or collaborative efforts to find the truth? It’s obvious that their agenda does not sufficiently match the gospel of Jesus Christ. If your message doesn’t convey Christ crucified and total commitment to Him, it’s essentially worthless. Sadly, many groups calling themselves Christian are following agendas that stray far from the primary goal of winning souls and making disciples. Some Christian groups focus solely on planting churches without clear guidance from the Holy Spirit to confirm that attendees have genuinely repented and are committed to living for Christ. Others preach a gospel mainly aimed at encouraging their followers to seek comfort and material wealth, overlooking the crucial matter of eternal life with Jesus. What should be said of individuals who, for one reason or another, become involved in compromising faith settings such as cults, occult organizations, and religious groups? As the Ecclesiast notes, God made all these people with good intentions, yet they have pursued unprofitable schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

 

Most Christians Ignore the Bible’s Call for Unity of the Saints

The Bible urges Christians to live together as a united spiritual community. Through prayer, declaring the Word of God, and mutual support, Christians can move forward collectively without physically coming together. To make this happen, they need to share the same mindset and depend on common fundamental principles. When these fundamental principles are misaligned, everyone heads off in different directions. The Psalmist explicitly asks, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3 NKJV). Many groups that identify as Christians and claim to represent Jesus fail to base their beliefs on sincerely Holy Spirit-inspired Christian principles and doctrines. They carry a load of intellectual knowledge, combined with excellent communication techniques and tools available today, yet lack the authority to transform lives. Depending on an incorrect foundation and declining to participate in joint research efforts leads to everyone going their separate ways.

 

Many Christian Movements are Self-Centered

The Early Church’s remarkable achievements, illustrated in the Book of Acts, stem from their wholly selfless way of life, as portrayed in Acts 4:32-34. In Paul’s letters to the churches, he consistently urges congregations to pray for one another and for Christians in different communities or regions to offer mutual support through prayer. Nowadays, we have groups of people who believe they know everything. Driven by pride, they come before God with selfish requests focused on their personal and self-centered desires. Some aim to become mega-churches, while others focus on constructing massive buildings without carefully addressing the spiritual and physical needs of their followers. In recent decades, there has been a rise in ungodly trends marked by individual Christians seeking fame and popularity at the expense of virtues and Christian morals. Each of these factors has played a role in forming Christian factions worldwide that disagree and fail to build God’s kingdom effectively.

 

Helpful Questions

How much honor and glory does your movement bring to Jesus? In what way does your organization connect with others? Have you engaged in collaborative research efforts concerning matters you disagree with others? In what ways do the presuppositions of your church or movement align with the Bible’s call for unity among the saints? Is your focus on God’s will, your personal agenda, or self-driven initiatives?

Share this information with members of your community who find the relationship between the Bible and theology challenging.

Study and delve into the Word of God, gain wisdom, and remain blessed in the Lord!

B0001 What Makes Biblical Interpretation Reliable? Part 2

Posted on by John Mwafise Woloko

 

What Makes Biblical Interpretation Reliable? Part 2

In Part 1, we talked about the Holy Spirit, Logos, Rhemas, and context. Let’s move forward with the other essential interpretation protocols to keep in mind.

 

Prayer

When you depend on the Holy Spirit to interpret Scripture, you establish a foundation for consistently reaching the truth. Once you can tell the difference between interpreting the Bible to understand its message and doing so to generate Rhemas from the Logos, you have laid the key groundwork needed for interpreting Scripture. The other tools that follow are designed to help you finetune everything, with the initial one being prayer. You cannot learn about God without having a communication protocol with Him. Not only does God insist on prayer, but it also enables Him to act upon our obedience to His promises, eliminating every obstacle from the dark world that hinders our understanding of the truth. A researcher without prayer depends solely on reason, which alone is too feeble to engage and prevail in the spirit realm.

 

Linguistic and Cultural Challenges

When we read the Bible and its stories, some communication patterns might not be immediately clear unless we examine the culture and language of the era when that passage was written. It’s unclear what the expression “a camel going through the eye of a needle” signifies. That was something recognized by those living at the time. Additional examples include city names that have vanished over time or been changed to entirely different ones because of the progression of civilization. Sometimes, we have to revisit and study those ancient periods to grasp the meaning of those things in their original context. It’s only then that we can genuinely interpret what the writers meant in today’s context.

 

Translation Challenges

Translating certain Bible passages from one language to another is quite difficult, particularly when we lack sufficient understanding of the culture and context in which the author wrote. Occasionally, the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages contain idioms and ancient phrases that are entirely lost or whose meanings are scarcely understood nowadays. The situation worsens when the language we are translating into lacks an equivalent word or phrase. Therefore, it is essential to consistently consult the copies of the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic manuscripts when studying the Bible to get as close as possible to the original meaning intended by the author. We know that the Holy Spirit always fills the knowledge gaps during research to help us grasp what the authors intended.

 

 

What Jesus Does and Says

The entire Bible points to Jesus. His primary purpose is to reveal the Father and guide us to know Him by relying on the Holy Spirit’s assistance. While not disregarding the literal meanings of the stories and passages throughout the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we must always remember that God’s primary purpose in inspiring humans to compile the written Bible is to understand Jesus’ mission on earth. Any interpretation that ignores this central understanding deviates from genuine wisdom. Thus, Jesus is at the heart of both the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament looks forward to Him and the New Testament looks back on His finished work on the cross. Consequently, everything Jesus says and does regarding the new Kingdom life sets the standard for how we should live our Christian lives on earth.

 

What the Apostles and Early Christians Do and Say

Given all biblical evidence points to Jesus, it was the apostles and Early Christians who first inherited the heavenly Christian traditions taught by Jesus and were the pioneers in practicing them in this world. Therefore, all their words, actions, behaviors, attitudes, and life approaches deserve careful study to guide us in this church age. This is why the Book of Acts and the apostles’ letters to the churches exist—to bring a historical understanding and offer crucial direction for Christians today.

 

When interpreting the Bible, one should consider all these additional factors.

Share this information along to members of your community who find the connection between the Bible and theology challenging.

Learn, explore, acquire knowledge, and stay blessed in the Lord!

 

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