There are lots of different Christian denominations: Is that bad?

Would it be better if all Christians were in one universal, worldwide church?

The desire to have all Christians in one, large human organization has been around for a long time. The Roman Catholics have always desired it and strongly desire it to this day. They view the schism of Christianity into numerous denominations as a great tragedy which they are praying to rectify. 

But they are not the only ones with this passion. I remember as a college student the major Protestant denominations met with each other to form one worldwide church. They called this the ecumenical movement. Many of them saw an eventual merger of Protestants and Catholics to form a monolithic organization that would be called Christian. They were willing to sacrifice doctrinal beliefs to make this happen. The old joke was more and more Christians would band together believing less and less and eventually we would all be together believing nothing. The ecumenical movement foundered and failed.

Why are there so many different Christian groups? Because of human freedom. When people have freedom of choice in religion they choose to form lots of different groups. I used to tell my students at the university that there are lots of different religious groups for the same reason the parking lot has lots of different cars. People have choices.

Are the many denominations of Christianity a bad thing? Not in my opinion. The variety of Christian organizations gives Christianity a cultural diversity that dramatically increases its power. No matter who you are there is a Christian church where you will fit in. If you are a well-educated suburbanite, a homeless person living on the streets, a recovering drug addict, a person with brown skin, a person who likes loud emotional worship, or quiet contemplation, and a thousand other potential characteristics there’s a church for you. And that’s a good thing.

Are we headed to a one world church? Are my brethren who want a unified human organization of Christians going to get their way? No. We are headed the other way. To more and more variety and more and more choices. 

In Ephesians 4 the Apostle Paul says that for Christians there is:

One body

One Spirit

One hope

One Lord

One faith

One baptism

One God

Is that true today? Absolutely. The worldwide church of Jesus Christ dwells as a unified whole. It is a spiritual unity composed of every person who knows Jesus Christ as personal Savior. It is the unity of the twice-born children of God and we do not need any other kind. We do not need some human organization that claims the allegiance of every Christian. I think God is pleased with the current state of things. Some say God is grieved by the vast number of Christian groups. No He’s not. He ordained their existence. Each of those groups—and there are thousands of different denominations—is able to reach a unique group of people that the others are not reaching.



I recently saw this in the flesh. I worshipped at the Guangzhou International Christian Fellowship in Communist China. There were 400 worshippers from 50 different countries. Can you imagine how many denominations were represented? And there we were singing from our hearts in complete harmony of spirit, rejoicing together in the goodness of God and His redeeming power. That’s the kind of unity God wants. That’s what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 4. It’s unity of the Spirit. I rejoice in every person on earth who knows and loves Jesus Christ. I feel a great sense of unity with them. We do not need any other kind. It’s the unity produced by the power of Almighty God in the heart of every person who loves Him. It is the unity that will go forth and continue to bring down strongholds and spread the Gospel to every creature. It’s the unity we see in Revelation 5 when people from every tongue and tribe and nation gather around the throne and sing “Worthy is the Lamb.” And it will glorify the God who made us forever and ever. Amen.