I believe that I finally have been given some clarity on why there are so many Christian denominations. I like so many people, Christian and non- believers ,had come to the conclusion that the wide variety of denominations was because there was something wrong with the Faith that there was so much division in the churches. But that is so far from the truth. The diversity within Christianity shows that there really is Freedom in Christ. I think where many gets it wrong is that they are trying to compare Christianity with Judaism. In the Old Covenant, God was dealing with people as babes and children in their evolutionary journey with Mother/Father God. And like all good parents when dealing with their children we approach our raising of them to age appropriate information and guidance. When our children are infants and small children we have to be with them all the time so that they will not harm themselves or others.They have little freedom to do as they please because they are clueless to the dangers around them. The information we teach them pretty much has to be spoon fed to them according to their ages. As our children age our dealings with them changes as well, our children are given more freedom and harder subjects to learn,and we are able to let them be more on their own because we are able to trust them with more freedom.And this goes on as they age until they become young adults able to think for themselves and take full responsibility for their actions. Well Father/Mother God's dealings with humanity has been no different. The Old Testament is God dealing with children and the New Testament is God dealing with us as young adults. So how this ties in to the many denominations that we see in Christianity today? In Galations 5:1 - 13 we were called to freedom,and in Romans 3:23-25 , the literal Law was given to keep and protect the Hebrew people until they were ready and grown up enough to be given the freedom we have now in Christ. In Romans 14, the whole chapter is about various levels conscience,in that if you decide to celebrate certain holidays to God then as far as God is concerned ,S/He is okay with it and if you decide to not celebrate certain days and decide that all honor God then that's okay. If you have noticed in the Old Testament every aspects of the Hebrew people was covered by God but in the New Testament God does not seemed all that concerned with his believers about how, to worship,the only real comment about religious practice is that God states that pure religion is taking care of the poor,widows,orphans and prisoners as written in James 1:27. So what I have come to understand is that how each of us choose to honor and worship God is up to us,some like a calm quiet service,some like ceremony and rituals, some with much celebration and emotions and it's all good. The many denominations we see shows the Freedom we have in Christ, it is proof that God enjoys the variety as should we. We should not see this as confusion and in-fighting. The only in-fighting is because people ,believers and non believers alike, are confused about the fact that we really do have Freedom to express our unique personalities, God does not demand that we all be the same,period. There must be conformity in what makes a person a Christian and the only sign God wants to determine if we are on the path is not right doctrines or traditions but that we LOVE one another ,that's it. There truly is simplicity in Christ only humans tend to want to make all things difficult. So having many denominations is truly a good thing! It is one of the signs that we are trutr Free in Christ !
Blessing in Christ,
Patricia
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