Chapter Eight ------------------------------ Feedback Box:

"No Denominations, Please!"

"DON'T TAKE YOUR TOYS HOME AND START ANOTHER DENOMINATION EVERY TIME YOU CAN'T AGREE WITH SOMEBODY, YOU LITTLE CRYBABIES!" 1 Corinthians 1-4. (Especially 1 Corinthians 3:1-4)

Yes, Paul really did call the Corinthians a bunch of crybabies for wanting to form denominations. Paul didn't just mention it in passing. Paul unloaded on the poor Corinthians for four blistering chapters before he was satisfied he had made himself clear.

Even that wasn't enough to cure the Corinthians. The earliest Christian writing preserved today, after the Bible, is a letter by Justin Martyr -- to the Corinthians -- scolding them for their denominational spirit! It was longer than 1 Corinthians, by the way.

What follows are the first four chapters, interspersed with my paraphrase of them. I have tried to apply Paul's points to issues today. For example, we aren't familiar with how Jews demand a sign, while Greeks desire wisdom (1 Cor 1:22); but everybody in America knows how scientists want evidence, while media people want an intelligent sounding interview that will impress their audience.

I have also reinforced the application of each of Paul's points to the issue of divisions, to overcome our laziness about remembering what subject Paul has been on. (Most of the four chapters is not traditionally regarded as even being about "divisions".)

For example, 3:1-2, about milk and meat, is traditionally interpreted that all of Paul's "hard to be understood" (2 Pet 3:16) writings are just the "beginner's class", so what must the "advanced class", for people capable of meat, we ask ourselves, be like?! The traditional interpretation treats the "milk and meat" statements as if they are totally unrelated to the subject of "divisions", even though verse 3 makes it obvious Paul is only calling them "babies" because they are splitting into denominations. In other words, Paul is not literally saying they have no capacity to understand more, but rather is sarcastically insulting their unwillingness to grow up and learn to their capacity.

Another example is 2:9, that wonderful, oft-quoted "eye hath not seen...the wonderful things God has prepared for those that love Him." Who teaches that verse as tied to the "divisions" issue? And yet, with inescapable "divisions" verses all around 2:9, we must either conclude that Paul jumps back and forth from one subject to another, or that 2:9 is part of the same subject. If it is, Paul must mean, by 2:9, and its immediate context, that the Corinthians should look to God for their instruction rather than human leaders, because "God has better things for you than any human doctrine, or denomination, or Spiritual hero, can even imagine!"

The verses, throughout the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians, which are obviously about "divisions", or "church splits" as the Living Bible translates it, are: 1:10-16, 3:3-9, 22, 4:6. These verses are universally acknowledged as being about church splits, or "divisions". The verses in between are traditionally NOT so acknowledged!

Paul talked about "divisions", then later about the wisdom of God vs. the wisdom of men, then "divisions" again, then the body being the Temple of God, then "divisions" again, then "eye hath not seen...what God hath prepared", then "divisions" again, then "I could not serve you meat because you are babies who still need milk", then "divisions" again. Was Paul bouncing back and forth from subject to subject like a scatterbrain? Or could it be that all those familiar verses are related to the same subject: "divisions", or denominations? As I studied the "in-between" verses in this light, it became easy to see their relevance to the issue of denominations. So in my paraphrase, I enhance this relevance a bit. Not by adding new ideas to the passage as a whole, but only by adding, to verses not traditionally seen as related to the issue of Denominations, reminders of that context of said verses. (The KJV is side by side with my paraphrase so you can monitor whether I go farther than the text warrants.)

I have made no attempt to comprehensively interpret every phrase or thought; in fact, I summarize sometimes. But I have tried to be faithful to the intention of the Greek.

Where Paul alludes to Old Testament passages which are lost to readers who don't bother to look them up, I add the lessons contained in those references, sometimes including historical context of the quoted passage, so English readers may catch a glimpse of what Paul's readers, who were intimately familiar with Old Testament history, understood from Paul's allusions.

Accurate interpretation of four chapters of the Bible is an enormous task, carrying a great weight of responsibility! So this is a disclaimer: there are bound to be errors here. My purpose is not to take a firm position on each and every phrase in these chapters. If you come away from this study with the realization that Paul went ballistic at the news that Corinthians wanted to form denominations, to the extent of filling up four blistering chapters with his denunciations, that is all I hope to accomplish. This is really a serious matter. "There is room at the cross for me", the old hymn says. But there is no room at the cross for denominations.

Paul, 1 Corinthians 1:10-13: C'mon now, talk Jesus, Whom we have in common; not what makes you different! See how well you can work together, not split apart into denominations!

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing [Gr: "Him"], and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Paul, 1:14-16 I let others baptize, while I was busy preaching. I'm glad I did, because the way some of you are trying to make me your leader, you would probably say I baptized in my OWN name!

14. I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; 15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. 16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

17 Christ didn't send me to see how many notches I could get on my Baptismal Hanky. He sent me to preach the Gospel. He didn't send me to become renowned and beloved for my magnificent preaching, either, as if God's Word needed some dressing up, by an especially gifted human like me, to be effective. 18 [You think you will be better off associating with wise heroes and wise doctrines, and separating from you poor dumb brothers. But] the preaching of the Cross has the same power, whether a scholar or an uneducated man proclaims it. Losers will find it foolish, no matter how scholarly the presentation; while we who were saved by it thrill to the testimony of an unschooled fruit picker. 19 And yet you want to venerate that very human wisdom which God has vowed to unmask and ridicule?! 20 Isaiah 33:18 asks, of the mighty Assyrians, the world's most powerful conquerors, with their accountants ready to tally up the booty of Jerusalem, "Where is the scribe (accountant)?" Gone like the wind! Job 12:17-21 says, "He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools. He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged. He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty." Isaiah 44:24-25 says, "Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;" Yet you want to venerate humans rather than God? 21 God, in His Wisdom, made man incapable of knowing Him through this very human wisdom by which you resolve to know Him! I'm telling you, nobody gets to know God through wise doctrines and wise heroes! It is the plain, simple, unadorned, uncomplicated, uninterpreted PROCLAMATION of the Gospel that saves!

17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

22 Scientists want evidence, and news reporters people want intelligent sounding interviews that will impress their audience. 23 But all we do is proclaim the Gospel; which exasperates the scientists, while the media says we are irrelevant. 24 But when it sinks in, it is the Power of God. 25 God knows how to transform hearts better than all those clowns put together. 26 Haven't you noticed how few world leaders have accepted the invitation which you have accepted? 27 Yet their geniuses are confounded by you "nobodies". Their tyrants are helpless to control you unarmed weaklings. 28 And I'll tell you what's ahead: you despised, "dregs of society", you objects of persecution, will bring about the extinction of the entire Roman Empire! 29 Just so that nobody, no group, no government, no army, NO DOCTRINE, NO DENOMINATION, NO FOUNDING FATHER, would dare brag to God about how powerful they were.

22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

30 In Jesus is found more wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption than any human leader can comprehend, much less offer! 31 Be proud, not of stupid humans, but of the Lord.

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

2:1 I presented the Gospel so simply, that I didn't think I would impress ANYBODY. I left all my big words at home, in the dictionary. I didn't even hang my Doctor of Theology Degree on my pastoral study office wall. Because I brought you a message from God, and I didn't think God would be impressed.

1 Corinthians 2:1. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

2. (Do you think I don't know how to defend a fine point of theology? Do you think I am unfamiliar with the theological controversies that drive men to hate, fight, and crucify one another? Do you think I couldn't hold my own in such a battle, because I have no positions which I can defend, and that is why I never talked to you about them? You know better! You know I was a world leader in Theological Arguments! I took private lessons from the President of Arguing! The High Priest himself! You think you're so great, because you have figured out a few penny-ante things to split over? to start a denomination about? to hate, kick, and bite each other over? You're nothing! I was the best! I was it!) But you noticed, didn't you, that while I was with you, I never said a word about that, did I? All I talked about was Jesus.

2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

3. I never pulled rank. In fact, I couldn't relax. I was nervous. I didn't know if I could accomplish what I came to do. 4. But I didn't try to compensate by intimidating you with lumbering, useless philosophies. I knew if God's Power wouldn't work through me, I might as well go home. 5 Because I wanted you to believe in the power of God, not the charisma of my wonderful personality.

3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

6 Not that the Gospel is stupid, just because kings think it is. 7 They don't know what we know. They can't comprehend CHRIST IN YOU. Not that God hasn't tried to tell them, or that God hasn't written about it long ago, starting with His promise to Eve. 8 Maybe if they would face facts, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Lords. 9 God has better things for you than any human doctrine, or denomination, or hero, can even imagine! 10 Follow God, not man, and all God has for you will come to you! 11 You can't read my mind; I barely can. Far less can you, or I, or any denominational leader, or hero, or doctrine, read GOD'S mind!

6. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [Note: Col 1:25-27 seems to describe this same "mystery", of which Paul says he is a minister; there Paul describes the mystery as "Christ in you"] [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

12 God offers us not some mere human spirit! So why go crazy after men?! God offers us HIS OWN Spirit! 13 That's what we're talking about! Not human doctrines, authored by humans, but the very teaching of the Holy Spirit!

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14 The physical can't understand the Spirit. To physical eyes, Spiritual power is foolishness. Physically oriented people are incompetent to even talk about the spiritual. 15 With our spiritual senses, our understanding of physical and spiritual opens up to us, even though physical-only men are clueless about us. 16 Job 40:2 and 15:8 point out that no flesh can read God's mind, or teach God. But we, that is, we, plural: we, the complete, undivided church, if you are willing to leave doctrines of flesh, and heroes of flesh, are offered THE VERY MIND OF CHRIST.

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

3:1. You're acting like a bunch of little crybabies! 2. Look at you, throwing your meat on the floor and grabbing for your bottles! 3. Look at you, separating into denominations! Doesn't that prove how worldly you are?! 4 One of you says "I'm a Baptist!" Another counters, "I'm a Catholic!" Doesn't that prove how worldly you are? 5 Who is the pope? And who is Calvin, Luther, or all the rest, but mere human, sinful slaves, whom God miraculously fashioned into the chain of events that brought to your ears the Gospel? 6 I planted. Big deal. Others watered. Big deal. God made you grow. There is the miracle. 7 Stop looking at mere humans with no more power than merely to talk, or touch; but set your eyes upon Him who uses our talk to set souls on fire; who uses our touch to heal! You are those who watch puppets as if they were the ones talking, oblivious of He who pulls the strings. 8 I, and the pope, and the televangelists, and Luther, Calvin, and George Washington, all receive our checks from the same pay window. 9 We are just temps. You are not one preacher's garden, or another man's. You are God's garden. God's vineyard. God's Temple.

1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions [denominations], are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

Paul, 3:10-15: I, and the others you think you are supposed to choose between, [Wesley, Calvin, Luther, Tyndale, etc] are working together, on the same building. I laid the circuit board, Jesus Christ. And now you want to put all that power through a one-man resistor? It'll blow right out! I laid the foundation, Jesus Christ. And now you want to build upon that magnificent foundation, solid enough for a 500-story skyscraper, a grass hut? Why, you take the Son of God, and try to top that with a single man, and you'll have a shack so shaky it won't take a single bolt of lightning!

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Paul: 3:16 "You're supposed to be building a Temple, not a shack. That's what YOU are. YOU. (Not "you", singular, as one individual reader, but "you", second person plural, as a BODY.) This particular building, this body, is the very Temple of God! The Spirit of God dwells in this Body! 17. Whoever defiles this Body by trying to make some man, or some man's doctrine, the foundation of your fellowship, will be destroyed by God. 18. It doesn't matter how wise you think some man is! Don't make ANY man your foundation for fellowship! What folly! 19. The rest of the world is impressed by the wisdom of man. How ridiculous! Don't you know what God wrote about that? 21. So enough of following men! God gave you everything! God made you rich, and you want to live in poverty? He put the world at your feet, and you want to starve? God made you free, and you would rather be slaves? 22-23 Here's the order: Paul, Peter, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, your local elders, along with everything in this world and the next, are all at the bottom. We are at your service. We are all here for your use. Mere tools. And you are a tool of Christ, as Christ is a tool of God. 4:1 We are Jesus' servants. We try to communicate God's Word responsibly.

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. 1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

4:1 Don't look at your Spiritual heroes as any more than Jesus' slaves, managers in charge of distributing truths which are not discerned by human reasoning. 2 One looks for, in a manager, someone who is trustworthy. 3 But not, for God's job, trustworthy by YOUR standards. Or even mine. 4 I don't know what I'm doing! But fortunately, that doesn't matter. The Lord knows! 5 (So if I don't even know what I'm doing, how can YOU be so sure I am on the right track that you make me out to be your hero? How can you make out ANY human to be the one man you will follow away from the rest of The Body of Christ?) You can't judge which of us is superior to the rest until the Lord comes and shows you. (Until then, put your trust in the Whole Body, cleansing itself of error by the process I will show you in chapter 14.)

1 Corinthians 4:1. Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

6. What have I just been talking about for the past several verses? I have been trying to explain to you why you should not follow men more than the Bible allows. How ironic that you make yourselves the inferiors of me, or Apollos, and at the same time you somehow feel proud of yourselves for choosing the right hero to make yourselves inferior to!

6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and [to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think [of men] above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

7. Who started all this inferior-superior stuff? What spiritual treasures do you have, beyond what God gave you? Now if God gave them to you, why are you proud of yourself, as if you had EARNED them somehow?

7. For who maketh thee to differ [from another]? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive [it], why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received [it]?

8. You've got so much going for you! You have the potential of kings! I wish you would rise to that potential; so that we could ride on your coat tails! 9 Because we, your spiritual heroes, the heads, you propose, of your denominations, have less potential than you for success. We're at the bottom of the pile. We're on death row. The world laughs at us. Angels feel sorry for us. Men stare at us. 10 We are ridiculed for Christ, while you are respected. We are ignored, while you are influential. You are community leaders; we are tramps. 11 To this hour we are hungry, thirsty, naked, beaten, and homeless. 12. We work for minimum wage. We are insulted, but we are gracious. We are persecuted, but we suffer patiently. 13 We are the scum of the earth.

8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. 9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 10 We [are] fools for Christ's sake, but ye [are] wise in Christ; we [are] weak, but ye [are] strong; ye [are] honourable, but we [are] despised. 11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; 12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: 13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, [and are] the offscouring of all things unto this day.

14. Why am I writing all these things (about how foolish it is to make men out to be Spiritual Heroes)? To warn you. Not to shame you. 15. OK, you want to make me your general, fine. I can do that. In fact, I'll go you one up. I am your spiritual father! Now that I'm your Father general, 16 I can pull rank on you. Imitate my love for ALL God's children. 17 I'm even sending Timothy to remind of my harmonious ways, which, by the way, I teach wherever I go. 18 You say "Aw, he'll never come!" 19 But, Lord willing, I'm going to show up on your door step. And I won't be looking for proud talk, but for power. 20 For the Kingdom of God isn't talk. It's action.

14. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn [you]. 15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet [have ye] not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. 17. For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church. 18 Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God [is] not in word, but in power.

21. So it's up to you. Shall I come with a willow switch, after a bunch of crybabies who can't quit arguing with one another? Or will you let me come to you, as I long to come, in love, and meekness?

21 What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and [in] the spirit of meekness?

SEVEN FORBIDDEN GROUNDS OF DIVISION

1. SPIRITUAL LEADERS.

Nee, page 84: "Hero worship is a tendency of [fallen] human nature, which delights to show preference [at the expense of others; in other words, prejudice] for those who appeal to its tastes [that is, for those who validate its own biases]. ...It is in keeping with God's will that we should learn from spiritual men and profit by their leadership, but it is altogether contrary to His will that we should divide the Church according to the men we admire." (1 Cor. 1:12, 3:4) ["The Normal Christian Church Life", by Watchman Nee, published 1980 by Living Stream Ministry]

(#4 of Nee's "Seven Forbidden Grounds of Division", "Doctrinal Differences", overlaps this first step a little, since "doctrinal differences" ordinarily emanate from "spiritual leaders".)

2. INSTRUMENTS OF SALVATION. Nee: "It is...natural and common for an individual, or a mission, through whose means people have been saved, to consider the saved ones as belonging to them. It is natural, but not spiritual. It is common, but nevertheless, contrary to God's will. Alas! that so many of God's servants have not yet realized that they are servants of the local church, not masters of a private 'church'." (1 Cor. 1:12, 3:4)

Nee, page 67: "If one or more churches are founded by a certain apostle, and that apostle exercises authority over them as belonging in a special sense to him or to his society, then those churches become sects, for they...separate themselves from other Christians...on the ground of the difference of instrumentality of salvation. Thus apostles become the heads of different denominations, and their sphere [becomes] the sphere of their respective denominations, while the churches over which they exercise control become sects, each bearing the particular characteristic of its leader instead of the characteristic of a local church....There was division among the believers in Corinth simply because they failed to realize the local character of the church and sought to make different apostles--Paul, Apollos, and Cephas--the ground of their fellowship."

3. NON-SECTARIANISM. Nee, page 85: "As a protest against division among the children of God, many believers seek to divide those who do not divide from those who do, and never dream that they themselves are divisive! ...When you say 'I am of Christ,' do you mean to say others are not? It is perfectly legitimate for you to say, 'I am of Christ,' if your remark merely implies to whom you belong; but if it implies, 'I am not sectarian; I stand quite differently from you sectarians,' then it is making a difference between you and other Christians. The very thought of distinguishing between the children of God has its springs in the carnal nature of man, and is sectarian.

"...Yes, praise God I am of Christ, but my fellowship is not merely with those who say, 'I am of Christ,' but with all who are of Christ....

"We ourselves should be non-sectarian, but we dare not insist on non-sectarianism as a condition of fellowship....

"We dare not differentiate between ourselves and them, because they differentiate between themselves and others. They are the children of God, and because they make distinctions between themselves and other children of God, they do not on that account cease to be the children of God. Their denominationalism or sectarianism will mean that severe limitations are imposed upon the Lord as to His purpose and mind for them, and this will mean that they will never go beyond a certain measure of spiritual growth and fullness."

Nee, page 58: "To say, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Cephas,' is obviously sectarian; but to say, 'I am of Christ,' is sectarian too, though less obviously so. The confession, 'I am of Christ,' is good as a confession, but it is not an adequate basis for forming a separate church, since it excludes some of the children of God in a given locality by including only a certain section who say, 'I am of Christ.' That every believer belongs to Christ is a fact, whether that fact be declared or not; and to differentiate between those who proclaim it and those who do not, is condemned by God as carnal....To brand as sectarian those who say, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Cephas,' and feel spiritually superior as we separate ourselves from them and have fellowship only with those who say, 'I am of Christ,' makes us guilty of the very sin we condemn in others....The scriptural ground for [the boundaries of] a church is a locality and not non-sectarianism."

A note about Catholics: a persistent problem of confirmed Protestants has been how to account for those individual Catholics whom we grudgingly are unable to deny are filled with the Spirit of Christ, despite their questionable doctrines and allegiance. My invitation to them, here in Des Moines, is "You do not need to become a member of our church, by processing your application through our membership procedures, to fully fellowship with us, because our church is not ours alone. Christ is its head, not ourselves. If you are a member of the Body of Christ, we must accept you as a member of our church. On the other hand, if you are not a member of the Body of Christ, we want to help you "join". To the extent you believe the only legitimate fellowship is that controlled by Rome, that will be an obstacle to your willingness to fellowship with us. But it will not be an obstacle to our desire to fellowship with you."

Actually I don't anticipate individual Catholics will have very much greater resistance than Protestants to meeting in an assembly structured as a Biblically "local" church, with a service ordered after 1 Corinthians 14.

4. DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCES. Nee, page 88: "In the Greek the word rendered 'heresies' in Galatians 5:20 [KJV] does not necessarily convey the thought of error, but rather of division on the ground of doctrine. The Interlinear New Testament translates it as 'sects', while Darby in his New Translation renders it 'schools of opinion.' The whole thought here is not of the difference between truth and error, but of division based upon doctrine. My teaching may be right or it may be wrong, but if I make it a cause of division, then I am guilty of the 'heresy' spoken of here."

(More excerpts from Nee's explanation of this category have been sprinkled throughout this book, and of course much of Part Two deals with doctrinal differences as an excuse for separation. It was the above paragraph which initiated my Bible study which became the preceding Chapter 8, headlined "Perpetuating denominations is God's definition of 'heretick'".)

5.RACIAL DIFFERENCES.

Nee, page 91: "'For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit' (1 Cor. 12:13). Jews have always had the strongest racial prejudice of all peoples. They regarded other nations as unclean, and were forbidden even to eat with them; but Paul made it very clear, in writing to the Corinthians, that in the Church both Jew and Gentile are one. All distinctions in Adam have been done away with in Christ. A racial 'church' has no recognition in the Word of God. Church membership is determined by place or residence, not by race."

Nee says the Jews were racist because they regarded non-Jews as "unclean" and would not eat with them. But were they any more racist than God? Didn't God give those rules? No.

Acts 10:28 refers to a national law prohibiting Jews from eating with circumcised foreigners at any time. But was any such law given by Moses? Or was it added by the Pharisees?

Exodus 12 says a foreigner may not eat of the Passover until he is circumcised. Nothing is said about excluding foreigners from any other meal. In fact, Deuteronomy 14 says everyone is supposed to make an annual pilgrimage to the Temple to feast and celebrate, which is how the "tithe" was supposed to be spent; and at this feast, not only were foreigners invited, but they were supposed to be given free meals!

Deuteronomy 14:29 And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which [are] within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

But there is a racism which will be as difficult for our "local" church as Jewish anti-Gentilism was for the early church, and that Gentile anti-Semitism. There is a growing, unchecked philosophy shared by Hitler, the KKK, and White Identity groups which says, in general, that Satan, the Serpent in the Garden, was Cain's father, not Adam, and from this "Serpent Seed" have come the race of today's Jews (and/or blacks, depending on the individual group). They were not wiped out by Noah's flood, because the flood was not world-wide. (Or, the Serpent Seed was preserved through one of Noah's daughters-in-law, which God forgot to exclude from the Ark.) Even by Jesus' time, the true Abraham-descended Jews were dominated by the Satan-descended Pharisees, and today all those who call themselves Jews are Satan-descended, while it is us white Anglo-Saxons (or Germans?) which are Abraham-descended. Needless to say, Satan-descended "Jews" (or blacks) are incapable of conversion, are the enemy of all the people of God, and must be exterminated before the world can have peace. Or at the very least, driven out of our land.

I have been amazed at the significant percentage of members of Bible-believing white churches I have met which follow this line. I have rebutted it extensively elsewhere. For now, I will offer, besides these Biblical affirmations of the "local" ideal of a church, only a couple of points:

Three books of the Bible honored interracial marriage, and a fourth was written by a black man. Ruth was a Moabittess, who was made part of the lineage of Jesus, even though, only 3 or 4 generations earlier, God had prohibited intermarriage with the Moabites until the 25th generation! Song of Solomon chronicles a romance between Solomon and a very black woman; a love story so universally accepted that it has been interpreted as the romance between Christ and the Church! Finally, Israel was saved through the marriage of Esther to a pagan king. Zephaniah 1:1 says Zephaniah was the great great grandson of King Hezekiah, and the son of Cush. Cush means "black", and in those days names meant things.

The insistence that Noah's flood was not world-wide, by professing "Bible believers", can only be explained by spending much more time reading convoluted explanations of Scripture than reading the plain words of Scripture itself. As for the notion that any race, or nation, ever existed which was of a "different blood" than the rest of us, or is any less capable of salvation:

Acts 17:24 God that made the world...26 ...hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

6. NATIONAL DIFFERENCES.

Nee, page 92: "Since the churches are all local, if a believer -- whatever his nationality -- moves from one place to another, he immediately becomes a member of the church in the latter place, and has no church connection in the place of his former residence. You cannot live in one place and be a member of the church in another....A change of residence necessarily involves a change of church, whereas naturalization has no effect on church membership."

What a concept! We are accustomed, if we are in a church that jumps up and down, and we move to another city or country, to find another church that jumps up and down, just by looking up its title in the yellow pages. How convenient! What would it be like to try to fellowship with anti-jumpers!? Could God really favor such an uncomfortable worship experience?!

Nee, page 94: "The thought of the indigenous church is that the natives of a country should be self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating, while the thought of God is that the believers in a city -- whether native or foreign -- should be self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. Take, for instance, Peking. The theory of the indigenous church distinguishes between Chinese and foreigners in Peking, whereas the Word of God distinguishes between the believers in Peking -- whether Chinese or foreign -- and the believers in other cities. That is why in Scripture we read of the churches [plural] of the Gentiles, but never of the church [singular] of the Gentiles....we read of 'the church of the Thessalonians.' ...this is the only expression of its kind used in the New Testament. The Word does not speak of the church of the Greeks (a race, or nation) but of the church of the Thessalonians (a city)."

Here in Des Moines, about 10% of the 300+ area churches are black, with a few token whites, many because of intermarriage; the rest of the churches are white, with a few token blacks. I can't figure out what keeps them so separated, but it seems like both whites and blacks are missing out. Language isn't a legitimate barrier for other nationalities, either: when I have visited Hispanic churches, I see they regard the language "problem" as an opportunity for one or two to hone their translation skills, just like people who learn sign language appreciate the opportunity in some churches to practice with, while really helping, real deaf people.

7. SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS.

Nee, page 95: "In Paul's day, from a social point of view, there was a great gulf fixed between a free man and a slave; yet they worshipped side by side in the same church. In our day, if a rickshaw coolie and the president of our republic [Nee wrote his book before Communists swept China] both belong to Christ and live in the same place, then they belong to the same church. There may be a mission for rickshaw coolies, but there can never be a church for rickshaw coolies."

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

"Divisions" does mean "Denominations": How did we Miss it?

"But I've read Corinthians several times," you object, "and I've never noticed the first four chapters were even about denominations. For that matter, I can't remember any place in the Bible that calls denominations a sin. So what Bible are you reading?"

Glad you asked. Good question.

I read the King James Version (KJV) mostly. When something isn't clear, or seems to contradict other passages I recall, I turn to the Greek. If that doesn't satisfy me, I turn to commentaries. Or my wife. Or friends. If I'm really, really stuck, even after that, I consult new translations.

I can't be certain why you haven't noticed how much of the Bible condemns denominations, but I can explain why I missed it for years.

There are two connections my brain cells had to make before I realized Paul was lambasting a denominational spirit.

First, that the word he used, "divisions", means "denominations".

Second, that when Paul talked about "divisions", then later about the wisdom of God vs. the wisdom of men, then "divisions" again, then the body being the Temple of God, then "divisions" again, then "eye hath not seen...what God hath prepared", then "divisions" again, then "I could not serve you meat because you are babies who still need milk", then "divisions" again, that maybe Paul wasn't bouncing back and forth from subject to subject like a scatterbrain after all, but maybe all those familiar verses are related to the same subject: "divisions", or denominations.

Modern translations don't make the connection, either. But can you imagine how well a modern translation would sell, that points out too clearly that denominations are heresies?

The word "denominations" isn't used in any of the translations! The closest any come is "splits in the church", in the Living Bible, also called The Book. The rest, including KJV, talk about "divisions". (Of course, when the KJV was translated, I don't think the definition of "denominations", as meaning church hierarchies, existed. "Divisions" was about as close a word as they had.)

I don't know how many years I read these words before something caught my attention: "Hey, wait I minute", I told myself. "What's the difference between 'divisions' and 'denominations'? Could Paul have been talking about something that is relevant to today?"

I looked up the definitions of "divisions". It appears in the New Testament four times. In Romans 16:17 and 1 Corinthians 3:3 the Greek word is "dichostasia", like our word "dichotomy". It is defined as "dissension, division". That Greek word appears only one other time, in Galatians 5:20, where it is translated "seditions" as part of a list of sins which keep people from inheriting the Kingdom of God!

In 1 Corinthians 1:10 and 11:18, the Greek word is "schisma", like our word "schism". It is defined as "a rent. Metaphorically, division, dissension."

That word is found six more times in the Bible. In Matthew 9:16 and Mark 2:21, it means a "rent", or a tear in cloth. In John 7:43, 9:16, and 10:19, it means a mob was "divided"; part wanted to kill Jesus, but the other part wanted to defend Him. Thus it was not a formalized division, as a "denomination" is; but the division was passionate. It is in 1 Corinthians 1:10 and 11:18 that the division referred to seems quite formal, and but for Paul's vigorous intervention, quite permanent. Just like a Denomination.

The last time it appears is 1 Corinthians 12:25, where KJV translates it "schism". It, like 11:18, gives no further details about the "division" Paul was talking about, implying that those details should be sought in Paul's earlier detailed description of it, in chapters one through four.

A related Greek word, "schidzo", found nine times in the NT, is defined "1) to cleave, cleave asunder, rend; 2) to divide by rending; 3) to split into factions, be divided." That third definition, of course, pretty well describes "denomination".

In Matthew 27:51, "schidzo" means the Veil of the Temple, (also Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45), and later it is translated that even the rocks were "rent". In Mark 1:10, it is the Greek word saying the heavens "opened" and the Spirit, as a dove, came down. In Luke 5:36, it is cloth which is "rent". In John 19:24, the soldiers did not want to "rend" Jesus' garment. In John 21:11, the fishing net was not "broken". In Acts 14:4, the mob was "divided" whether to kill or save Paul. In Acts 23:17, the word describes how Paul managed to "divide" even the Pharisees and the Sadducees on whether to kill him!

Apparently not even Noah Webster, the great Bible scholar, Founding Father, and chronicler of the English language, grasped the allusion to Denominations in Paul's condemnation of "divisions".

I looked at Webster's definition of "division", and compared it with his definition of "denomination", to see to what degree they are the same word. I like to consult Webster's original dictionary, because (1) it is our closest record of what the word meant to the time KJV translators wrote it, (2) the original Webster dictionary uses lots of Biblical examples to illustrate word meanings, which shows how the Bible has shaped the meanings of English words, and (3) he sometimes commented on the Greek words behind KJV words.

Webster wrote: "Division. 1. The act of dividing or separating into parts any entire body. 2. The state of being divided. 3. That which divides or separates; that which keeps apart; partition. 4. The part separated from the rest by a partition or line, real or imaginary; as the divisions of a field. 5. A separate body of men; as, communities and divisions of men. 6. A part or distinct portion; as, the divisions of a discourse. 7. A part of an army or militia; a body consisting of a certain number of brigades, usually two, and commanded by a major-general. But the term is often applied to other bodies or portions of an army, as to a brigade, a squadron, or platoon. 8. A part of a fleet, or a select number of ships under a commander, and distinguished by a particular flag or pendant. 9. Disunion; discord; variance; difference. There was a division among the people. - John vii....."

Here is what Webster says about "denomination": "Denomination. The act of naming. 2. A name or appellation; a vocal sound, customarily used to express a thing or a quality, in discourse; as, all men fall under the denomination of sinners; actions fall under the denomination of good or bad. 3. A society or collection of individuals, called by the same name; a sect; as, a denomination of Christians."

Hmmm. It seems that when he was defining "division", Webster had before him the image of an undivided whole, and he described what happened as it was divided, which was a negative thing. But when he was defining "denomination", he had lost the vision of the "undivided whole" before the Church was divided up into denominations. So he looked at these divisions of the whole, now formalized as "denominations", as if they were themselves the original wholes. So it did not occur to him, apparently, to equate "denominations" with "divisions of the Church".

But they are the same thing, aren't they?

Probably Webster, who was one of America's Founding Fathers, supported Denominations because Denominations were strong enough to stand against "Papism", their name for the Roman Catholic Church, which they perceived as a threat to America's internal stability. "Papists", then and now, agree that denominations are wrong; but they don't think they are a denomination; just everybody else. They don't think they are the cause of divisions, or that they bear an equal share of the responsibility to reconcile with other believers. So the cure is for all the others to return to Mother Church. And of course they, like Protestants, believe strongly in Central Church Authority across not only local, but international borders.

Webster was born when each state had its own state-supported denomination. He died after the states had, one by one, cut their official links to any denomination, and new states were added which had never supported a denomination.

I know that America's Founding Fathers, prior to the Revolutionary War, vigorously, and often violently, opposed other denominations than their own. But I wonder how much realization there was that denominations, themselves, are sin?

Dare We Acknowledge New Insights?

Is it presumptuous of me to see something in Scripture which even America's Founding Fathers missed?

More to the point, since it little matters to your eternal destiny whether I am presumptuous, dare you affirm any understanding of Scripture which seems to have escaped most of God's saints down through history?

This question ought to humble us, to make us cautious enough to stop and listen to God, and not just ourselves. But not too cautious to avoid obeying God when God does show us something not widely known before.

The principle of the Gifts of the Spirit, in 1 Corinthians 12, is that God gives each of us Gifts not given to anyone else, so that each of us will be indispensable to the Body. So don't be troubled when God gives something special to lousy little you.

Christian history is filled with insights given to men which had not been generally known before. That is what "makes" history. That is, that is the sort of thing historians write about, as the turning points of human social interaction. Historians do not take note when a man does only what every man before him has done.

To condemn every Christian saint, spoken of down Christian history, simply because he brought those fresh insights which made him a fit subject for a historian, would be absurd. Let us rather judge as the Bereans, Acts 17, not just "tolerating" new theological fads, but not condemning ideas just for being new either; but testing Paul's new teaching by the Word of God.

It makes sense that anti-denominations should be the next century's new profound insight. It is the past century which has seen denominations become the greatest problem. Probably the first time in human history when denominations emerged as we see them today, with multiple denominations represented in a single city, was beginning around 1800 in America, as the several States dropped their official support of their denominations and allowed other denominations to operate churches side by side with their own.

In the beginning of the split from Rome, it was Rome which did the separating; the new embryonic "denominations" were not motivated by any desire to leave the unity of Christendom, but only by the desire to freely proclaim the truths of Scripture. Entire countries eventually came to embrace their own denomination; not because they thought themselves so much better than their poor stupid brothers in other countries with inferior doctrines, but rather they kept their borders secure because they did not like being burned at the stake, which was the pope's model of Bible Discussion.

It was enough work in the 16th and 17th centuries just to climb out of the mentality of killing people who disagree with you instead of reasoning with them. (An extreme violation of Romans 14.)

By 1800 in America, denominations were free of physical persecution from each other for the first time in Christian history. But there were rich theological debates in those early years, which were liberally chronicled in newspapers. There were also verdant inter-denominational Bible studies in Congress, to determine God's will in the shaping of law. So there was much interaction across denominational boundaries. Unlike today.

Today we have had 200 years free of physical persecution from other Christians, and it has been so relaxing that we have gone to sleep. We have become lukewarm. Our fire is out. We don't even talk to one another any more. We just talk about one another. We are about to turn into stone. We are nearly apathetic enough to not care if Antichrist rules us.

Some fear today that only persecution can light our fire again. It always has, in the past, it seems.

But obedience is really what can regenerate us.

Chapter 9 "Not Even False Doctrines Excuse Separation"

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