According to United Nations statistics, in Year 1989 there were over 23,000 “competing and often contradictory denominations” (reference 1). And just 25 years later in 2014, the Pew Forum reported how the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary found 45,000 separate Christian denominations (reference 2).
So how does this situation reconcile with our Lord's words from John 10:16:
I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
And since numerous denominations with different doctrines cannot all be teaching the precise words of Jesus Christ, this verse should cause those attending one of today’s Christian denominations to pause and consider whether they are hearing the precise message of Jesus Christ from their church pulpits.
Unfortunately, modern Christians have duplicated the same kind of competing, contradictory and multi-denominational religions that Jesus condemned during His ministry...while most Christians do not seem to care.
Question: Is the current state of the Christian Church with it’s numerous denominations having differing doctrines really what Jesus Christ wants of His followers?
Reference 1: World Census of Religious Activities [U.N. Information Center, NY, 1989]). Cited in Frank Schaeffer’s book Dancing Alone (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Press, 1994), page 4.
Reference 2: http://www.gordonconwell.edu/resources/documents/statusofglobalmission.pdf
So how does this situation reconcile with our Lord's words from John 10:16:
I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
And since numerous denominations with different doctrines cannot all be teaching the precise words of Jesus Christ, this verse should cause those attending one of today’s Christian denominations to pause and consider whether they are hearing the precise message of Jesus Christ from their church pulpits.
Unfortunately, modern Christians have duplicated the same kind of competing, contradictory and multi-denominational religions that Jesus condemned during His ministry...while most Christians do not seem to care.
Question: Is the current state of the Christian Church with it’s numerous denominations having differing doctrines really what Jesus Christ wants of His followers?
Reference 1: World Census of Religious Activities [U.N. Information Center, NY, 1989]). Cited in Frank Schaeffer’s book Dancing Alone (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Press, 1994), page 4.
Reference 2: http://www.gordonconwell.edu/resources/documents/statusofglobalmission.pdf