Why Are There So Many Different Churches?

By

Becky Rene

 

1. This is something that I have been thinking about, it a question that some of you girls have asked, and even my friend Mario e-mailed me and asked me about that.

 

2. Now I have studied this before when I was a little girl. I was 14 years old and I asked Steve (he was the one who baptised me), “How come there are so many different churches?” Now he tried to explain that to me but my brain could not understand what he was on about.

 

3. But now I am 16 and now I understand things a bit better and so I will try to explain it to you. Maybe you will understand and maybe you won't, we will see.

 

4. Now I do not want you to think I am clever doing this lesson because I am not. I have been reading some lessons and talking to my mom and my daddy about this and they helped me A LOT.

 

I. What Do You Believe About The Bible?

 

A. The Bible is either the word of God or it is not!

 

1. So why does it matter what I believe about this?

 

a. Well, if you do not believe the Bible is from God then you will probably not take it very seriously, will you? So you will not be very bothered about doing everything the Bible says and so you say, “Oh, it is only written by a man so why should we do that?”

 

b. But if you believe the Bible is the word of God then you will take it seriously won't you? So you will want to do everything it says.

 

2. So, if you have 100 people and 50 do not believe the Bible is the word of God and 50 believe that the Bible is the word of God then those two groups will start to disagree about a lot of things wont they? Do you see that? So they will split into two groups won't they?

 

B. The Bible is the only Bible or it is not!

 

1. Now that might sound confusing but there are other books that people say are from God as well! They are books that people think are more of the Bible. Here is what I am on about…

 

a. Have you heard of the ‘Mormons’? Well, I have not got time to tell you all about them so you can go to this web site to find out all about them www.lds.org/ Now those Mormons follow a book called ‘The Book of Mormon’ and they say that it is from God.

 

b. Have you heard of ‘The Church of Christ, Scientist’? You can find out all about them here www.tfccs.com/index.jhtml;jsessionid=3DWNKV2515ZQNKGL4L2SFEQ They follow a book called ‘Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures’ and they say that it is from God.

 

2. So, if you have 50 people and 25 just follow the Bible and 25 follow other books then what do you think will happen? They will have to split into different groups wouldn't they? Well, that is what happened.

  

II. What do you Think you are Allowed to Do?

 

A. If the Bible is from God then we should do what it says shouldn't we? That is what authority means, it means you just do what the Bible says you are allowed to do. That is easy isn't it? Look at what the Bible says…

 

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all by the authority of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father" (Colossians 3:17 NASBR)

 

"You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you" (Deuteronomy 4:2 NASBR)

 

"Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:32 NASBR)

 

1. Now that first scripture says we must have authority for all that we do. Now that just means we must have permission to do something. Do your parents ever tell you off for doing something that they did not give you permission to do? Well that is what it means.

 

2. Those other two scriptures just tell us not do anything more or less than what we have been told. Now supposing Maria says to me, “Oh, will get some shopping for me?” So she gives me a list of things to get and that is: bread, milk, beet, and cookies. So when I get back I give her the bread, milk, and cookies. Then she says, “Where did you get that candy?” and so I say, “Oh, there was some money left over and so I got some candy for myself.” Now what do you think she would say about that? That was not on the list was it? No, and that would make me a bad girl wouldn't it? I do not think my parents would be proud of me would they? So that is what it means to not “add or take away.”

 

B. So, you have 25 people and 12 are very careful just to do what God says and they do not add or takeaway from what He says, and 13 just keep on doing things that God does not even tell us to do (like celebrate Easter every year). So what do you think will happen? Well, it would be very hard for those people to get along wouldn’t it? So they will split into two groups.

 

III. What do you believe?

 

A. Now we all try to study our Bibles don’t we? So what happens if we study our Bibles and we end up believing different things? Now, I do not want to get too complicated so I will try and make it very easy to understand…

 

1. Now some people say that you are baptised for the forgiveness of your sins and other people say you are baptised after the forgiveness of your sins.

 

2. Now, we studied about baptism a long time ago didn’t we? So we know that if you are not baptised FOR the forgiveness of sins then your sins are not forgiven are they?

 

3. Now think, are people who have not had their sins forgiven Christians? I do not think so, do you? So how can the forgiven and the unforgiven have fellowship?

 

B. So if you have 12 people and 6 believe that you have to be baptised to get your sins forgiven and 6 believe that you do not have to be baptised to get your sins forgiven, what will happen? Well, you cannot have the forgiven and the unforgiven worshipping and working together like they all forgiven can you? So they will split into two groups won’t they?

 

 

1. Now there are some things where people believe different things and they just cannot stay together, like what is believed about baptism.

 

2. But there are other things where people believe different things and it does not matter and they can still stay together, like whether a woman should wear a head covering. Look at some of the women in our church, some wear a head covering and some do not but we all still stay together.

 

Conclusion

 

1. So, why are there so many different churches? Well, today we have looked at 3 reasons why people split into different groups:

 

a. Because some believe the Bible is from God and some don’t, and so they split into their own groups.

 

b. Because some people believe you must do only what God says and some say you can do anything you want, and so they split into two groups.

 

c. Because some people believe different things on very important things that makes it impossible to stay together, and so they split into two groups.

 

2. So what can you do? Well, that is not an easy question to answer and I will probably have to make another lesson to answer that question. But for now…

 

a. Make sure you keep praying and ask God for wisdom to know the truth.

 

b. Make sure you keep studying your Bible to find out what it says.

 

c. Make sure you believe what the Bible says and do it.