Why denominations are sooo yesterday

We call it church, yet what we are referring to, is about half a million lightyears away from what Jesus was referring to when He told Peter "on this rock I will build my church". In Matthew 16:18 He was saying: on this revelation that Peter had received, that I am the Son of God, I will build my temple (ecclesia). This means that every single person who "gets" the revelation, is part of Jesus' Ecclesia, regardless of the denomination they belong to.

I guess it will come as no surprise that I do not belong to any denomination. A 20 year journey has brought me to a place where I am now capable of worshiping at ANY denomination, because I do not go with the intention of finding fault, but with the conviction that they ALSO detain a part of the Truth. I can go anywhere, because everywhere I will find at least one member of the one and only church: those who truly know and love and follow Jesus.

We don't GO to church. We ARE the church!

Yet our lives do not testify of it, because we are living in constant division instead of striving to unite this Body that Jesus had died for.

This evening a friend asked my opinion on Mormonism, and I must confess that I had to do some research. I have discovered roughly the same things that I have for every other denomination that I have researched in the past:

1) there is the Wikipedia generalized version of the denomination's background and what they stand for

2) then there are a number of hits explaining the pitfalls of this movement, with harsh statements of what they are condemned for (formulated by the extreme opposition, clearly) and why they should be avoided

3) obviously there are also those links that promote the denomination as the only enlightened one that exists (formulated by the extreme fanatics, obviously)

3) and finally there is the denominations own website that outlines their beliefs.

More often than not, any given denomination is accused of things that are not true.

More often than not, any given denomination's core beliefs resemble those of other denominations (with exception that may be more dramatic and significant in some cases)

More often than not, EVERY single denomination out there misses the mark in more than one way, yet holds on to those convictions for dear life, claiming that they have the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth....

So help me God...

We are spending our time pulling the church apart, instead of setting aside our differences and striving to reach the goal that Jesus had set:

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35, NIV

I moved to Europe 20 years ago determined to save all of the Catholics from going to hell, because I have been taught by my charismatic teachers how utterly lost the Catholics were. Surprisingly, I have discovered the most amazing catholic people, with beautiful, sincere hearts, who all claim to love and worship Jesus and regard Him (and not Mary) as their Savior. Sure, they commit idolatry, but is their idolatry worse than the way some protestant churches venerate their pastors and worship teams...? It just depends on the way you look at things I suppose... The Catholics may not exhibit the joy of the Lord in their services, but they do "get" reverence and that, in my books, are a lot!

Listen, I am NOT saying "anything goes". I am not saying every conviction out there is okay and that we shouldn't set right the wrongs. I am saying that our pride is preventing us of shaping each other. If I allow you to tell me what my wrongs are and you allow me to show you yours, we can actually grow together into a perfected unity!

My main point is this: it is time to get out of our religious boxes, to let go of our dogmas, to stop creating yet another ministry and adding yet another denomination to the list of already 33000 + recognized denominations in the world! No, you don't have to quit your denomination, but at least understand this:

Your denomination is NOT church. It's just a place where things are done in a way that jells with your personality (and having a preference is fine, by the way). The REAL church, however, happens outside of your denomination's walls! It is (or should be) happening every day, everywhere, across the boundaries of race, social status and our 100 million etceteras. It is time to stop promoting your comfort zone and to start promoting unity of the only true church that exists : those who put Jesus first, and each other before themselves...