Lesson 1: Why Do We Need Authority?

Phil has a problem. After years of neglecting his spiritual growth, he decided to dedicate his life to serving God. On Sunday morning he went down to Church Street. The streets and sidewalks were busy with people of all ages, races, and economic backgrounds driving and walking to different churches. Different churches. confused him. There were many buildings with different names but all claimed to be serving God. There were several kinds of Baptist and Methodist churches, a Church of Christ, a Catholic church, an Episcopalian church, some Assembly of God churches, and a host of churches that had names he had never heard of like Living Waters Community Church, and Church of the Divine Son in Prophesy Full Gospel Community Fellowship. Phil began asking people on the street which one he should attend. They asked if he were part of any denominational body. Though confused, he felt sure that he was not, he just wanted to serve God. One person told him to visit them all and choose the one that was most comfortable to him. This sounded more like clothes shopping than finding a place to serve God. While thinking about his choices, he stopped one man and asked,

“Since I can just choose any church, are they all the same?”

“No,” the man replied, “They believe some of the same things but not all of the same things.”

“Well,” Phil said, “point me to the one that just follows the Bible.” The man laughed and said as he walked away, “They all use the Bible.” Phil was greatly confused. As the late worshippers hurried into the buildings, Phil sat on the curb of the now quiet street. He remembered reading in the Bible of Jesus’ prayer that all of his disciples should be one. (John 17:20- 23) Also, Paul told the churches to be of the same mind and spirit and to speak the same thing. Paul also condemned the Corinthians for following after men and claiming allegiance to them (1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 3:1-4). “Didn’t Christ say he would build his church, not churches,” Phil asked himself. Phil just wanted to be a member of Christ’s church. He remembered Paul’s warnings about false teachers and false doctrines. He did not want to disobey God. On Monday morning Phil had a brilliant idea—he thought. “I’ll join all the churches,” he exclaimed. As he visited each church, the leaders were glad to hear that he wanted to join their group. However, when he said that he was going to join the other churches as well, the church leaders grimaced. Many of them told him, “You can’t join the _______ church, they teach differently about salvation, or worship, or some other matter.”

“That group uses another book in addition to the Bible,” argued one leader.

“Like your creed?” Phil asked innocently.

“Of course not. The creed is in agreement with the Bible,” the man snapped.

“Then why do you need it?”

“To help us know what the Bible teaches.” Exasperated, Phil asked, “Then why are there so many different creeds. Shouldn’t we just agree on what the Bible teaches?” Phil was still confused. Christ built a church and yet there were hundreds of churches around. Christ wanted his followers to be of the same mind and speak the same thing yet there were many, often conflicting, doctrines on this one street. Phil decided to study the history of the church to see where it all went wrong.

Questions for Discussion & Study

List some problems with the “attend the church of your choice” philosophy.
What problem do you think is at the heart of all “unity” movements?
How can people be “of the same mind and speak the same thing?”
How do you think the religious division of the world can be used by skeptics (enemies of religion) to criticize Christianity? How would you answer it?