For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- John 3: 16
All the Christ followers of the world believe this, holding it to be the foundation of their faith. John 3: 16 is the most recognizable verse in the Bible, and it simplifies everything we believe into one simple thought: Jesus died for our sins, and because of that love, we will live with Him forever.
This ought to be enough to unify all believers, right?
We Christians can be a petty bunch. Since the creation of the church, it has been split into countless denominations, often based on differences that are comparitively trivial. We have fragmented our faith due to things that are insignificiant compared to the one thing that should hold us all together: the blood and the salvation of Jesus Christ. The fragment is so great that some people refer to the different denominations as different religions, as though Baptist and Lutheran are so incompatible that they are now different systems of belief.
While we may not be able to quick stitch all the denominations back together, what we can do is not allow petty differences to further fracture our lives and relationships. There have been instances where families and churches have been torn apart because of differences in doctrine. These differences are often relatively minor, but we give them more power than they deserve. We create denominations within our own families, and relationships are often burned because of what side someone stands on. If we all follow Jesus as our savior, what else could possibly have the power to tear us apart? It should not matter what the issue is or on what side you stand, for Jesus is the great unifier, and causing a rift based on anything else means you're giving that issue more power than you're giving the blood of Jesus.
We must try and view things the way Jesus views things. He looks down upon His followers from Heaven, and what does He see? He sees a kaleidoscope of people. Yes, there are different colors and genders, but there are also different opinions and doctrines. Is His salvation only available to those who belong to a particular church, or are on a particular side of some trivial issue? No, He loves all of us equally, because we are all the children of God. Did the thief hanging on the cross beside Him have all the same doctrinal opinions that the disciples of Jesus did? Surely not, and yet that thief is now in the kingdom of Heaven.
We are meant to be the body of Christ - one body, not several. We are meant to be strong, but how strong can we be if we are so easily fractured? We must learn to let go of the things that do not comprise the foundation of our faith. We must come and stand together as the body of Christ, standing unified on one foundation. We must be one in the name of Jesus.
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First of all, well said. There are many doctrinal issues that (while I certainly have an opinion on most of them) Christians can legitimately disagree about. I probably would draw the circle of acceptable areas of doctrinal differences wider than most. That is the beauty of John 3:16 - it keeps us focused on the main point. But we also need to remember that there are some issues serious enough that we should hold a firm position. For example, in some of Paul's letters he can be rather harsh when talking about people who are leading believers astray with false teachings. It takes wisdom to separate the less important issues (on which we can have disagreement within the body) from the important issues on which we must stand firm.
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