There are now many Christian denominations through out the world as there are many different faith groups all of which have different ideas of what or who 'God' is. Surprisingly, as one examines the various odd faith groups and Christian denominations throughout the world there are a number of common denominators. Of course, for Christians no matter who or what they may say they are, the one common denominator is the understanding that Christ is Lord. For faith groups including Christians there is a general understanding of the Golden rule that is one has a love for the other and will treat the other as we treat or would wish to be treated. There are of course more radical off shoots of all religions, including Christianity, who would not see these in their actions or beliefs because at the end of the day most people do not want to be killed, tortured, maimed, abused, etc, as extremists seem to think is the appropriate way to put their point of view across. In John's gospel Christ states "there are other sheep of mine, not belonging to this fold' (10:16), which leads me to ponder about the nature of the world and Christ's presence or God's presence within it. I will keep my thoughts close to the faith I know and speak with regards the Christian church (a manmade construct) throughout the world.
The Church as we know it in a Christian sense has over time squabbled and squabbled quite badly so that today we do not have a divine catholic and uniform church but a splintered and fractious church. It is, not even a possibility, the result of men's inability to agree. Yes, I did say men's, not women's for the majority of divisions, if not all, it has been a failure of men to agree on what to believe. One would think it would be simple to agree to be Christlike in our approach to the world i.e. act with love, speak with truth and care for those in need. Yet, it is a strange fact that Christians no matter where or who they are disagree not on these three things but the interpretation thereof and God. This is really the crux of our challenge of being Christian and following Christ in the world. We all agree with the sentiments of love truth and care but what we fail to do is agree on the impetus that lies behind these three things. The real question is How can we?
The reality is that we are all different not only in the physical but also in our mental shell and beliefs. This is the stumbling block for in our difference we cannot accept the other as being part of ourselves unless they start to or do agree with the mental construct we have of our reality. Once there is an agreement at this level then we begin as a collective to put in place our own rules and guidelines to ensure that our beliefs and understanding of reality is maintained to keep us comfortable. This is of course a red flag to those who are outside our belief system allowing for anger and retaliation to intrude upon our peace. So begins a cycle of violence, hatred and division the opposite of that which we are called to in Christ. Our clue must be with Christ who states "there are other sheep". We cannot maintain our own belief of ourselves as being the sole arbiters of God's truth and Christ's way unless we are willing in our hearts and minds to embrace this message of love for all people. This is the issue for us as humans as we have contend with our own pride and our own wish to be dominant or rather in a position of authority and power.
Difference is not something to be feared but rather like Christ to embrace and call our own as part of the community that is in Christ. Our over abundance of denominations within the Christian fold just reinforces Christ saying in John that there are other sheep. We are all sheep that belong and answer to Christ as such we should recognise that we are responding to Christ in our separate identities. Only those that belong to Christ will respond as we do not respond to the thieves that come in over the fence. In truly recognising that we all belong to Christ (irrespective of belief system) we should all respond in love not just to each other but to all who are made in the image of God. We should not have the audacity to say you are different and therefore you cannot belong to Christ and God. Only when we can accept at that level we will not have to have reminders of war in peace as each year we celebrate or rather commemorate ANZAC day. As it is we celebrate and remember the greater sacrifice each week and yet do little towards our common good to put aside our difference and see the family of God around us so that we may live in love.
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