Topic(s): Denominationalism

Is it possible to simply be a Christian today, in the 21st century? Can we avoid being entangled in and weighted down by all the trappings and innovations of man which have found their way into religion over the past 2000 years?

I believe the answer is “yes,” and it can be accomplished by taking an “island approach” to Christianity. What do I mean by that? Suppose there was an isolated island filled with people who knew nothing of Jesus. However, one day a chest washed ashore and contained therein was a copy of the Bible. The islanders began reading this book with great interest. After months of careful study, they came to the point of faith, turned from their sins, confessed their faith in Jesus as the Son of God, were baptized into Christ, and began worshiping God together and committing themselves to the moral standards contained in the Scriptures.

Question: What denomination were these islanders when they obeyed the Gospel? What “brand” of Christian were they? It is a silly question, isn’t it? They would not be a part of any denomination, sect, or party. They would simply be Christians, and Christians only. Friends, if people on an isolated island can be “Christians Only,” then why can’t we be “Christians Only” in our communities? The fact is, we can. However, it will require that we do what they did: open the Bible and unite on what it teaches, leaving behind those practices and doctrines that are not found therein.

—Steve Higginbotham, Glasgow, Kentucky

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me . . . ” —John 17:20-21

Parting With Tradition

Topic(s): Church

Bayer Corporation has stopped putting the cotton wads in their Genuine Bayer bottles. The company realized the aspirin would hold up fine without the maddening white clumps, which it had included since about 1914. “We concluded there really wasn't any reason to keep the cotton except tradition,” said Chris Allen, Bayer’s vice president of technical operations. “Besides, it’s hard to get out.” Longstanding traditions in the church often create more hardship than help. —Citation: Ed Rowell, from The Tennessean (9-12-99)

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” —Colossians 2:8