The simple answer is because there are so many different preferences and traditions, even among those who identify as Christians. People like freedom of expression. This is no less true among those within Christianity. People often choose a church because of personal preferences, personal convictions, family ties, entertainment, or simply convenience. As long as people are choosing a church for personal reasons, there will always be many different churches teaching many different things. On the surface this freedom of expression sounds great. Unfortunately, countless churches practicing whatever they want while bearing the name of God or Christ ultimately dishonors His name. Outside observers can easily notice the inconsistency. Those skeptical about Jesus' authority in the world today are left wondering, "Who are God's people?"
We can begin to alleviate this confusion by first properly defining our terms. The English word, "church", has a wide range of ideas associated with it today, such as, "denomination", "congregation", and "place of worship". However, originally when the Bible was written, church had a different meaning. It comes from the Greek word, "ekklesia", which more literally means "assembly". So basically, in the Bible it was referring to a group of people. In earlier Greek, the word even had the idea of "being called out into the assembly for service" such as in a representative form of government.[1]Furthermore, when the word is used in the Bible, it is explicitly being used to refer to a specific group of people— God's people, Christians. So, in other words, the church is the Christians, and the Christians are the church. Sometimes, it could be used in the singular, referring to Christians as a whole. Other times it could be used in the plural, referring to multiple congregations across multiple cities. However, it was never used in the sense we use it today, such as, multiple denominations in one city practicing many different things. This would have been heretical in Bible times! The church was simply Christians practicing what Christ and the Apostles taught.
As time went on, sects of Christianity developed. The Catholic Church, for instance, abandoned its commitment to Biblical writings, and instead placed its authority for faith and practice on the Papacy (the office of the Pope). Fortunately, the medieval reformers who spoke out against the Catholic Church for abandoning Biblical teachings, appealed once again to the authority of the Bible for faith and practice. While this was a step back in the right direction, many sects devoted to the teachings of their favorite Reformer also developed. These divisions form many of our major denominational groups today (Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc.). The division has become even more pronounced in the past 100 years as much of the western world has adopted the existential philosophy that truth is objective only to the individual and his or her personal experiences. This idea means that each person arrives at a slightly different interpretation of right and wrong based on their own experience and preferences. Of course, this naturally leads to the conclusion that there must not be a singular, authentic church of the Bible. Consequently, the number of religious groups claiming to be Christian has continued to multiply. The simple reason is because people have abandoned the basic and explicit authority found in the Bible through Jesus Christ and the Apostles. The heart of each person has become their guide.
Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death” (CSB). That means that our way could be wrong. We need to look to a higher authority. Only Jesus Christ can determine the boundaries and practices of the church. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." Church is singular here. Jesus would only build one church. Colossians 1:18 says that Jesus is the head of the church. Again, church is singular. Jesus would be over His singular church. Ephesians 4:5 says that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The word church isn't used here, but when the word faith is used in a definite sense, as it is here, it is generally referring to the system of teaching found in the early church through the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. In other words, there is only one Master and one system of teaching. Furthermore, Jesus tells a Samaritan woman, one who was not worshipping God in an approved way, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth." (John 4:24). Jesus made a point of saying that our worship must be informed by the truth because He knew the Samaritans had a history of worshipping God according to their manmade traditions. Jesus' "true worship" directly opposes the modern mindset of "worship whatever you identify with".
Therefore, we must arrive at the conclusion that not everyone who identifies as a Christian is part of the one true church of Christ. Sadly, not everyone is accepted by Christ. Matthew 7:20–21 says, "So you’ll recognize them by their fruit. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” This means that the substance of our faith and practice is what determines whether we are in the correct church. As such, a manmade church could not determine our correct faith and practice.
So, how do we know the right kind of faith and practices that land us in the correct church? For an answer to that, we need to look no further than the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Apostles as found in the Bible. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18–19, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…” Jesus then tells the Apostles in Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The Apostles, as Jesus’ ambassadors, would receive the revelatory power of the Holy Spirit and disclose the truth to the early church. In Ephesians 2:19–20, the church (or household of God) is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone." 2 Peter 1:20–21 says, "Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." So, the Bible makes the chain of authority and teaching clear— Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and finally the Apostles and prophets who wrote the New Testament. Since God no longer speaks to us through prophets today (1 Cor 13:8–10), if we want to find the correct church, we should measure it against God’s revelation in the Bible. Any future additions or manmade practices are inferior and divisive.
One of Jesus' last prayers before He was crucified was that His disciples would remain unified in the truth (John 17:17–21). He prayed this because He knew that more people would come to Him if His people were unified in one truth. Today, we bring dishonor to God by following our own traditions and preferences in worship and church organization at the expense of unity. The only way we can be unified and bring glory to Christ in the world is by looking to Scripture alone for our guide to what a church should look like. The church of the Bible is the best church for today.
Which do you want to follow— manmade traditions and preferences— or the one source of truth, the Bible? If you need help finding the right church in your area that teaches the Bible and only the Bible, then we would be happy to help you with that. We do hope you will pray to the Lord for direction because He taught us that those who earnestly seek Him and the truth will find it (Matthew 7:7–11; 1 Tim 2:4). At the same time, you also need to do the hard work of hunting, and don't settle. Reach out to us on Facebook or Instagram, and we will be happy to help you find a true church of Christ in your area.
[1]. Moisés Silva, “ἐκκλησία,” NIDNTT, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.