Whose follower are you?

Last night we were at a birthday party, a surprise party thrown by the friends of one of our brothers in Sta. Rosa. We had a rare chance to meet some of our old friends/comrades from other churches.

After the party, some lingered around and talked for a while before heading home. One of the former pastors of my old denomination shared how the senior pastor of his present church was really an uncommon Pentecostal because he was strict with the Word. That means he really had a very high respect and admiration for his senior pastor. He also mentioned how one of the families of Metro South Vineyard now attends his church.

The whole conversation reminded me how Paul scolded the Corinthians about being followers of Peter, followers of Paul, followers of Apollos, and followers of Christ. He scolded them for the factionalism and disunity in the Corinthian church.

Will he not scold us in the 21st century for being followers of so many leaders and for being divided into hundreds of denominations and thousands of churches? When I meet other Christians, the talk is always about "Which church do you belong to? What denomination does your church belong to? Are you Pentecostal, Evangelical, Born-again, Full-Gospel, Protestant, Catholic, etc?" And as if that was not enough, Christians now talk of their ministries like they were denominations. Worse, they now want to convert churches and denominations into their "way of ministering."

Have we become followers of men instead of followers of Christ? Be honest. Paul warned that God will destroy those who destroy His temple — who divide His church.