There are hundreds of Christian denominations in the world, and thousands of non-denominational churches. When we live in a world with such division between Christians, it's reasonable to ask yourself, "is this what Christ intended?"
No. The answer is no. Jesus wanted unity. Jesus wanted love. Jesus wanted his children to be united in one Church- the one that He began.
Jesus even prayers for the unity of His people in the Gospels!
John 17:23 "...I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity."
John 17:21 "so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us..."
Jesus formed one Church, not thousands of them. The word "unity" comes from the Latin word "unitas" which means, "oneness, unity; state of being one or undivided." Thousands of different churches with different beliefs and styles of worship are not one, united, or undivided. Yes, we are all united by our Baptism, but Jesus doesn't just want us to be united in one thing, He desires that we are united with one another just as He and His Father are one. Jesus and God the Father are not split into thousands of pieces. They are one. And we, as Christians, are called to be the same.
Christians, up until around 1054 when the Orthodox Christians split off from the original Christian Church, were unified. After that the next largest split was in 1517 when Martin Luther, an ex- monk broke off from the one, holy, catholic (meaning universal), and apostolic Church that Jesus Christ created and decided to start his own because He was not happy with a couple of the practices going on in the Church at his time.(Please read my comment at the bottom of the blog post). The thousands of protestant communities in existence today have splintered off of the ecclesial community that Martin Luther began, which split from the Church that Christ started while still on earth. The early Church was unified. Acts 4:32 says that "All the believers were one in heart and mind." St. Paul told them, "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought." (1 Corinthians 1:10) and " Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:1-6)
St. Paul and Jesus both make it pretty clear that Christians are supposed to be unified. From the very beginning that was the deal. Christians were meant to be united in all things.
So, we know that Christians were supposed to be united from the very beginning, and we know that in the majority of denominations and practices of Christianity unity is not happening, so is there really any Christian Church that has preserved their unity all these 2000 years since Jesus founded it?
The answer is yes. The Church that Christ founded is still in existence and united as one body- the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ! The Church that Christ founded, the Church that Christ intended for all Christians to be a part of, is still alive and well today. And it's known as the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is the only Church that has preserved its unity, by the power of the Holy Spirit, since the year 33 A.D. when Jesus Christ founded it.
There is one Theology, one Baptism, one Faith, one Body, one Spirit, and they are the ones that Jesus created and desired to be exemplified in His Church. Some Catholics might want to hold their own viewpoints and it's okay to have an opinion, but if we're really Catholic, we must follow what the Church Christ set up for us teaches instead of believing what we want to believe.
So, is Christian unity still possible even though Christianity is so tragically splintered? Yes, it is! And Jesus knew that it was, which is why He created one Church for His people to be united in that the gates of hell will not prevail against and that will exist for eternity!
Unity is possible. Unity is happening in the Catholic Church. And no, The Church is not perfect. This is to be expected, as the Church is a hospital for sinners, not a club for saints, but sinners, which we all are, are no excuse to break away from the Church. After all, if the problem is with sinners, why leave Christ behind? He did nothing wrong.
As Catholic Christians we always need to be prepared to defend unity, Truth, and the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church that Christ founded and to tell others about it with love! It is love and Christ truly present in every Eucharist that has held the Church together these last 2000 years. So while so many people celebrate reformation Sunday today, (the Sunday before Oct. 31 when Martin Luther broke away from the Catholic Church) let's pray for unity among all Christians, so that we truly may be one once again as Christ wishes us to be.
Comment on Martin Luther: Certain actions of certain people in the Church during Luther's time were not okay. The Church does take action to correct those who mistreat power. However, if your faith is in God and not in men and if you trust Jesus' words that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it", there's no reason to revolt against over a thousand years of Church teaching and do your own thing.
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