You know the trick. A magician fans a deck of cards out in your direction and bids you to, “Pick a card, any card.” There are so many choices. They basically all look the same, until you take one and look at the other side of it. While that card bears some similarities to others in the deck (maybe the same suit, or maybe the same number), it is still a unique card among many. But, in the game of “Pick a Card, Any Card,” all cards are basically equal, and you have the power to choose what you want.
Of course, this just a game, but perhaps this bears some similarities to another “trick” that is being played by the devil on humanity.
The devil is fanning a deck of churches out in front of people today. And he simply bids, “Pick a church, any church.” There are so many choices. Depending on what study you look at, the number of denominations out there will range anywhere from 300 to 45,000. Whatever the number, that’s a lot of “cards” from which to choose. Which one should you choose? Does it really matter?
Many of them basically look the same from the outside, until you look “at the other side,” to see what they teach and what they practice. That’s when you find some distinguishing marks that set each one apart from the others. But, in this game of “Pick a Church, Any Church,” what the devil wants you to believe is that they are all basically the same, and you have the power to choose what you want. Of course, this time, it’s not a game.
You see, the devil is not in charge of the church. And, actually, neither am I and neither are you. The Bible says that Jesus is “the head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:18). Did you notice how many “heads” there are? Just one! Jesus! Did you notice how many bodies/ churches this one head has? Just one! “There is one body” (Eph. 4:4). So, the devil deceives from the very beginning of the game by fanning a deck of churches out in front of people, as Christ doesn’t have a deck of churches. He has one church.
His one church teaches the “one faith” (Eph. 4:5; Jude 3), holds exclusively to the words revealed by the “one Spirit” in the Bible (Eph. 4:4; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; 1 Cor. 2:10-13), submits to the authoritative judgment of the “one Lord” (Eph. 4:5; John 12:48), practices the “one baptism” for the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 4:5; Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16), worships the “one God” in spirit and according to His truth (Eph. 4:6; John 4:23-24), and holds to the “one hope” reserved in heaven for His church (Eph. 4:4; 1 Cor. 15:24; Heb. 12:23).
God doesn’t say, “Pick a church, any church.” God says, “I have one church. Come and let Me add you to it.”
-David Sproule
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