Notice I Corinthians 1:10, "Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing,
and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined
together in the same mind and in the same judgment." Perhaps no better
verse than this could serve to answer the above question, and certainly
it does not even require commentary to be understood in its simplicity
(but that would make the column too short, so we will look more closely
at this Bible answer).
This verse points out that God desires unity, "that
there be no divisions among you." I'm confident that when God considers
denominationalism He is angered at all of the disunity that is found there
in and disappointed at the error which is espoused from one hand or another,
for that first denies the unity that He desires, and second the worship
that He requires. To support the latter part of that statement consider
the phrase, "that ye all speak the same thing." He wants those who
purport to follow Him to do so in the way that He has dictated, and to
do it in unity with others who are doing the same thing, "that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." If we
want to have unity with each other then we have two choices.
The first choice is that we can be united outside
of Christ. By that I am referring to denominationalism. They
claim unity and yet the denominations add to or take away from what God
has designated as acceptable in principle and practice, in worship and
in life. For example, if one group who says that it is all right
to sprinkle someone instead of baptizing (immersing) them decides to be
united with a group who says that it is okay drink Cokes instead of fruit
of the vine on the Lord's table then they can be united, but they will
be united outside of Christ and thereby will be unreconciled to and out
of fellowship with God because they are erroneous in their worship and
practice.
The second choice is that we can be united in Christ.
This is what God wants, and this is achieved when individuals decide that
they will follow the Bible alone as their guide, and worship God the way
that the Bible said. Notice that I said individuals. I said
that to say this: If two are doing the same correct things than they
are in fellowship with each other and in fellowship with God, therefore
they are in one body (Ephesians 4:4). There is no division in the
Lord's body, you are either doing what God wants or you are not.
If you are doing exactly what the Bible teaches, then and only then are
you truly a Christian, and THAT is Bible! That is what the church
of Christ is doing . . . exactly what God wants.