Back when I was a teenager, I used to listen heavily to Contemporary Christian rock music. CCM they called it. One of my favorite bands was Mylon & Brokenheart and on one of their last albums before they split up, they had a song titled “Denomination Demolition.” The lyrics of the song basically said that all we need to do to get the church back on track is to get rid of all these labels, all be alike, and then we can really get to doing the work of the Gospel.

This Christian rock band is not alone in this sentiment. As chaplain for the Blackwater park, I get all kinds at my chapel on Sunday morning. One Sunday some years ago, I had this fellow come up to me after the worship and say, “Brother, you’ve got a great gift, but you’re wasting it being a part of a denominational church. Because you can’t do real work for Jesus as part of an institution.”

When we talk about unity in the church, there are a lot of people who think that this is how it happens; that we abandon the labels, that we abandon our identities in Christ, and all become like everyone else. The problem lies in that those who espouse this point of view are not being honest, either with themselves or with others. Because I guarantee you that they are not willing to meet others in the middle, they are not willing to come together to find consensus as to what this labeless church looks like and believes. What they truly want is for all the other denominations, all the other Christians to become just like them.

They want to look at their brother and sister in Christ and see their own reflection. Same beliefs, same opinions, same practices. They want the church to be a monolith, and in particular they want it to be their monolith. That idea of the church is based on arrogance. It is based on hubris, selfishness. It is not based on what Christ wants.

What is it then that Christ does want? To answer that question, I have pointed us to two texts in the Gospel of Matthew, texts that you’ve probably heard before, texts about those first disciples. The first story the familiar tale of Jesus calling the disciples by the seashore. Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And it begins with four men: Peter, Andrew, James and John. In the chapters that follow, interspersed with tales of Jesus’ teaching and healing, you learn of more disciples being called until you get to Chapter Ten where Matthew is kind enough to list the names of the Twelve.

This is the church at its infancy. Who are these men that make up the church? Peter, Andrew, James, and John. There’s our fishermen from the seashore. Philip and Bartholomew. Sadly the Bible doesn’t tell us too much about them. Thomas, ah, we know a story about him, a famous one, but he shows up quite a bit in the Gospels. Always asking questions of Jesus when he does. A man of curiosity, a man hungry for knowledge. Next is Matthew, the tax collector. His story is in Chapter 9 of the gospel he wrote, called from his tax booth and his story used to remind everyone that Jesus came to save sinners. Next, James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus. Two more we know next to nothing about. Next Simon the Zealot. Ah, no stories about him, but his name gives something away. Here is a political radical, a member of the Zealot sect dedicated to overthrowing the Roman government. And lastly, Judas.

This is a diverse bunch, from all different walks of life. And we step back even further and look at the disciples that are not named here, we find the same. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Mary Magdelene. Jesus’ own mother Mary. Mathias, the one chosen to replace Judas in Acts 1. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, the Pharisees who follow Jesus.

As we widen the circle, we realize that there is almost no uniformity at all among these followers of Jesus. They are as diverse and different from one another as you will find. You have rich and poor. You have well educated and minimal educated. You have men and women. You have young and old. You have social elites and outcasts.

Now, I’ve got a little experiment for you. Imagine all of these people in a room together with Jesus and Jesus does something. He teaches a parable or performs a healing miracle, and they all witness it. They hear his words, they see what he does. Now if you asked them all to write down what they saw and what they thought it meant, would all the stories be the same?

Of course they wouldn’t. Right here, at the infancy of the church, we do not have uniformity. We have diversity. We have different ideas, different interpretations, different thoughts, different inspiration about this Jesus character. Don’t believe me? How many Gospels in this book? (hold up Bible) Are they all the same? Wouldn’t be much point in having four if they were.

The church is not a monolith, with everyone believing the same things, worshiping in the same way, having the same doctrines and structures. It was never like that. And I would argue that it was never meant to. That Jesus wants it diverse, he wants it different. And it is to make it so that he calls all these disciples from all these different backgrounds and experiences and walks of life.

Now why does Jesus want it that way, so much so that he calls this amazingly different and diverse group of people to be his disciples and apostles? The answer to that is simple, it is found in the very first story I read to you from Matthew’s Gospel. As Jesus comes upon the four fisherman, what does he say to them? Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. You will catch people for God.

This idea appears again just a few verses after Matthew lists the names of the disciples in Chapter 10, because following that story is the story of Jesus sends them out two-by-two to tell that the kingdom of God has come near. This is what the church is for: to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that needs to hear it.

Now if that’s your objective, if you want to catch as many people as possible, if you want to catch everybody in the whole world, which do you think is a better strategy? To give one option, one church, one worship style, one theology, forcing people to conform to it? Or do you give them a whole slew of options, different worship styles, different doctrines and dogmas, allowing them to find the one that speaks best to them where they are and who they are?

Jesus isn’t dumb. He knows the second choice is the better one. And so he forms the church to reach the people of the world where they are.

And so here we are, 2000 years later. Look at us. We’re not alike, are we? We here gathered are diverse in thought, opinion, background, economics, education, and every other thing you can imagine. But yet, we’re all here. We’re all here because we have all been called as disciples of Jesus Christ. And the task before us is the same as it has ever been. The world is out there and still needs to hear the Gospel. How are we going to reach it?

Not any one of our churches can do it. The Lutherans alone can’t reach them all. The Methodists alone can’t reach them all. The Catholics and the Baptists and the non-denominational and the whatever alone cannot reach them all. But together, united in purpose, but diverse in style, we can. Together, we can bring the Gospel to them, where they are and who they are. We are united in purpose, and our diversity gives strength to that purpose. It is a tool, an advantage, an opportunity. Amen.