Can anyone tell me what was the MAJOR difference between the church as it is now and when it first started? It's unity. Why? What happened? Where are we now, compared to where they were then?

First things first, what is unity? How united were they, back then? The book of acts tells us that amongts them, no one was in the need (nor sick) because they shared everything they had with one another in love. They were one spiritually, all thinking the same about Jesus, all going the same way. Jesus calls us to be like this too. I can't find the passage but when I do I'll edit my post. They were healthy, they were not in need, love was the link between them.

Did you know that Christianity is the religion that has the most branches off it's root. We all have the same bible, yet many believe / understand different things. Why? Division, caused by blindness and/or anything else. Caused by sin.

Why should it bother us that we are divided and not united? Because a house divided against itself will not stand.
Matthew 12:25
Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
We're all caught in this spiritual warfare. Many are asleep, others who are blind do not seem to care.

I think the main reason division is amongst us is simply because we don't have the same focus. If all of us, if all of us we really seek Truth without compromise, only The Truth, we will be united. Because there is only One Truth and it's Jesus Christ.

Jesus and God the Father are 2, yet they are One. One in unity, because they think the same, they want the same things. The same way, we must be one to walk with Christ Jesus (now, on this Earth) and please Him.

Now the problem with the church nowadays is that we are divided, not only because we think differently, also because we are corrupt. Back in the day, Christianity was a counter-culture. No orgies, no witchery, no nothing vile. Now, Christianity is a sub culture. WHAT HAPPENED? Corruption. Darkness managed to find it's way deep inside our hearts and we make a lot of compromises concerning God. This, but not that... Because we love to sin, and because we love to sin, we do not love God, and because we do not love God, we do not seek Him, and because we do not seek Him, we think differently. And we live in division.

I'm extreme you think? Not so much.

The church is corrupt.

Be part of this counter-culture that is The True Bride of Christ, not a subculture that is corrupted by all that is vile. Why be a counter-culture so much? Why take on our crosses and forget about our sinful desires? Because it is the only way that God will shine through us on this Earth. And most importantly, because God is worthy of such dedication.

Actually, there was a lot of division right from the beginning. Remember Stephen, the first martyr? He was one of the first deacons. The reason they appointed deacons was because the Greek widows were being left out in the distribution of food. Right away, there was a division.

Paul's letters address the many divisions that were springing up in the church. Division is nothing new. It is something that the church has struggled with from the beginning.

There were not as much division as there is now.
And it doesn't really matter how bad it was then compared to now as long we stay focused on what Jesus wants of us. He wants us to be united.

Hero wrote:

There were not as much division as there is now.
And it doesn't really matter how bad it was then compared to now as long we stay focused on what Jesus wants of us. He wants us to be united.

And there weren't as many different nations and races back then as well. Remember that Christianity began with Jewish members and spread out from there.

I still don't think it excuses the division that there is now. Sure, there is much more Christians now. But the number shouldn't matter if we're all going the same way, focusing on the same thing.

The original church was being fed to lions and used as torch's at night to light Rome ( by Emperor Nero ).. so I don't know if you want to be like that early Church.

Kamerad Ash wrote:

The original church was being fed to lions and used as torch's at night to light Rome ( by Emperor Nero ).. so I don't know if you want to be like that early Church.

The church has always been at its best when it's the 'underdog.' Without strong outside opposition we all get lazy, or start bickering.

The real Church still is and always will be the underdog.

I'm happy not to have to worry about being killed for my beliefs. I prefer this time and place over the time of the eaqly Church.

Kamerad Ash wrote:

The real Church still is and always will be the underdog.

True, but the success of the mainstream church seems to get in the way of the real church being effective... possibly more than 'the world' could.

Kamerad Ash wrote:

The original church was being fed to lions and used as torch's at night to light Rome ( by Emperor Nero ).. so I don't know if you want to be like that early Church.

Yeah Nero was not very nice to Christians

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Kamerad Ash wrote:

The original church was being fed to lions and used as torch's at night to light Rome ( by Emperor Nero ).. so I don't know if you want to be like that early Church.

Yeah Nero was not very nice to Christians

Quote :

The real Church still is and always will be the underdog.

I'm happy not to have to worry about being killed for my beliefs. I prefer this time and place over the time of the early Church.

Actually, this kinda persecution still exists today in other countries

To put it shortly... in the beginning, there was Christ's doctrine. Then, there was man's doctrine. Then a slight return to Christ's doctrines. Now slightly back to man's. All within the span of two thousand years.

It's a weird cycle... it should have just remained the same, in my opinion.

We have freedom of religion.. whcih is only a modern societlal advancement. We shoudl all be thankful for it.

ELAN wrote:

To put it shortly... in the beginning, there was Christ's doctrine. Then, there was man's doctrine. Then a slight return to Christ's doctrines. Now slightly back to man's. All within the span of two thousand years.

It's a weird cycle... it should have just remained the same, in my opinion.

That's not a new cycle, though. Israel did the same thing. We're so predictable.

Kamerad Ash wrote:

The original church was being fed to lions and used as torch's at night to light Rome ( by Emperor Nero ).. so I don't know if you want to be like that early Church.

I do, actually. The way they were treated was awful but it's a price I'm willing to pay if only we were 50% like them.

We're way off now, with all the different branches and the catholicism that totally messed up Jesus' name in many places of the world (like here). Don't turn this into a catholicism debate, I'm saying what happened for a fact as a cause of how dead today's Christianity is.

Which makes me think that while dying as a martyr is an incredibly difficult thing, no Christian should be afraid of it. There is no greater love than to die for someone, and if you die because you spread God's Word because you love Him, your torture will turn to glory. It's a poor price to pay for an incredible reward.