For whenever someone says “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” are you not [acting like unrepentant man] – 1 Corinthians 3:4
As can be seen in the early Church, there was already infighting among “denominations.” Granted, the early Church did not call it a denomination, but there was division based on what apostle / disciple spread the gospel to them and baptized them. Ultimately, Paul had to confront the issue in his first letter to the Corinthians. However, the sin of pride – the sin of Satan himself – keeps us from obeying godly council. This can be seen by Diotrephes in 3 John. John calls attention to him saying he is so prideful that he must be the one to welcome any new teacher – so long as he approves of them – but if he does not approve of the teacher, or if someone else tries to welcome them, then they will be banned from the church. Diotrephes is hindering the gospel by trying to suffocate doctrine that does not agree with his personal convictions, even if they are Biblical. He is so prideful that he does not allow letters written by the apostle John – the Beloved – to be distributed. If there’s one guy that knows the heart of Jesus, it would be John. Diotrephes, however, thinks himself so important that he hinders the message. John rebukes him in his letter and warns others to not imitate them, for if they do, they have proven that they have never seen God.
Now that we are 2000 years removed from this letter, we surely have eliminated such petty issues as disagreements over doctrine and can look past our personal convictions in favour of the greater glory of teaching other of the Conquering King, Jesus Christ, right? No. This issue still plagues the Church, and is frankly such a hinderance in the Church that we are busy fighting each other over molehills while the enemy does everything he can to salt the earth so that new growth can never take place. I write this to urge our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to not argue over petty doctrine that does not lead people to sin. There is doctrine that we should fight over, such as homosexuality being okay or transgenderism being acceptable or premarital sex being godly if it’s done in love. Doctrines like these are objectively in opposition to the Gospel and Scripture. Therefore, they should be fought every step of the way. Doctrine such as transubstantiation or predestination or even full immersion baptism, conversely, are not the arguments that we should focus on. We instead must focus on fighting the evils of Satan and the way the world has leached into and corrupted the Church. For that is the true enemy: false doctrine that leads the children astray.
Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murder, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. — 1 John 3:15