Issues that Divide Us
John 9:1-41; Mark 10:46-52
Illustration
by Dale Cockrum

How denominations came into being:

The story concerns two blind men who had been healed by Jesus, who happened to meet one day, and they were so excited to meet someone else who had been healed. They talked about the wonder of sight, the color of flowers, the beauty of butterflies, the glory of sunrises, the faces of children and grandchildren.

They talked about the wonder of having seen the face of Jesus. They were laughing and having a great time together, when one of them said, "And do you remember how Jesus took that mud, spit on it, and put it into your eye?"

The other fellow looked kind of stunned, and answered, "Why no, he simply said, 'Receive your sight,' and I could see."

The first fellow said, "Wait a minute - now just wait a minute here. You mean he didn't use any mud?"

"No."

"Well, did he at least have you wash in the pool of Siloam?"

"No - of course not - who ever heard of anything so ridiculous as mud in your eye?!"

"Well," said the first man, "if he didn't put mud in your eyes and have you wash in the pool of Siloam, you are still blind! Blind - do your hear me?

Because that's the way Jesus healed me; that's the way he does it!"

Then the second man began to get angry. He shouted, "Mud, mud, mud! Who ever heard of using mud?! That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard! You still have mud in your eyes. You're the one who's still blind!"

They got into a big argument - their relationship was destroyed, and right then and there, they formed the first two denominations: the Mudites and the Antimudites!

Since then, of course, the church has been fighting and splitting over issues not a whole lot more significant than that!

Why Denominations?, by Dale Cockrum