HAGGARD: PARTISM WITHIN THE CHURCH First, I would like to state that I find this article refreshing and close to home. I grew up in a small town in South Georgia where churches were on every corner. With such a diversity of religious people, it was sometimes hard to distinguish who believed what, and why. I agree with Haggard when he states “it was proper they should no longer be called disciples, but Christians; because the latter name was best expressive of their character, and because Christ was, from that place, about to spread his kingdom and collect out of different nations subjects of his grace and government.” This embodies what I think to be accurate about mankind that believes in Jesus Christ and our character should portray exactly that. The name Jew was odious to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles to the Jews. But the name Christian swallows up all other names in one common and agreeable appellation. During the time of Paul, there was clear separation between Jews and Gentiles. The Torah was extremely important to the customs of Jews and their bloodline from Abraham. However, Christ broke down all barriers when he came to earth and died for our sins, uniting his followers into one body. This is important because since then, Christians have been dividing and separating ever since, which is not what he intended. We should strive to follow Christ, with his name in ours, and proudly proclaim who we are. The fact is, however, that people have developed sub-texts to create their own little sects within Christianity. This division creates confusion and havoc within our communities and churches. Haggard stated “The Church of Christ is one body, and one name is enough for the same body. He that changes his name has generally a design in it. Paul was pointedly opposed to the appellation of any other name to the church. The Corinthian’s were not satisfied to be called Christians, and nothing else; but some wished to be called Paulites, after Paul; some Apollosites, after Apollos; and some Cephasites, after Cephas.” This still applies in our time with certain denominations such as Lutherans and Calvinists. The fact that we have divided the body of Christ so much really diminishes our power and influence to reach others. Not to mention all the different creeds, mottos, beliefs, do’s and don’ts, and faith statements- I can certainly see how one might get confused about what to believe in. Imagine if all “Christians” dropped their rules and regulations, and we all just united as one body under Christ with the bible as our weapon, the world would be forever changed. Haggard made a great point when he compared this with the union of a man and woman. The husband certainly would not be fond of his wife taking on the last name of his friend rather than taking his. We are the bride of Christ, and his name was given to us so that we may flourish and be known as his. We need to proclaim our name, Christian, with pride and a true understanding of what that means. The name is significant, the interpretation being anointed ones; for the word Christ signifies anointed. Haggard states that” partyism has a tendency to immortalize the name of him, who first brought it in to being; and to give the minds of its members an unhappy bias, or prepossession in favor of one against another: and thus they become bigots--for they are led to conclude, that although others may be partly right, they themselves are altogether so.” I have visited many churches in my thirty one years of life here in the United States. One thing I can say about every single one is: they all think there way is the blueprint to Heaven, and to be quite honest, I hadn’t really put much
