John Mark Finds The True Church
Apr 1, 2020 1927
Which church is the true church? This is a question that has troubled countless young people. Many of them, even though religious and churchgoers, are not satisfied with the fact that they believe in Jesus Christ. They want to be assured that they are in the ‘right’ church so that they can be assured that they are on the right path to God. That is largely because they have encountered the teaching that God has a particular physical church without which one may not be in a position to know the whole truth necessary for salvation.
Such is the anguish that has been terrorising one young man, John Mark, a 16 years old form 6 student at Merryland High School in Entebbe, Uganda, where I have been ministering as chaplain.
Immediately after I delivered a sermon John Mark came to me one afternoon with the request to have a talk with me in my office. This is part of my job and I usually receive students every time I am at the school. Their needs are as varied as their problems: relationships at school, academic issues, career choice, family as well as spiritual matters.
John Mark began by reminding me that he was baptised one year ago after a Week Of Spiritual Emphasis at the school, when I was the preacher. John Mark had been a Moslem before his encounter with the Gospel. His decision was not received well at home, since his family is largely Moslem. Despite that challenge, John Mark even had the confidence to change his name from Abdalla to John Mark, to signify his conversion to Christianity.
I introduced him to the unlimited Gospel, which cuts through all denominations.
Things started becoming difficult two weeks after his baptism, when he joined a Bible study class at school. He wanted to learn more about the Bible, for he hoped to evangelise to his friends and relatives back home. But it turned out that Christianity was not as peaceful as he thought, said John Mark. The Bible study teacher introduced some lessons that highly criticized other denominations, their leadership and doctrines.
John Mark said that he was disappointed to find such heavy divisions within Christianity. Although he had known, prior to his conversion, that there are different denominations within Christianity, John Mark had not expected to hear a Christian condemning another Christian in such terms.
Although the teacher tried to prove through scriptures that there is only one true denomination, John Mark found himself in doubt, wondering how one could be so confident about his position. Thus, his number one problem, which he presented to me that day, is whether there is a true church.
Obviously, my answer was yes, but that true church is the spiritual body of Christ, which is not found exclusively in any one denomination. I introduced him to the unlimited Gospel, which cuts through all Christian churches. I narrated to him my own story of searching for a true denomination that turned out to be a disaster, until I met GNU. John Mark said that he had been touched by my sermons, since they seemed to preach to all, offering hope to all without condemning other denominations. However, I told him that he needed to make a choice of one church where he would find fellowship. But I warned him, in the name of Jesus, not to come to the conclusion that one church was right in everything and all the rest were dead wrong.
John Mark is now a very active church member at the school. His search has ended, for he has found Christ.
– Pr Bonifresh Muhollo
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