John17:21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. NIV
Years back, I received an invitation to preach in a white garment church. All my life, I've been a pentecostal with a bias orientation against non-pentecostals and white garment churches. I cannot count the number of times my pastors openly spoke against those churches and even the churches we call 'orthodox' in Nigeria. I grew with suspicion for those from that circle and pride of being better was in me. The very first time God dealt with me was in 2003 when I met a sister from one of the orthodox churches. Her life and doctrine changed my orientation about her church but there's still some work to be done on me because God knew my ministry will cut across denominational lines.
When the invitation to preach in a white garment church came, I prepared a wonderful sermon not knowing that God was sending me there to be sermonized. When I got there, one of their youth executives gave a charge. In that charge, I saw a revived soul teaching the word of God with power and accuracy. I couldn't reconcile the message he preached with what I heard about them. When one of their leaders stepped up to preach against sexual immorality, it surprised me because one of the things they told us was that they don't care about sexual purity. The man is a monogamist not polygamous like some. When I stepped up to preach, I confessed my sin to the people before preaching then I continued my message with a more relaxed mind. Before and after the message, they showed me great love. God made me realize He has sons and daughters in places people least expect. From that day, I don't generalize any longer. While some are bad, there are a reserved few that hasn't bowed their knees to Baal.
If God will use you across board, God must break that spiritual pride that makes you feel you're better than others. Spiritual pride is real and it exist among the brethren. People are proud of their denominational root to the point where they don't want to accept people from other denominations. There can be no true revival until there's unity in the body of Christ. There's a limit to what your denomination alone can achieve in God's endtime agenda. We need to unite so as to get the job done. The devil knows this that's why he's doing all he knows to pitch us against one another. A strand of broom is not enough to sweep the house clean, we need a bunch to get the job done. God permitted denominations for his children to be reached effectively in small numbers for discipleship purposes. It wasn't designed to separate us. While we may not all have the same understanding of scriptures, the fundamentals are enough to bind us as one to confront our common enemy and subdue kingdoms. Don't allow spiritual pride and the demon of denominationalism take hold of you. There's power in unity.
Father, I rebuke spiritual pride in my life. I receive the grace to accept the brethren and to see the body of Christ the way you see it in Jesus name.