Church diversity: good or bad?

I expect better from Philip Yancey. He disappointed me in today's CT essay Denominational Diagnostics. He writes, In his great prayer in John 17, Jesus stressed one request above all others: "that they may be one." The existence of 38,000 denominations worldwide demonstrates how poorly we have fulfilled Jesus' request. If he really believed this then he would repent and join an Orthodox Church or a Coptic Church, since they are the closest to pre-division era churches. But there are reasons churches have calved off from earlier versions. It's usually because the parent church has calcified or drifted from truth or affiliated itself to closely to the world or its ways. The calving often will bring reform to the parent church.

I think we are blessed to have a diversity of churches in our towns. A monopoly is never healthy. Diversity is healthy. In fact, he claims that it is important for him to belong to a diverse church. Just like some of us like McDonald's and some of us like Ethiopian or Greek or vegetarian or pizza, so some of us have a multi-dimensional niche that God has led someone else to pastor. Embrace the diversity of our churches, just stay away from the junk food places and the poisonous places.