Recently after I told someone that I was a minister they asked, "Really, What religion?" I began to explain that I am not a part of any denomination, I am a Minister of God and Christ. A Christian ordained by a non-denominational church. This confused them greatly. I tried to explain the difference between religion and denomination. This being that religion is a particular belief; examples: Christianity, Muslim, Non-Christian and denomination, a tradition of practicing the belief. Examples of denomination would be Catholicism, Protestant, Lutheran, Shaman and the like of which there are thousands that are based on a specific persons theology. I explained that I'm a Christian who follows the Bible, where if I was Jewish, I would follow the Talmud and if Muslim, I would follow the Koran. I don't know why I should be surprised to hear that from someone outside of the church, when many Christians know no better themselves. I added that I believe in the same things as other churches, the Trinity, A single God, Christ died for our sins and the whole faith issue.
As our discussion continued I asked them if they could explain where the term denominationalism came from. I explained that denominationalism comes from an idea of division. And that just as in a fraction, the numerator is divided by the denominator, so in religion Christ is divided by denominationalism.
I went on to explain that a non-denominational church does nothing different, doctrinally. Or is it more aware by trying to be, from the church in the first century and asked how, if any church is exactly like the early church, the one that Christ started and intended to be, if it could be seen as a divider. There was no answer, and no more discussion.
At some point, we are all susceptible to being asked about the church and how it fits into a world of denominationalism. The issue is clouded when there are so many community-type churches out there that claim to be non-denominational or inter-denominational. When people hear the denominations themselves making this claim, then the impact is lost when true Christians make a claim as non-denominational. The issue is further clouded when members of the church do not make a firm connection between what the church teaches and what the Bible teaches.
Let me give another example. I believe in counseling through use of the bible, if you're qualified, of course. However, there are many types of counseling, Biblical and Pastoral are two of the most studied. Biblical is, of course, using only scripture. Pastoral, on the other hand, can utilize any religious book, in any denomination because they must study all to help all, I believe this of the non-denominational minister as well. That they should have their faith, but study all faiths at least enough to understand what they are, and to perform services to whomever may ask, even Jewish if need be. Education may be more complex, and certainly longer, even confusing, there are a lot of denominations out there. But we should at least, when asked, know who or what they are.
Let me list a few things that we can do to help avoid having the church called the non-denomination fall into criticism. Keep in mind what denominationalism is, like discussed above. Also, be ready to explain, with illustrations, that the church (Christian example) today is doctrinally equivalent to the first century church, and that there are no distinctions between the two (meaning that they are not two, but rather the one body spoken of in Ephesians 4:4). Be ready to defend the above by showing from Scripture how God views division.
Examples include I Corinthians 1:13, and in principle Mark 3:24,25. From a negative standpoint, don't talk about the church as if it is a denomination. Avoid saying "well, we teach..." or "... at my church..." Always use the Bible as the authority on all matters. Our final court of appeal should be God's Word. Occasionally when talking with someone who is in denominationalism we will hear, "well, I have to see what my preacher says about that." We should have enough knowledge to reply when questioned about something, "well, the Bible says..." or at least enough conviction to reply, "well, I have to see what the Bible says about that."
If we will do these things, and perhaps some that I have simply overlooked, I am persuaded that we, as Christians, can help avoid some of the prejudices that we would normally see. Furthermore if we do these things I am assured that we will be seen as being more confident in what we believe. If we do not follow these common sense ideas then we will leave a hard row to hoe for the next non-denomination Christians who try to talk with those that we had talked with. May God Bless you and Keep You. Amen.
