Shane Scott
Generally, when someone wants to know what your religious affiliation is they will ask, "What denomination are you?" When I try to explain to people that I am a member of no denomination, but that I am just a Christian, they are usually baffled.
Denominationalism so pervades our society that the concept of being just a Christian is totally alien to most people. This is a shame, because undenominational Christianity is the only Christianity the Bible speaks of Further, most people are tired of the scandals schisms that "organized religion" has spawned.
In this lesson we want to accomplish three things: we want to define denominationalism, investigate its origin, and expose its evils.
DENOMINATIONALISM DEFINED
In order to understand what a denomination is, let me ask you a question: how many churches are you a member of? Your immediate answer might be "One, the church that Jesus died for." And there is certainly a sense in which we are members of one church. The Bible teaches that when we are converted we are not only baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27), but we are also baptized into His body (1 Corinthians 12:13), which is the church (Colossians 1:18). Since there is one body (Ephesians 4:4), and since the body is the church, that means we are members of the one church, the one body of Christ.
The Greek word which is translated "church" in the New Testament originally meant "an assembly of people." In some passages such as we just noticed "church" is used to describe that
one "assembly of people" who have been converted to Christ in all ages and in all places. It would include you as well as Paul, Americans and Nigerians, first century Christians and twentieth century Christians. It is a universal way of speaking of the "church." However, this is not the only way the Bible uses the word "church."
In addition to this universal use of "church," the Bible also speaks of local churches, local groups of disciples who have pooled their time, talent, and resources under a common oversight. Whereas there is only one church in the universal sense, there are thousands of local churches. The Bible itself speaks of the "church of God which is at Corinth 11 (I Corinthians 1: 1); the "churches of Galatia" (Galatians 1:2); and the "seven churches" of Asia (Revelation 1:20-3:22).
According to the New Testament, local churches are independent and self-governing. Each church is to have a plurality of men called "elders" (also called 'pastors" or "bishops') if there are men who meet the qualifications (Acts 14:23; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). These men are to direct the affairs of the congregations they are members of, each church independent of the other (1 Peter 5:1-2).
It is critical to understand the distinction between the universal way of speaking of the church and the local way of speaking of the church. One good way to illustrate the difference between the two is in the life of the apostle Paul. Before he became a Christian Paul was a Jewish leader heavily involved in the persecution of Christians. He was confronted by the Lord, taught by a Christian named Ananias, and he obeyed the gospel (see Acts 22:16). At that point, Paul was added by the Lord to His one body of the saved.
However, at this point Paul was a member of no local congregation. In fact, when he did attempt to place membership with the local church in Jerusalem, that church was understandably reluctant to accept this former persecutor (Acts 9:26). Later that church changed its mind and they welcomed Paul into their fellowship.
The point of this is that Christian is actually a member of TWO churches, the universal church and the local church.
Now, back to our original question: what is a denomination? If you were to ask a denominational member how many churches they were a member of, if they used the terminology we have just discussed they would answer: "Three." They would claim to be saved and thus in the universal church, and they would acknowledge membership in a local congregation (such as "Main Street Baptist Church"). But they would also state that they were members of "the Baptist Church," an organization that unites their local Baptist church with all other local Baptist churches. This is a denomination..
According to Webster's Dictionary, a denomination is "a religious organization utility in a single legal and administrative body a number of local congregations. " Typically, denominations have a headquarters (for Southern Baptists it is in Atlanta), a president or officiating officer, and conventions or synods to which delegates are elected and sent.
The Bible knows nothing of such organizations. One denominational scholar concedes this: "In the Bible the word 'church‘ never means a denomination. The Bible has nothing lo say about denominations" (Roman Catholicism, by Loraine Boettner, page 20).
THE ORIGIN OF DENOMINATIONS
Since the Bible has nothing to say about denominations, they must have an origin outside of Scripture. Where did denominations come from? Four factors contributed to denominationalism:
1.The abandonment of congregational self-government.
The Bible states that churches are to be self-governing. However, by the second century A.D. some churches began to elevate one elder over the other elders, and he was given the title "bishop." Soon, these chief bishops from various regions of the world began to select one bishop to be head over all the churches. This universal bishop came to be known as the pope. In this way the hierarchy of Roman Catholicism was born, reflecting the government of the Roman Empire and not the pattern of the New Testament.
When certain key religious leaders began to revolt against Catholicism, instead of returning to the biblical pattern of church government the reformers adopted styles of government similar to the countries in which they lived.
2. The formulation of creeds. A second major contributor to denominationalism was the formulation of creeds. A creed is a written statement of beliefs. Early in church history several heresies about the nature of Jesus were promoted, and to protect themselves from false teachers churches began to draw up statements about the nature of Jesus to which all members of that church had to adhere.
Later these creeds became far more substantive and included many other subjects besides the nature of Christ. And, unless you subscribed to that church's man-made creed you could not be a member of that church.
Few people realize it today, but these creeds still exist, and at least some groups still consider them serious tests of fellowship. For example, the creed of the United Methodist Church contains the following statement in its preface: "The Discipline is the book of law of the United Methodist Church... We expect the Discipline to be found in libraries of local churches, colleges, universities, and seminaries, as well as in the homes of the ministers and lay members of the United Methodist Church" (pp. v, vi).
3. The use of human names the purpose of identification. Many great men led the revolt against Roman Catholicism, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin. They deserve
the admiration of all Christians. However, followers of these men began to call themselves "Lutherans" or "Calvinists," even though Luther and Calvin did not desire such exaltation. The net result of this was that divisions were fostered.
To illustrate the divisive impact of using such human designations, think about race relations in our society. Instead of being content to call themselves "Americans," many people feel they must attach another label, such as "Afro-American," or "Asian-American," or "Scotch- American." The only purpose this serves is to call greater attention to our differences and increase ethnic tensions. Similarly, when people must augment human names to our Lord's name and be "Lutheran-Christians" or whatever other label you choose, division is the result.
THE EVILS OF DENOMINATIONALISM
Now that we know what a denomination is and where they came from, our final question is, "what's wrong with denominationalism?" Consider these four evils:
Denomination demotes Christ from His rightful place of preeminence and replaces Him with human leaders. Ours is not the first generation to place loyalties in men and not exclusively in Christ. Among the many problems with the church at Corinth was division. Paul admonished their fractured condition with these words: "Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, I am of Paul,'and I of Apollos,'and I of Cephas,'and 'I of Christ.'Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? " (1 Corinthians 1:12-13).
Paul's point was that Christ is not divided, and His body (the church) should not be, either. Further, no human, not even an apostle as great as Paul, has done anything for mankind which merits loyalty. Only Christ died for our sins, only baptism in His name is significant. If Paul's achievements did not warrant loyalty to him, surely no other man, such as Luther or Calvin, deserves such prestige.
Ironically, none of the men who have denominations named after them sought such acclaim. Consider the following statements:
Martin Luther: "I ask that men make no reference to my name, and call themselves not Lutherans, but Christians. "at is Luther?...No, no, my dear friends; let us abolish all party names, and call ourselves Christians after Him Whose doctrine we have.
John Wesley (co-founder of the Methodist Church): "Would to God that all party names, and unscriptural phrases and forms which have divided the Christian world, were forgot and that the very name [Methodist] might never be mentioned more, but buried in eternal oblivion.
Charles Spurgeon (noted Baptist preacher of the 1800s): "I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not be a Baptist living! I hope that the Baptist name will soon perish, but let Christ's name last forever. "
Denominationalism undermines the authority of the Bible. The Bible teaches that it is sufficient to provide the child of God with all that he needs to be a faithful servant (2 Timothy 3:16- 17). Denominations, on the other hand, believe that in addition to Scripture we need a creed to regulate our fellowship. The matter is really simple: if a creed has more in it than the Bible contains, it has too much. If it has less than the Bible, it doesn't have enough. And if it is identical to the Bible, we do not need it in the first place because we already have the Bible!
Any time you make subscription to a man-made writing a test of fellowship you have implied that the Bible is inadequate. This strikes at the foundation of all biblical doctrine.
Denominationalism diminishes the freedom of the believer. To be blunt, if you do not agree to the creed of a denomination or to an edict passed by its governing body, you are removed from fellowship (if that denomination is strict in its discipline). Further, when you donate to a local church which is tied to a denomination, many times that money is funneled into the headquarters and used for purposes which you would find repulsive.
For example, in the summer of 1992 the Presbyterian Church USA commissioned a committee to produce a report on sexuality. The position of the committee was shocking. It argued that any sexual relationship was legitimate as long as the partners respected each other, including premarital sex, homosexuality, and lesbianism.
Most Presbyterians were outraged by this report, but the sad fact is that they sponsored that report by donating to their local church which in turn fed that money to the headquarters which underwrote that committee's work!
4. Denominationalism has borne rotten fruit. Jesus said that you could tell a tree by its fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). The fruits of denominationalism are bitterness and atheism. In Europe several centuries ago denominational rivalries fostered intense persecutions and wars. In colonial America it was commonplace for slanderous debates between Baptists and Methodists or Presbyterians to take place concerning the mode of baptism.
This in turn led to a rejection of Christianity as a whole. Jesus prayed that His disciples would be united "that the world may believe" that God had sent Him (John 17:20-21). If unity among disciples leads to faith, division among disciples produces the opposite. And sadly, in our modem world most people have very vague convictions about Christ if they have any convictions at all.
CONCLUSION
Our world is thirsting for a different view of Christianity. Many people would love to be just Christians, but they do not know how. Let's do all that we can to help them, first by clearing away any denominational concepts of the church we may have, and second by aggressively sharing with our friends the simple New Testament pattern of Christianity.
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Last Updated October 11, 1997 by Bob Cleek bcleek@niia.net
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