Denominations

One of my Proverbs 18.24 brothers and I were talking this weekend. He's been serving at a church but recently God has really started to lead him in another direction. He called me to talk about something for my upcoming wedding, but then the conversation shifted to his future.

He asked me a very big question, denomination or non-denominational. In the year 2011, non-denominational has become a denomination, but the idea is an independent church not affiliated with an over arching church governmental system. He's trying to figure out which way to go.

This is a question that I wrestled with during college. I served in a church for a year and half early in my collegiate career, and I saw a lot of things I really hated, and had no desire to be associated with if the denomination put up with pastors like that. I talked with a few professors about the idea of going to a different denomination or possibly even going non-denominational. Some of my peers had similar concerns, and their response was, "We'll just leave and form our own denomination." Those comments made me realize that you don't fix something by leaving and starting something new, you stick with it and re-focus it on the Biblical foundation it started with.

The last thing we need is another denomination. The church doesn't need any more division. Jesus said, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls." (Luke 11.17b) The church is no exception to this. The Kingdom of God cannot fall. It is God's Kingdom, and so it will endure, it will be victorious, and it will be established for all eternity because it is of God. But if the church refuses to unify and rally behind the Kingdom, then God will advance His Kingdom some other way.

Denominations are going to exist for the rest of time. There is no way around them. As long as you have people, there will be different thoughts about the interpretation of scripture, different styles of church service, different emphasis put on life. The key though is not to focus on the things that make us different, rather on the central thing that unifies us, Christ.

Who cares if you believe in once saved always saved and I believe that you can reject your salvation. Does that really matter? Who cares if the Catholic church does infant baptism and others believe it should be adult baptism by choice. Is it really a big issue. These things in the light of eternity don't matter, they are only an issue now because of people's traditions and preferences.

Honestly people, let's set ourselves aside and unite behind the purpose of advancing the Kingdom. Let's set aside our pride so that we can be able to say, "Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that only through His blood can a person get to Heaven? Awesome, let's work together to build the Kingdom." Lets set aside our differences, because they don't matter, and let's unify around Christ, for the Glory of God.

Peace be with you