{"id":55224,"date":"2022-10-18T14:03:54","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T19:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=55224"},"modified":"2024-12-13T18:57:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T00:57:42","slug":"three-reasons-i-dont-like-denominations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/three-reasons-i-dont-like-denominations\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Reasons I Don\u2019t Like Denominations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Wes McAdams
\nRadically Christian<\/a>\n

Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as saying, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” If you ask me, I’d say, “I love Christ (and I love you), but I do not like your denominations. Your denominations are so unlike Christ.” If you’re a member of a denominational church, here are a few things I’d lovingly encourage you to consider.<\/p>\n

The First Reason I Don’t Like Your Denomination<\/h2>\n

Let’s have an imaginary conversation. This is a conversation similar to one a friend of mine had with his mother, who was a member of a denominational church.<\/p>\n

“Does a person have to believe and practice what your denomination teaches in order to be a Christian?”<\/p>\n

“No,” you would likely reply, “of course not.”<\/p>\n

Then I would ask, “Does a person have to believe and practice what the Bible teaches in order to be a Christian?”<\/p>\n

“Yes, of course,” you would likely reply.<\/p>\n

“Then you admit,” I would finally ask, “your denomination teaches things other than what the Bible teaches?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stop and think about it. If a person doesn’t have to believe everything the “United Church of Whatever” teaches, but they have to believe everything the Bible teaches, then the “United Church of Whatever” is teaching things other than what is in the Bible. That’s the first reason I don’t like your denomination because it teaches things other than what the Bible teaches.<\/p>\n

The Second Reason I Don’t Like Your Denomination<\/h2>\n

\"\"Do you know the very idea of denominationalism is rooted in divisions? When you divide something up into segments and name each part, you have “denominated” it. For example, we do that with coins; a quarter is a denomination of a dollar.<\/p>\n

Religious denominationalism says it’s ok to divide the body of Christ into sub-groups and name each group according to what they believe, teach, and practice. That may sound like a good idea to man, but I assure you Christ does not think that butchering His bride into pieces is a good idea. In I Corinthians 1-3, Paul chastised the Corinthian church for its division. He said they were unspiritual people (I Corinthians 3:1). He warned them not to destroy God’s temple – the church – or God would destroy them (I Corinthians 3:16-17).<\/p>\n

I realize you might not personally be a divisive person, but denominationalism is by its very nature divisive. That’s another reason I don’t like your denomination because it teaches that it’s OK to divide the body of Christ.<\/p>\n

The Third Reason I Don’t Like Your Denomination<\/h2>\n

The whole idea behind denominations is that they have a unique<\/em> set of beliefs, practices, and teachings that set them apart from other groups. So people end up asking each other, “What does your church teach about…?” Then people choose the church that teaches what they like or prefer. No matter what you want to believe or do, you can probably find a denomination out there that puts its stamp of approval on it. But is that really Christianity?<\/p>\n

No, that’s not Christianity. Christianity doesn’t have a smorgasbord of different churches you can choose from, depending on your doctrinal slant. That’s why Jesus sent the Spirit to guide the apostles into all truth (John 16:13), and they went about teaching the same thing in every city and town. “For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church<\/em>” (I Corinthians 4:17) Note that Paul taught the same thing in every church, not different things in different denominations.<\/p>\n

Denominationalism has taught the world that you can do, believe, and teach anything and call it Christianity, but nothing could be further from the truth. Christianity – its doctrines, worship, and lifestyle – cannot be redefined or altered. If it isn’t the Christianity of the New Testament, it isn’t Christianity at all. Read Galatians 1 and then tell me what the Lord would have to say about having a unique set of beliefs, practices, or teachings that differed in any way from what was originally taught by the inspired apostles. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel<\/em>” (Galatians 1:6).<\/p>\nIf all denominations taught just what the Bible taught, they would all be united. So it is obvious that they do not all teach just what the Bible teaches, which means they must teach different gospels.
\nThat’s the third reason I don’t like your denomination because it is contributing to the idea that people can attend the denominational church of their choice and believe different doctrines.\n

Just Because I Don’t Like Your Denomination Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Like You<\/h2>\n

Just so you know, I still like you. In fact, I love you. I hope I have not hurt you, but I do hope something I’ve said may cause you to rethink your association with a denomination.<\/p>\n

And just so you know, there are many of us who are not members of a denomination. We are just Christians. We meet with congregations that are completely autonomous and don’t answer to a conference or a headquarters. We are simply doing our best to follow the Bible and only the Bible and be the church of the New Testament. We hope you’ll join us. Contact me and I’ll tell you all about it.<\/p>\n

I love you and God loves you.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Wes McAdams Radically Christian Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as saying, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” If you ask me, I’d say, “I love Christ (and I love you), but I do not like your denominations. Your denominations are so unlike Christ.” If…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1277,301],"class_list":["post-55224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-denominationalism","tag-division"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19690,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-christians-in-all-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":55224,"position":0},"title":"Are there Christians in all churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a friend that is a member of a denominational church. I am a member of Christ's church. We had a discussion about Christians. I told her that she is not a Christian because she has not been added to the Lord's one and only church of Christ.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-be-saved-and-in-a-denomination\/","url_meta":{"origin":55224,"position":1},"title":"Can you be saved and in a denomination?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I understand that the word \"church,\" as used in scripture, has two meanings: (1) the universal church - consisting of all redeemed souls that have obeyed the authorized steps of hearing the Word of God, believing (that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior), repenting (change\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37631,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-speak-at-a-denominational-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":55224,"position":2},"title":"Should I speak at a denominational church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi brother Jeff, I was discussing the Bible with a man who happens to be a member of a denomination. He also occupies a high position in their church. After reasoning with him from the Scripture, he asked me to come and preach in their church. I told him\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95390,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/victims-of-our-own-success\/","url_meta":{"origin":55224,"position":3},"title":"Victims of Our Own Success","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappelear via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 1, March 1995 Nothing is quite so easy to learn as error. One can easily pick up bad habits in nearly any athletic endeavor, but one will find it very difficult to get rid of them. Mistakes are easily learned, but correct\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55631,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-the-churches-of-christ-suffer-from-amnesia\/","url_meta":{"origin":55224,"position":4},"title":"Do the Churches of Christ Suffer from Amnesia?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh Fulford In the October 2022 issue of the Christian Chronicle (identified as a subsidiary of Oklahoma Christian University), a book review is set forth under the headline, \"New book explores where Churches of Christ fit\" (p. 37). The name of the book reviewed is In the Great Stream:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50931,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-christians-purchase-dinners-from-denominational-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":55224,"position":5},"title":"Should Christians purchase dinners from denominational churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Should Christians purchase dinners from denominational churches? Answer: Start by reading Should a Christian attend a university operated by a denomination? It covers many of the basic principles we need to discuss. The core question is: Does the purchase show support for the denomination and its teachings? For example,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}