The Non-Denomination Denomination

THE NON-DENOMINATION DENOMINATION Daniel F. Cates

    Recently after I told someone that I was a minister they asked, “really, what denomination?” I began to explain that I am not a part of any denomination, I am a member of the church of Christ. Another hearing this spoke up, “oh, I’ve heard of you (collectively-DFC), I used to have a friend who went to the church of Christ.” And turning to the other continued, “They are the non-denomination denomination.” Needless to say I was disappointed to hear that, but I wasn’t shocked. Why should I be surprised to hear that from someone outside of the church when many Christians know no better themselves?
    As our discussion continued I circled my wagons and 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 asked them if it was good for men to so divide Christianity.
    I went on to explain that the church of Christ does nothing different, doctrinally, from the church in the first century and asked how, if any church is exactly like the early church, it could be seen as a divider. There was no answer, and no more discussion. I can only hope that with continued contact, opportunity may be seized to continue the 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 list a few things that we can do to help avoid having the church called the non-denomination denomination.

Keep in mind what denominationalism is, like discussed above. Also, be ready to explain, with illustrations, that the church 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 Christians who try to talk with those that we had talked with.