What's in a denomination?

Am I in the "wrong" denomination?

If you are in a church or denomination that preaches the love and grace of God, the desperate state of man without God, and the tremendous power of the cross and Jesus' sacrifice to change even the worst sinner from the inside out, then you are in a place where the truth is taught. (See our statement of faith for more of the basic beliefs of the Christian faith). Now what is espoused from the pulpit and what is lived out are two distinct things - in any church. You will not find the perfect church here on earth before Jesus returns. But God will use the imperfections of your church to perfect you and make you more into the likeness of His Son, who endured many wrongs without complaining.

Whether your church is “right” or “wrong” is not the real question. The important question is whether you are where God has called you to be. It’s not about being in a place where you can best grow, or a place where you can best use your gifts, or a place where the leaders are in tune with God. Those things are important, and God will take them into account. But you have given your life over to Him, and He knows exactly what you need. He may call you to stay in a lukewarm or dead church to help breathe life into it. He may call you to leave a church that you love. But chances are, He will give you the desire to be in the church He has called you to. And the only place where you will find peace is in God’s will. Never leave a church because of what a person did to you; wait on God and see what He is leading you to do.

But one thing is for certain: He has not called you to openly criticize your church leaders, or to gather up a group of people to leave and find another church together. Take example from David, a man after God’s own heart: although King Saul was demon possessed and trying to kill David, yet David would not dare lay a finger on the Lord’s anointed. Instead David waited for the Lord to make things right.

How did denominations come to exist?

Christianity is birthed out of the Jewish faith. It is the Jewish faith, embraced by Gentiles, and made complete by the Messiah Jesus. The Jews had twelve tribes, but they gathered together to worship God during the appointed feasts of the Lord. And the high priest (who was a human representation of Jesus) wore the jewels of all twelve tribes on his robe. There is value in multiple groups with different leanings, when they can work together.

After Jesus died and rose to be with the Father, the Holy Spirit came and began His ministry inside of men. Since that time, the Jews rejected Jesus for the most part, and Gentiles came to believe in Jesus. Some teach replacement theology, that is, that Christians are now the spiritual Jews and have inherited all of the promises that God ever made to Israel. And replacement theology teaches that the Jews missed out and no longer have the promises of God. Don’t buy it! God knew the end from the beginning, long ago. He declared through prophets that the Jews would lose their homeland, then gain it back shortly before the end of this age. The Jews indeed were exiled from their own land in AD 70, and for nearly 2000 years they kept their culture and heritage alive while being foreigners in other lands. Then in 1948, the unthinkable happened, just as promised: Israel was born again. The Apostle Paul declared that the Jews were separated from God “for our sake” and that when they turn to Jesus, it will spark the greatest outpouring of God’s power and love on earth. God is not done with the Jews.

Back to the formation of denominations. For centuries, there was one Christian church. In the early days, it was unorganized from a human perspective, yet beautifully organized by the Holy Spirit. False teachers tried to introduce all sorts of crazy doctrines, but the truth prevailed. Despite a couple centuries of Christians being persecuted and killed for sport, the gospel of Jesus spread dramatically. Then in the third century, the Roman emperor changed everything: he made Christianity the state religion! Now people weren’t being killed for their faith, they were being handed jobs and land for having the “right” faith. And the state began to mettle in the affairs of the church, organizing it and deciding which interpretations of Scripture were the “right” ones. That was desperately needed in some cases, where false teachings led many astray. But in other cases, where scripture is intentionally unclear or providing multiple meanings, the truth suddenly became more of a paint-by-numbers game. Wait a minute, could the scripture actually be unclear on purpose? Go back to the teachings of Jesus: He frequently spoke in ways that would not allow many (especially the proud or “wise”) to understand the truth. Man changed that and made things more “clear” than the Lord did!

Centuries went by, still there was but one Christian church. The corruption of power began to play out, and love for Jesus was supplanted by love for prestige and the esteem of men. All kinds of man-made teachings made their way into Christianity, and the focus was placed on man’s outer behavior instead of faith in the Son of God to change us on the inside. The Holy Spirit was pushed out; man no longer saw a need for Him. Non clergy were no longer permitted to own their own bible, for fear that they would misinterpret the teachings. Sermons were given in Latin, which few common people could understand. The light of the gospel grew dim.

But God would not let that light be snuffed out. One monk by the name of Luther saw the awesome truths of the gospel, and stood as a light shining on truth. He understood that salvation comes not by works but by faith in Jesus. He taught the gospel of faith. He taught that we can have a direct relationship with the living God, without the church as a middle man. The role of the church was to point people to Jesus, not to be Jesus to people. And people believed, and the love for God spread once again. This created much friction in the church, and eventually people left the church to worship God in a new reformed church. Thus the “reformation” began with the first “Protestant” movement, the Lutherans.

Since that time, there have been many other powerful “movements” of God that drew millions to God and changed lives dramatically. Often these movements would result in new truths of God being rediscovered. And often these new movements would be discouraged by the established denominations who preferred a more stable and predictable religion.

Today, we have many distinct denominations that were “spin offs” of other denominations. Most of these started off like wild fire, with great spiritual intensity and passion. And eventually, the passion would slow and the movement would become a more organized and steady religion.

God is in both. He is in the formal structure, and He is in the wildfire. To the extent that we allow Him to direct us, He is in any format or structure. He is not hoping that we will find the right denomination; He is hoping that we will stop building walls between believers and start sharing Jesus together. As one person put it, Jesus is going to return for His bride, not for a harem (a bunch of brides).

Jesus once declared to people that they would not see Him again until they said, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” One of the interpretations of this truth is that we will not see Jesus as He really is, in His true power and majesty, until we start blessing other people who come in the name of Christ. Denominations will be blessed as they bless other denominations!

Satan understands God’s truths perhaps better than we do. He knows that the world will not recognize Jesus as being sent by God until we Christians love one another. The enemy has therefore worked overtime as the Accuser of the Brethren. This means he gets Christians to accuse other Christians. Why? Because we have God’s ear. God gave us authority. “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” So as I speak critically of another Christian, or church, or denomination, I am binding them in heaven. But as we begin speaking gracefully of one another, and praying for those who appear to us as misguided, we will begin loosing those chains we have placed on each other: “Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Imagine the power of a church that loves Jesus and loves each other, imagine a church without chains or fetters!