Denominations Are Still Needed

At it's core, there is nothing wrong with the non-denominational movement, popularity, whatever you want to call it. The concept of being unified in our worship, not bound by denominational boundaries is a fine concept. But, it is also misleading.

I was talking with a 20 year old college student not long ago about church. He quickly and boldly informed me that denominations were "crap." They were "crap" because he didn't want to be identified with a particular group of people and their beliefs and have the stigma of denominational competition. He just wanted to "worship without the worry."

Here are two quick reasons why this doesn't hold water:

1. Non-Denominational churches are a denomination. In fact, as a general rule, churches have bent over backwards so far to present themselves as non-denominational that they have paved an even deeper set of "who we are" criteria than most denominations. Don't believe the hype my friends, when you walk in a "non-denominational" church, you are still walking into a church with a set of beliefs, rules, covenants, and membership obligations. In other words, you are still going to have to discern if this particular non-denominational church is the right choice for you and your family. There is no such thing as a church that doesn't stand on their understanding of scripture, and if there was, you would want to avoid it at all cost.

2. Doctrine. It's the lost word of the church, and still the most important. The reason denominations are still needed is because we allow ourselves to study and interpret doctrine, and then worship with a group of people who share our belief structure. Yes it's true, we take it too far. We mistake our differences in doctrine as competitive warfare, placing ourselves on the battleground of we're right, you're wrong and it shouldn't be that way. I acknowledge that is frustrating. But, in the end, it is healthy and important for a church to boldly say, here is who we are and here is why we believe what we believe. And then convey that to it's members. The problem with the non-denominational thing is not they do not understand doctrine, it is that they place it in a closet in order to attract people who are "put out" with the idea of being Baptist, Methodist, etc. But the truth is that studies show people are more turned off by the word "Christian" than they are "Baptist" or "Methodist." To bring people in with the deception of "non-denomination, we are just here to worship" and then back door their doctrine and belief structure on the members seems to be, well, not nice.

To close, I have many friends who worship at non-denominational churches and they love it. They are plugged in and serving God. But lets be informed of what they really are. They are churches that do in fact have a set of beliefs that you will need to either identify with or not. Don't be ashamed of the Doctrine of God.