“Oh!” she replied excitedly. “I’m so glad you are. Some people make too big a deal of their denomination.”The latter part of that remark was a barb intended for me. I remember being dumbstruck. Did she know she was engaging in the very tribalism she was condemning? Who knows.
Either way, for me it highlighted a core problem with the word “non-denominational”. It is a term which Christians increasingly want to ascribe to themselves. It's supposed to mean one doesn't want to take part in the divisions which characterize modern Christianity.
One isn’t a Methodist, a Baptist, a Lutheran, a Pentecostal, an Anglican, or a Catholic. Just a Christian, thank you. A follower of Christ.
Except… it really doesn’t work that way in practice. Today I want to explore why.
If it Walks Like a Duck…
Back in the 1800’s, a man named Alexander Campbell looked at the disunity among Christians and decided something needed to be done. He endeavored to read the Bible as if no one ever had – and in doing so create the most pristine version of Christianity yet. Rather than giving it a denominational name, he’d simply call it the “Church of Christ.”
Well, the movement took off, clarified its beliefs, organized… and became recognized as yet another denomination. Well done, Mr. Campell.
A similar thing could be said of Chuck Smith’s Calvary Chapel collective. It began as a small evangelical church in southern California. Then it grew, became a franchise, … and came to be recognized as another denomination.
Much closer to home is a large “non-denominational” church called Trader’s Point. Its success has led to a few satellite locations around the greater Indianapolis region. How long before people start thinking of Trader’s Point as a denomination?
Here’s the point; A church doesn’t become a denomination only after it has grown and spread. Even before then it was still a subsection within the Christian world with its own beliefs, practices, and organization. It was ALWAYS a denomination – it’s just easier to pretend otherwise while there is only one location with non-descriptive name.
So when a person says, “I’m a non-denominational Christian. I go to Generic Life Church on 31st and main.”
My response is, “Noooo…. You might not think of it as one, but that’s your denomination.”
Free Agents?
Now, a person may say he only goes to Generic Life Church for the sake of fellowship but does not consider himself bound to them as a member. In his heart he remains independent, non-denominational Christian.
Even still, this is a bit like meeting a forest creature which claims to be a generic “mammal” of no particular species. It may insist upon this, but the thing is an impossibility. The creature still has a form, unique traits, and characteristic behaviors. It may be the only one of its kind, but it still has a species.
Your friend likewise has come to his own understanding of the Christian faith. He has ideas about what it is, what is important and unimportant, and how it is to be lived out. Thus, even if he truly is a freelance, independent Christian… it just means he is the founder and leader of denomination with exactly one member.
Truth in Advertising:
That is why I don’t use the term “non-denominational”.
At best the term reflects a person’s praiseworthy desire not to be a member of any faction. But it also means the person hasn't reflected on how sectarian he or she truly is in the grand scheme of things.
At worst, a person uses the phrase as a badge of pride for supposedly having transcended the tribal loyalties which other Christians fall into… while really having done nothing of the sort.
Instead, I tend to refer to "non-denominationals" as “Evangelicals” (which is generally what they are). And rather than asking a person what his denomination is (a question which many refuse to answer) I like to ask,
“What school of Christian thought are you most drawn to?”A question like that allows me to quickly get behind the opaque veil of the “non-denominational” label.
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