DENOMINATIONALISM - FROM WHENCE IS IT?
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
16:16)
Someone once said,
"For the genuine, a counterfeit will be made! For the true, there will
be a false! For the pure, there will be the impure!" The truthfulness
of that statement is borne out every day, and that it is especially
true in the religious realm is evident. John made this same point in
the latter part of the first century when he wrote these words,
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they
are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1
John 4:1). No sooner had truth arrived when perversions of it began to
rear their ugly heads.
In Matthew
21:23-25, an
interesting exchange took place between Jesus and the religious leaders
of
the Jews in the temple. The passage says, "And when he was come into
the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto
him as
he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things?
and
who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I
also
will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in likewise will tell
you
by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was
it?
from heaven, or of men?..." With His simple statement, our Lord taught
the
lesson that men need to be sure of the authority behind all religious
practices.
Today, in the midst
of such statements as "Go to the church of your choice," or "One church
is as good as another," or "We are all going to heaven, just taking
different roads to get there," there is a question that needs to be
asked. This matter of denominationalism, from whence is it? From
heaven, or of men? Has God revealed it, or has man devised it? Did God
command it, or is it the invention of men?
Please turn in your
Bible to John 17, and we will look at verses 20 - 23. Here in these
verses, with the deepest love and the highest emotional feeling, the
Son of God prayed for the unity of His disciples and those who believed
on Him through their teaching. This is what He said, "Neither pray I
for these along, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word: That they all may be
one;
as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in
us:
that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which
thou
gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I
in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that
the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou
hast
loved me."
Thus we read the
beautiful words of our Lord. But look around you dear friend and view
the sorry state of division that exists today among those who claim to
worship the very One who prayed, "that they all may be one; as thou,
Father, art in me, and I in
thee, that they also may be one in us." In many cities across the
nation, within a circumference of approximately 2 1/2 miles there can
be found 15 or more different denominations, all of them claiming to
worship Jesus. Thus His glorious prayer for unity is mocked.
Loved ones, think
about it. These denominations make Christ a contradictory Lord, if in
fact He has called one man to deny what He has called another to
affirm. These different denominations make Jesus a hypocritical Lord,
if He has given us a book
to guide us and then made it such that we cannot understand it alike.
These
denominations make our Lord a polygamous Lord, for the church is called
the
bride of Christ (Rev. 21:2, 9), and yet, if denominationalism is right,
He
must have many different and differing brides.
None of the unity
for which Jesus prayed exists in the modern religious world. The modern
religious world is divided into several hundred denominations that have
different names, different creeds, different practices, different
organizations, different worship, and different rituals. In truth,
denominationalism is the direct opposite of unity. These two views,
denominationalism on one hand and unity on the other, and the systems
that grow out of them, are diametrically opposed to one another. No
apologist for denominationalism can ever make the two lie
down in peace together.
My friends, the
unity for which Jesus prayed is not to agree to disagree - it
presupposes oneness of spirit, purpose, speech, and action in all
matters of faith and practice. Is this not what Paul meant when he
wrote in First Corinthians 1:10-13, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing,
and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath
been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of
the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I
say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul: and I of Apollos; and I
of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for
you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?"
The questions at
the end
of that passage are rhetorical, all to be answered with a NO! All of
these
different names that they wanted to go by, most of which did not give
glory
to Christ, were wrong.
Paul gave us the
prescription for the Lord’s prayed for unity in Ephesians 4:1-6. He
wrote, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and
meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love;
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There
is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your
calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all,
who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
Until all aspects
of the
one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and
one
God and Father of all is accepted by all, the factionalism will
continue and
the Lord's prayer for unity will go on being mocked. The unbelievers
will
continue to look at the divided state of those who claim to worship
Christ
and continue right on being unbelievers.
Denominationalism,
in itself and by its very nature, implies division. According to
Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms, the term "denomination strictly
applies to a body of people
holding common and distinctive beliefs, and called by a particular name
so
as to distinguish them from a more inclusive body." That kind of hits
the
nail on the head, doesn't it?
A denomination is a
religious body with extra Biblical peculiarities distinguishing it from
the church or religious body revealed in the Bible. We can readily see
that it is impossible for a denomination to exist without believing
something, or doing something, or having something that is not in the
Word of God. Oh sure, all denominations teach some things that are in
the scriptures, but mark this down, dear friends, it is not the things
taught that are in the Bible that make them denominations - it is the
things taught that are not found in the Bible that make them
denominations.
The unity that our
Lord prayed for can only be had if all who claim to worship Jesus are
willing to yield our human opinions to the absolute authority of God's
Word. All such
things as Manuals of Faith, Catechisms, Creeds and so on are going to
have
to be done away with or the sorry state of division will continue. It
just
stands to reason that none can unite upon the very things that have
divided
religious people in the first place - human creeds, doctrines, and
traditions.
And what good are those things except to cause division?
Jesus said in
Matthew 15:8-9, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and
honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in
vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men." Earlier in that same chapter, Jesus said to the scribes and
Pharisees, "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your
traditions?" (vs. 3.) And again in verse 6 He said, "Thus have ye made
the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."
Loved ones, in the
early days of Christianity there were no denominations existing, none
at all. The early followers of our Lord were simply called Christians
(Acts 11:26), and belonged to "churches of Christ" (Rom. 16:16); both
names giving honor where it belonged, both simply meaning, "belonging
to Christ." It is amazing that those in the denominations recognize
this to be true, but then choose to ignore
it or change it.
Please consider
what is
written in the Standard Manual for Baptist Churches, one of the largest
man-made
denominations in the world. On page 22 we read, "It is most likely that
in
the Apostolic age when there was but one Lord, one faith, and one
baptism,
and no differing denominations existed...” Skipping down a little bit
we
find, "Now it is different." My friends, the ones who say it is
different NOW are those who composed the Baptist Manual and those who
continue to believe and adhere to it. And it is not just the Baptist
Church who does this - all man-made churches do the same thing.
Religiously, the
apostles, Peter, Paul, John and the others, were not Catholic or
Protestant - they were just Christians. They as well as all the saved
were "nondenominational." The apostles did not approve of those in
their day that tried to create division within the church which would
have resulted in denominations.
Don't you remember
Paul's strong condemnation of those who claimed "I am of Paul, I of
Apollos, and I of Cephas"? Don't you remember his exhortation that
there "be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined
together in the same mind, and in the same judgment"? (1 Cor. 1:10-13.)
Indeed, their remedy for such a thing
is found in Romans 16:17, where Paul wrote, "Now I beseech you,
brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the
doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." Denominationalism is
the epitome of religious division.
Again, from
Philippians 3:16 we find, "Nevertheless, whereto we have already
attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing."
You see, dear friends, the allegiance of the first century Christians
was to Christ and Christ alone. They were just Christians, not Baptist
Christians, Catholic Christians, Methodist Christians, Lutheran
Christians, or any other hyphenated Christian - they were just
Christians.
Today if we follow
Jesus Christ as they did, we too, can be just Christians, having "like
precious faith" (2 Peter 1:1). We then, as they were, will be free from
the error, confusion, and complexity of denominationalism. We all can
be united in
fulfillment of our Lord's beautiful prayer.