Denominations – Necessary Evil or Necessarily Evil? – Part 2

First, we need look no further than Christ’s own desire for the church. In John 17 Jesus prays for the church. One of his major requests of the Father was for the unity of all believers (see 17:11, 21, 22). Jesus was not asking for a loosely held unity, but a very specific and tight unity. We know this because every time Jesus mentions this unity in his prayer he qualifies the unity with “so that they may be one just as we are one” or a very similar phrase (again 17:11, 21, 22). If God’s Son petitioned his Father repeatedly that we be one just as the Trinity is one, then we are not talking about simple run of the mill, loosely held community. We are talking about being entirely united with no divisions whatsoever. This prayer of Jesus will ultimately be realized when he comes again to put an end to sin and death, but it is clear Jesus did not have only the end times in mind. He was concerned about their unity while still in the world (see 17:14-16).

Jesus gives two almost identical and very important reasons for the unity of all believers: “so that the world will believe that you sent me,” (v 21) and “so that the world will know that you sent me and you have loved them just as you have loved me.” (v 23) Thus it is necessary for us as believers to pursue the kind of unity for which Jesus was petitioning the Father, even if said unity is very difficult in a fallen world. Unity isn’t simply a matter of beliefs, practice or strategy. Though certainly one’s beliefs and therefore practices have much in every way influence unity. Unity is a matter of correctly bearing witness of our Triune God and his love before the world.

The reasons often cited by those who argue for the necessity of denominations are not ill-founded. They exist for a reason and have at their heart (usually) the desire to provide structure for young believers and mature believers alike. Some of these reasons make it extremely difficult to decide to steer away from joining a denomination. The following weighed most heavily on me personally:

1. The need for mature guidance to tackle a calling that is not for loners. The Christian life is difficult enough to live in this sinful world. Being a Christian in the position of leadership is even more difficult. The better denominations out there would certainly provide a maturity and experience in the Christian life and in leadership that I just do not have at this point.
2. To resist the temptation to “reinvent the wheel.” My desire is not to be a lone ranger. I truly wish I knew someone who was already doing what God has called me to do and that they would give me spiritual and practical guidance in doing so. The fact is I don’t know anyone like that, but our task is still very important and needed in the church in 21^st century America.
3. It would give us credibility in the eyes of people. Sometimes, especially in fund-raising, this is helpful. Though I’d give almost anything for people to think I’m not crazy, I’m not willing to sacrifice my convictions or calling for the approval of people (or an easier time raising money). I’m more concerned about what God thinks and his opinion of my actions and intentions.
4. Denominations have established, accepted and orthodox doctrine (many of them). If people (Christians mostly) identified us with a specific denomination, they would have a good sense of where we stand on specific doctrinal issues without having to guess or even ask. This of course assumes that the average Christian knows the distinctive beliefs of each denomination…a rather large assumption indeed. Personally, I think it beneficial if we talked about what we believe more than just assuming. Besides, I believe it is much more beneficial to point to common creeds that all believers can hold in common.

This list of reasons why denominations can be beneficial is by no means complete. Feel free to make comments to add to the list or to engage in what has been said so far either in agreement or disagreement. My main point in all of this is that there is nothing that can be included on the above list that warrants disunity among believers. Jesus prayed for unity that mirrors the unity of the Trinity. Our denominations (read divisions…because that IS what they are) do not accomplish this unity. The next post will be on 1 Corinthians 1. Please check back soon. It should be posted within a few days.

*Note: All quotes taken from the NET Bible. See previous posts in this series here: Intro and Part 1 – Ephesians 4.