What Do You Think?

My husband Michael, is the pastor of a non-denominational church. When our family was invited to come to Wintersville to shepherd this congregation, I was excited because of that. I grew up in a Baptist church, and chose to worship the Lord at a Nazarene church as an adult, all the while, not really concerned with what either one of those terms meant. I have wondered for a long time whether it really mattered what denomination you were affiliated with, after all, doesn't separating the body of Christ coerce us into remaining divided? Is this really a betterment for edification? From my understanding, denominations started with disagreements among people who argued about right and wrong and it's relationship to scripture. Excuse my assumption, but to me, that in itself means that practices have the tendency to be based on human standards, though I am sure it's not that way in all cases.

In Christianity, the term non-denominational refers to those churches which have not formally aligned themselves with an established denomination, or remain otherwise officially autonomous. This, however, does not preclude an identifiable standard among such congregations. Non-denominational congregations may establish a functional denomination by means of mutual recognition of or accountability to other congregations and leaders with commonly held doctrine, policy and worship, without formalizing external direction or oversight in such matters. Some non-denominational churches explicitly reject the idea of a formalized denominational structure as a matter of principle, holding that each congregation must be autonomous.
Members of non-denominational churches often consider themselves simply "Christians", yet the acceptance of any particular stance on a doctrine or practice for which there is not general unanimity among churches or professing Christians, establishes a de facto credal identity. In essence, it can be said that each non-denominational church forms its own unofficial "denomination" with a specific set of tenets as defined by the beliefs and practices of their own congregation.

I personally believe that belonging to a Christian denomination can pull focus off Christ and onto certain principles of that particular denomination. Like I said before, it is not that way in all cases. I have found that in our church, growth occurs because of the people who want to focus on Christ Jesus, rather than denominational principles. Sometimes people get hung up on their own viewpoints and certain principles that they may have been taught in the past or are being taught in the present, but isn't the point of Christ's church for the benefit of the glory of God and not to showcase our differences? If I grew up in a Baptist church and you yourself are a Nazarene, does that give you a preconceived notion about me?

Because they do not look to any human organization for doctrine, non-denominational churches generally claim that the Bible alone is the source of doctrinal authority. The Bible tells us of many of those who were so religious in their mindsets, that their hearts were far from Him. If we become trapped by our dispensational mindsets, how will we allow room for the Holy Spirit to move in us?