Many years ago I asked a lady this very question--can one be just a Christian in Christ’s church without being in a denomination? Her answer was that while that was once possible it is not possible today. I have never understood that kind of thinking. To her the church that is Christ’s could not exist today, in the modern era, alone by itself, outside of denominationalism. That is a position that raises all kinds of difficulties.
In the early years of
Christianity, the gospel message when believed and obeyed made Christians and
Christians only that were added by God to the church, Christ’s church. “And the Lord added to the church daily those
who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47 NKJV)
If the pure gospel message of the New Testament will not do that today
then when, where, and how did it lose its power to do so? Why
must I today be in a denomination when all I want to be in is the Lord’s
church?
But it is said that the
gospel still saves just like it did in the first century, still puts you in the
Lord’s church, but then after obeying it you must join a denomination. Why?
They didn’t in the first century.
Oh, it is said you join one for edification, fellowship, and joint
evangelistic and benevolent efforts.
So, is it being said that the first-century church lacked these
things? Is it being said you cannot be
in that church today for it does not exist as a stand-alone institution
today? If it doesn’t when did it die out
as a stand-alone institution?
Does the gospel message
now when believed and obeyed add you both to the church Jesus built and to a
denomination simultaneously? If so, when
did that begin? If so where can I read
about it in the Bible? If so which
denomination does it add me to in addition to the Lord’s church? If so why is that needed now but was not needed
for hundreds of years after the first century had come and gone? If so when did the gospel lose its power to
make me just a Christian, no more, no less?
When did Jesus and the
gospel begin to need help in the saving business? When did his church alone cease to be the
body of the saved? “He is the Savior of
the body.” (Eph. 5:23 NKJV) The body is
his spiritual body, his church, “He is the head of the body, the church.” (Col.
1:18 NKJV) The Lord adds us to the
church when we believe and obey the gospel (Acts 2:47). Paul says of Christians, “You are the body of
Christ, and members individually.” (1 Cor. 12:27 NKJV)
But it is now said that
that is not enough--if the lady was correct.
Now to be saved you must also be a member of a denomination (the
assumption being that all Christians are).
So, you must be both in the Lord’s church and a denomination to be
saved, is that right? It is if the
church Christ built is not sufficient by itself. But, most denominationalists would say it is
not essential to be a member of their particular denomination to be saved,
others will do. Then please tell me of what
earthly or heavenly good that denomination serves other than to be a divider of
men, one group of believers divided against another group of believers? If it is not essential to the salvation of
men get rid of the thing that causes all the strife and division.
The truth is the church
Jesus built does still exist on this earth today without the help of any
denomination. The gospel has not lost
its power. The church of Christ can
exist anywhere in the world today when men and women are willing to forget just
about everything they have been taught in denominationalism and just take the
Bible alone as their guide. If the
church Jesus built does not exist as an operating entity upon earth today in
your locality, wherever that be, as it did in the first century in the Middle
East, there is only one reason for it in lands where the Bible is readily
available--men love their denominations and would rather have them and their
creeds and councils and governing bodies than just the simple New Testament
church and its worship regulated by the word of God alone.
Let us be honest. If we take the New Testament, the word of God
alone, as our guide a lot of things will have to be given up. One does not read in his New Testament of, as
examples, sprinkling of infants, christenings, sprinkling of anyone at any age
and calling it baptism (baptism is immersion), baptism for any purpose other
than the remission of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16), instruments of music being used
in New Testament worship, dramas being performed, group musical performances,
and a host of other things that have today become commonplace in denominational
practices and worship services. Are
those things right? You cannot read
about them in your New Testament which raises the question of does one need a
New Testament as a guide.
Nor will one read in his
New Testament anything about one man rule of a congregation by a single
individual designated as a pastor (each New Testament congregation had multiple
pastors), oversight of a congregation by a national church organization, church-sponsored
ball teams, raising funds by business ventures, seminars for everything from
weight loss to how to do your taxes, and the list could go on. One must go outside the New Testament for
those things.
No, if you want the New
Testament church that Christ built a lot of things will have to go by the
wayside and you will end up with nothing much that is attractive to worldly
men. The worship service will not be
like attending a rock concert or an entertainment event. It will be very simple--singing psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs, prayers, partaking of the Lord’s Supper on the
first day of the week, the word of God will be preached, and a collection will
be taken on the first day of the week to carry on the work of preaching the gospel
and carrying for the needy.
It is a hard transition
from a denomination into the simple New Testament church that is led not by a
single man or a national oversight organization but by a few select men who
meet the biblical qualifications to be elders as found in 1 Tim. 3 and Titus 1. These men have no authority to legislate for
God. Their role is simply that of
overseers to ensure that the work is done that God has given the church to
do. These men will be chosen by the
members of the congregation from among themselves. No one person designated a pastor by the
denominational world will run the affairs of the congregation nor will a
national organization.
The name on the sign out
front will not matter as long as it is a scriptural designation. It could simply be called the church (for
that is what it is), or the church of God, or the church of Christ, or any
other scriptural designation. The name
is more descriptive than it is an actual name.
You will not be voted
into the membership. You cannot join
this group of believers. Why not? Because God adds you when you obey the
gospel. As I heard one man say recently,
he had it right but I had never thought about it that way, you cannot join the
church because you are adopted into it and God is the one who does the
adopting.
Critics say that in the
very act of organizing such a group you immediately become just another
denomination. That goes along with the
way they think for they do not want to leave denominationalism behind and thus
insist one has to be a member of a denomination and cannot be just a Christian. They thus proclaim the Lord’s church a
denomination. If they admit we can have
just the New Testament church on earth today and worship in it they condemn
themselves and they are not about to do that so all they can do is shout and
shout over and over again “denomination.”
They will label you and truth be thrust to the wind.
But what they are really
saying, if they would think it through, is that God’s word has lost its power
to make just a Christian and lost its power to keep his church on earth today
out in the open where it can be seen.
They are saying that the seed, “the seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11
NKJV), produces a different crop today than what it did back in the first
century. Back then it produced just
Christians, now you plant it and you get both a Christian and a
denominationalist. Strange seed this is
that has undergone a transformation like no other seed in human history.
They are caught in a
bind. On the one hand, they do not want
to say you must be in a denomination to be saved but then on the other hand
they want to insist you must because to them it is impossible to reestablish
the New Testament church today and just have it alone. They want it both ways; they want to eat the
cake and save it all at the same time.
Life doesn’t work that way. They
cannot have it both ways. But, that is
their problem, not mine.
I think most people who
are serious about their religion see the great contradictions in
denominationalism. However, they either
do not know what to do about it or else their love for it is such that they
will not give it up. I readily admit it
is hard to start over but that is what must be done if we are going back to the
church Jesus built.
Denominationalism will
always have a greater appeal to man than the Lord’s church for it allows more
freedom of expression and gives man more say so in what is done and how it is
done. Man has a desire for that. It has always been that way long before the
church ever came into existence. Mankind
wants to do things they want to do unhindered by God.
The concept of
restoration of New Testament Christianity is a valid one and there are many
churches of Christ in the land today still operating on the principle that it
is possible to be just a Christian alone outside of denominationalism, just be
a member of the church Jesus built, take the Bible and do what they did in the
first century, that and that alone, and be just a Christian. Unless God’s word has lost its power it is
still possible to do that.
The church can be
established in its New Testament purity in any area where men and women are
willing to leave denominationalism and just take the Bible alone. It is not necessary to call it the church of
Christ although no man should be hesitant to call the local congregation by that
Christ-honoring name. Just give it a
scriptural designation, organize it by what you read in your New Testament,
accept members based on the way men were made members in the original church
Christ built, worship as they worshipped, do the work they did, and leave all
manmade inventions out of it.
To answer the question
that was the title of this article, “Can One Be Just A Christian Without Being In
A Denomination” the answer is yes if the desire is great enough to do so. But, be assured, those who love their
denomination will have none of it. The
Catholics are not the only ones who love their traditions. As the Apostle Paul said, “For do I now
persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to
please men? For if I still pleased men,
I would not be a servant of Christ.” Gal 1:10 NKJV) We can please men (humankind) or we can
please the God of men. Pleasing men
means denominationalism. We ought to
choose to please God.
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