Beyond the Denominations: Why I’m not a “member” of a traditional Christian church

In American Christianity, we have a major problem with division. The Church (and I mean in the universal sense, no reference to any group) historically has been dividing since the first century AD.

Everyone wants to belong to a group. They want a group that can help them define who they are and what they believe. They want a group that is like-minded with them, who will accept them for who they are (not just how they present themselves), and who will add some value to their lives. Also, people desire to find a group to which they feel they add value to as well.

The problem is it is hard to get a large number of people to agree on doctrine, practice, and spirituality. Praise God, we have so many believers in Christ in our nation, but it is almost an unmanageable task to unite that many people. I am sure when Jesus comes back, he will be the one to do it right, but until then, it may never look perfect.

However problematic things are I still find myself wanting to at least try to make things more unified in Christianity, even though I have some rather “unorthodox” beliefs that would seemingly make it even harder to become unified with other Christians. That being said, there are several reasons why I don’t participate in this traditional, “orthodox”, denominational, divisive type of Christianity that pervades the Christian Church as a whole.

I hope not to offend any of you with what I say about what I believe, because I am not “anti” any group or person that is truly trying to serve God and live out what they believe. However, it may feel that way because some of my beliefs differ from traditional church teachings and practices. I am truly just trying to learn what the Bible actually says, not what any church, denomination or person says that it says. This is one of the main reasons I attend a home fellowship and am not a member of any of the local churches. I’m not saying that other churches are bad and I can’t get anything out of them, but it is very hard to listen to things I disagree with week after week. I won’t go into my beliefs specifically, at least not in this post. I would rather share my personal beliefs one on one with those who are truly interested in what I really think and believe about the Bible. I would be happy to share with anyone who is interested and not just looking for an argument

Another problem is I believe it is actually wrong that we have denominations in the first place. They are very unbiblical, and the Bible is clear that we are not to say “I am of Paul” or “I am of Apollos”. We would be “carnal” (worldly) if we were to do that. (1 Corinthians 3:4). I know we want to belong to a group, but we are to be the body of Jesus Christ and he is to be our head, not some set of denominational beliefs or a pastor, ministry leader or anyone else. We should question people who want us to follow their church or their pastor before they want us to follow Jesus and what he thinks is right for our lives.

Now, it is no secret that I attend a home fellowship instead of a traditional church service on a regular basis. What this means is that we gather in someone’s home (in my case it happens to be my in-laws’ house). We have a meal together and talk about the things of the Lord We talk about our week and our day and what’s going on with our lives. Sometimes we are just downright silly at the table. Then we begin the “official” meeting. We select songs out of a songbook we have made and we sing a few songs. Then someone may do a teaching or everyone may bring something to share from what they have been learning and what God has put on their heart. We also set aside a time for prayer. During this time people may pray, speak in tongues or give a prophecy to exhort the group. This is something you don’t really see in many churches. It is very powerful and awesome, to hear from God and speak in tongues and interpret a praise to God. Sadly, most churches either don’t do this at all or they do it in an unbiblical way.

The great thing about this format (and the reason why a lot of people don’t like this kind of format) is that it is very personal and people can openly share. Now, not every home fellowship is set up this way. I have been to home fellowships where it was not personal. There does have to be some creativity in order to have an open atmosphere. The problem with some big churches is that they don’t create the space for others to share. Some people like that because they don’t have to be vulnerable, they don’t have to be accountable, and they don’t have to be responsible for personal spiritual growth. Really nothing is required of them other than showing up to the service. But what about those of us who want to go deeper into the Word and have true fellowship with one another?  I know many churches are working very hard to create the kind of environment where people can grow spiritually and be more personal, but it seems that in order to do that, they have to create small groups, fellowship times and events outside of the main meeting. I would like to propose that the main meeting should be personal and the more occasional meeting should be a large worship and teaching type of meeting.

The main point I want to make is I understand why we have denominations. I know sometimes it is absolutely unavoidable. We have to split sometimes in order to stay at peace. Sometimes we can’t disagree on major doctrinal issues and have still true fellowship with one another. I get that. We need to fellowship with like-minded believers. For me, it really isn’t an issue of whether we meet in a house, a cathedral, or a coffee shop. The building, however, is to serve us instead of the other way around. I have seen many churches focus so heavily on church membership and making additions to accommodate the growth, that they neglect true spiritual growth and discipleship. Churches seem to be able to get people in and saved, but lack true discipleship. Churches need to make sure that the atmosphere they set up encourages personal spiritual growth and healthy relationships among fellow believers. That is not an exhaustive list of what a church should be doing, just some things I think most churches are lacking. Churches need to think outside the box a little more when it comes to the format of their meetings.

There are no easy solutions to these problems. It seems we have woven some thick webs that separate different groups of Christians from one another. We need to be more open to others while standing firm on the Word of God. We need to stop feeling like our church is the only church on the planet that has it “right”. We need to find out what we can learn from other believers instead of trying to convert them to our ways of thinking. We need to focus on the quality of relationships and spiritual growth in churches, not the quantity of members and building size. We should reach out to one another and celebrate the things we have in common, and try not to be so judgmental on the things we disagree about. I look forward to the day when everyone can see that there is only one true Church. It is the body of Christ and all who believe in him are members of the body.  I can’t wait to see all the saints drop their labels and truly see who they are in Christ. Let’s work our hardest toward having that kind of unity in Christ until he returns.