A friend of mine made a comment the other day about how I am totally pro-denominations in the church. And I was for the last few years, but I would like to restate my opinion. As many of you know, I am a fairly black and white person. I have a hard time being comfortable in grey areas, especially in theology. But I find that many of the answers in life are less black and white and more grey. So I am learning to accept the grey that life offers. Anyways, last night as I was talking to another friend about denominations, I realized that after experiencing the church down here, my opinion on denomintions has been modified.
I grew up in a fairly non-denom world and it wasn't until college that I came face to face with the issue of denominations. I would always boast about the fact aht I came from a non denom church. I figured that denominations only bring division and that isn't good. Then in college I found a church that offered the strong Biblical theology and community I needed. And it turned out that the church is Presbyterian (PCA). As I spent more time in the church I found so many blessings came from being a part of denomination like PCA. One of the most important features I found in the denominational world is the accountability in the church and between the churches. I suddenly changed my opinion. It seemed that the blessings that came from being a part of PCA and the security I found in the Biblicalness of the doctrine made being a part of PCA an advantage over the other churches (gosh, what prided I have!) Now in all honesty, my experience with PCA is limited to my one small church and really I shouldn't judge a whole group of churches based on one. But if Trinity is a representative of the churches in PCA, i would gladly go to any PCA church.
But down here I found that the presbyterian church was not right for me. And here is where I have begun to see the grey. Like cousins in one family, different churches are able to offer different flavors to their members. For some Chileans, the anglican church style looks very much like their catholic upbringings. For some this is great becuase they are comfortable in that setting. In fact, they can hear the Gospel message clearer since the traditions look similar, just the message is changed. But for some, the bad taste of catholicism still lingers in their mouths and they need to hear the Gospel in a church that offer different traditions. Maybe a baptist church will be able to reach them.
So where does this leave me in the spectrum of opinions on the subject? I think first, before any dednomination is considered, doctrine should be considered. if a church is not based on Biblical doctrine, who cares what church club they belong to?That being said, and without naming names of particular dednominations, some denominations are known for certain doctrine that is just not Biblical. Therefore if a church claims to belong to that denomination, I can assume that their doctrine is not Biblically sound. The Bible gives some guidelines to how a church should be run but really, a lot is left for each church to figure out what suits their congregation (thanks Sam!). But it is true. Each church is going to have their own flavor and as long as the foundation is the Bible, Amen! So are denominations the way to go? Denominations can truly bless a church a its members, but they are not the ultimate of all qualtities. And if a person is going to grow in Christ by being in a baptist church, if that is the best environment for them, sweet! But if another person is going to need the more traditional litergy, they should belong to an anglican or presbyterian church. Who knows... maybe I am completely off on this and in a month I will have to retract everything I just wrote (I hate it when that happens). But for now, I am okay in this grey area.
I grew up in a fairly non-denom world and it wasn't until college that I came face to face with the issue of denominations. I would always boast about the fact aht I came from a non denom church. I figured that denominations only bring division and that isn't good. Then in college I found a church that offered the strong Biblical theology and community I needed. And it turned out that the church is Presbyterian (PCA). As I spent more time in the church I found so many blessings came from being a part of denomination like PCA. One of the most important features I found in the denominational world is the accountability in the church and between the churches. I suddenly changed my opinion. It seemed that the blessings that came from being a part of PCA and the security I found in the Biblicalness of the doctrine made being a part of PCA an advantage over the other churches (gosh, what prided I have!) Now in all honesty, my experience with PCA is limited to my one small church and really I shouldn't judge a whole group of churches based on one. But if Trinity is a representative of the churches in PCA, i would gladly go to any PCA church.
But down here I found that the presbyterian church was not right for me. And here is where I have begun to see the grey. Like cousins in one family, different churches are able to offer different flavors to their members. For some Chileans, the anglican church style looks very much like their catholic upbringings. For some this is great becuase they are comfortable in that setting. In fact, they can hear the Gospel message clearer since the traditions look similar, just the message is changed. But for some, the bad taste of catholicism still lingers in their mouths and they need to hear the Gospel in a church that offer different traditions. Maybe a baptist church will be able to reach them.
So where does this leave me in the spectrum of opinions on the subject? I think first, before any dednomination is considered, doctrine should be considered. if a church is not based on Biblical doctrine, who cares what church club they belong to?That being said, and without naming names of particular dednominations, some denominations are known for certain doctrine that is just not Biblical. Therefore if a church claims to belong to that denomination, I can assume that their doctrine is not Biblically sound. The Bible gives some guidelines to how a church should be run but really, a lot is left for each church to figure out what suits their congregation (thanks Sam!). But it is true. Each church is going to have their own flavor and as long as the foundation is the Bible, Amen! So are denominations the way to go? Denominations can truly bless a church a its members, but they are not the ultimate of all qualtities. And if a person is going to grow in Christ by being in a baptist church, if that is the best environment for them, sweet! But if another person is going to need the more traditional litergy, they should belong to an anglican or presbyterian church. Who knows... maybe I am completely off on this and in a month I will have to retract everything I just wrote (I hate it when that happens). But for now, I am okay in this grey area.
Comments
Anyways I also have trouble with "grey areas" in theology. Maybe the point isn't that there are grey areas so much as antinomies that are present in biblical theology because we are dealing with God, and He doesn't neccesarily conform to our space-time based, internal, logical constructs.
And yeah, as long as denominations serve fellowship, mutual edification, financial support, and inter-accountability between local churches, all is good. But denominations should be functional only; we are saved by faith in Christ, not a certain christian tradition. See Mark 9:38-41.
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So I have to agree with you a lot about the gray areas. More than just our time based internal logical constructs, I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that we lack the whole picture. We have the Scriptures and the Spirit as our guides, but at the end of the day, there is so much that is beyond both our knowledge and our comprehension. The goal of any denomination should be to build up the body of Christ in a way that works well for them and fits with biblical concepts. At the end of the day, I don't think we can ever find one church that is the perfect denomination because we just don't have all the information that God has and we're self-seeking sinners. I am challenged by this a lot lately because I have seen how different congregations have their needs met in different church settings, all to His glory and it has me both understanding a need for different ways of study and worship and at the same time wanting us to become more unifed as the Church. We are the cells of the body (yeah, Shane's still fresh in mind) and we each have our specific roles, tendencies, strengths, etc. but we also need to remember that we can't function as just an arm, and eye, a liver, etc...
Ugh, but I can't help but believe that the doctrine of some denominations is much more biblically accurate than others, so what does that make those aligned with what I believe to be the less accurate? Yeah, we'll have to mull over this more when you come out. Not too far off!!!
That's redundant. We're limited by time and space. Therefore, we don't have all the picture, because we are not omniscient(not limited by time and space), So esentially we are saying the same thing.
Peace in Christ.