Food for Thought
????-Denominational
by George Sinkie


     Sometimes we hear or see ads for religious groups that claim they are NON-denominational, but as we examine them they teach man-made denominational doctrines.  They teach that man is saved by “faith only” which is contrary to James 2:24.  Or that babies are born lost because of the sin of Adam, which God shows to be false in Ezekiel 18.  When they make that claim they are NON-denominational, I am reminded of a line from the movie “The Princess Bride” that goes, “You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.

     Let’s consider the meaning of some common prefixes that would go with denominational.  Denominational itself means causing to divide or denominate, it refers to a part of a whole.  NON- means “not.”  INTER- means “between, among, or reciprocally.”  PRE- means “before or prior to.”  UN- can mean “not” like NON-, but also can refer to a reversal of some action or state.  ANTI- means “against or opposite of.
     So the groups that we mentioned at the beginning, that claim to be NON-denominational, while in fact they promote and support denominationalism are not really NON-denominational, they are INTER-denominational.

     The Lord’s church that we read about in the Bible is PRE-denominational because it came before all the division that we see in religion today.  The Lord’s church is NON-denominational because it is not dividing the whole into parts.  It is UN-denominational in the sense that it is trying to reverse the dividing that has happened by eliminating the man-made doctrines that divide people and getting back to simple following the Word of God.  And the Lord’s church is ANTI-denominational because it believes in the Lord’s prayer for unity and therefore is against division.

     Congregations of the Lord’s church, the “
churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16) seek to restore New Testament Christianity that is PRE-denominational, so that it is UN-denominational and NON-denominational (John 17:20-21) because it is ANTI-denominational (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).  Jesus built His church, as He promised (Matthew 16:18), it was, and is not a denomination, as He prayed for unity (John 17).  The apostles and First Century Christians were never members of a denomination and were against division.  Are you interested in the original Christianity?  If so please contact us.



      © George Sinkie; used by permission; courtesy of the Mitchell church of Christ. rev.170106
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