In my last post, I considered the benefit and value of denominations within the body of Christ, and I concluded that denominations, in their noblest expressions and forms, are a beautiful mosaic of the diversity that exists within the one holy and apostolic church of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, the glaring reality is that in their  most ignominious of forms, they can be downright disgraceful, divisive, and even destructive to the cause of Christ and the mission of the church. This is especially true in the “Bible Belt” where denominational boundaries seem like firmly drawn lines in the sand which dare not ever be crossed and where denominational distinctives are seen more as fronts in the battle that must be defended at all costs than as opportunities to learn from each other in humility.

This more vitriolic and antagonistic form of Christian denominations is the direct result of placing our denominational identity before our identity in Christ. In other words, denominational affiliation is understood to be more primary and more determinative for our faith and practice than who we are in Christ. So, when we are asked the question “Who am I?” or “Who are we?”, more often than not, the first answer that comes to mind is whatever our particularly denominational affiliation might happen to be. We might answer, “Well, I am a Southern Baptist” or “Oh, I am Assemblies of God” or maybe “I am Roman Catholic” or insert your preferred denominational label here.

We actually sound a lot like those first-century Christians in the church at Corinth. It could be argued that the Corinthian churches caused the Apostle Paul more grief and heartache than all of his other churches combined, or it could be that we simply know more about their problems than we do any other church in the first century. Nevertheless, in the letter we know as First Corinthians, which was probably the second letter that Paul had written to them, he had this to say in chapter 1, verses 11-12:

For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is rivalry among you. What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 

Obviously, this is unacceptable to the great Apostle; he said back in verse 10:

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.

Of course, Paul’s instruction here does not completely preclude the existence of denominations all together, but it does temper the extent to which we should emphasize the differences among us. In other words, denominational diversity in the body of Christ need not necessarily be the same as denominational division. As Paul explains later in that same letter, “For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.” (12:12)

That is really the key, namely expressing our unity even in the context of our diversity. Christianity is united by its central and essential truths; these are the bounds of orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is grounded in the truths of the Gospel, and its contours are outlined by the historic councils, creeds, and confessions of the church throughout its history. These are the things that a person must believe to be called a Christian. Our unified identity as Christians must take controlling precedence over any and all of our denominational distinctives. As Paul went on to say, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.” (12:13)

Our identity as Christians, as those that are hidden in Christ, must come first, and our  denominational affiliation must come second or even third in order of importance. It is this unity expressed in diversity that gives the church its prophetic witness in the world, because in this they are see firsthand what life in the Kingdom of God under the rule King Jesus looks like. We are Christians first, and we are members of the body of Christ, which is the church. And our mission is to build that body through evangelism and discipleship, not to prove ourselves right in every obscure point of Christian theology.