“We’re Non-Denominational, Just Jesus”

In our neighborhood’s Facebook group, a woman who recently moved in asked for recommendations for churches in the area. In no time several neighbors had invited her to visit their church on Sunday. As I also left my comment inviting them to CTK, I scrolled through to see the other responses and one jumped out with this description of the responder’s church: “we’re non-denominational, just Jesus.”

This way of thinking about the church has become prevalent throughout the country. In a recent article, Ryan Burge discussed this phenomenon, arguing that other than the rise of the Nones [those who believe in ‘nothing in particular’], the “most important shift in the [American] landscape is the unmistakable rise of the Nons.”

Non-denominational Christians (or Nons) are everywhere. Some Nons trace their roots all the way back to the Barton and Stone revival days, from which we get the Restoration and Christian Church movements. Others began more recently, usually with an individual, or husband-wife team, who feel called to ministry and decide to start a church on their own (which was the case with the church referenced in that Facebook post). Either way, these churches aren’t going anywhere any time soon. So, what are we to make of it? 

It is common to hear churches and Christians say, “We don’t need labels. They distract us from the mission. We just need Jesus.” That can even sound appealing to many, maybe even to you reading this. Aren’t labels divisive anyway? Why bother with denominations that just lead to bickering and infighting. Let’s just be about Jesus.

Before throwing away every label and becoming denominationally independent, I want to argue there are some good reasons for keeping them.

Labels Can Be Helpful

At face value, saying your church is ‘non-denominational’ and ‘only about Jesus’ might sound nice or pious, but when you dig a little deeper, you find that it actually doesn’t communicate anything. To describe your church as Christian, or all about Jesus, isn’t enough. What kind of Christian church is it? What does the church believe? In the case of the church from the above example, their website does list beliefs about the Bible, God, salvation, baptism, communion, and relationship. But there are more than six things that are not just important to believe, but that every church does believe at least something about.

For example, a church can say they are ‘all about Jesus,’ but what about him? Who is Jesus? Most churches will get the initial answer right, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’ That is absolutely true, but how is he the Son? Did Jesus become the Son of God, or was he the Son from all eternity? Is he fully God, or fully man? Or is he both, and if so, how? Does he have one will, or two wills? In what way is he as Son obedient to the Father? And in what way is his obedience of benefit to his people? These are not quibbles about doctrine that distract from the mission of the church; these are essential to our faith. And the statement, ‘it’s all about Jesus’ doesn’t begin to answer them.

And that is only considering the doctrine of Christ. But there’s still questions regarding the church, its worship, its officers, questions regarding men and women, the end times, social and cultural engagement, heaven and hell, and on and on. 

That is why labels can be so helpful, because they provide us a shorthand way of saying, “this is the kind of church we are and what we believe.” There are drawbacks to every label, of course. We feel this at CTK as even we have to differentiate between what kind of Presbyterian church we are!

But even with the drawbacks, we still need to use denominational labels because…

Labels Are Inevitable

We can’t escape labels even if we tried. A great historical example of this is the very same Barton-Stone Restoration movement mentioned earlier. This group grew out of the Second Great Awakening, early in the 19th-century, from a desire to shed all denominational labels and simply be known as Christians, or disciples of Christ. They would be unified around a simple commitment to Christ, just like the early church. In great irony, it did not take long for this movement to grow, reach critical mass, and then splinter into different groups over disagreements. Three main groups emerged and exist today: the Churches of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Christian Churches (or Churches of Christ).

Now, it needs to be said that disunity is unfortunate. It would be great, and should be desired, that our churches would not divide needlessly and strive to live in unity with one another (Psalm 133:1). Jesus himself prayed that his disciples (and the church by extension) would be one, even as he is one with the Father (John 17:11, 22). But Jesus also prayed that they would be sanctified by the truth, which is grounded in the Word alone (John 17:17). From this we must assert that there can be no unity without truth. Put alternatively, when matters of faith are at stake, division can be necessary. And from such divisions, labels are born.

The Bigger Picture: Being Connected to the Past

What should we take away from all of this? Labels are inevitable, and they can be helpful. But we should not look at them merely as necessary evils, something we only pay lip service to but have no real impact in our churches. Rather, they help us remember that we, as individual Christians as as churches, are part of something much larger than ourselves.

One of our Foundations at CTK is “Confessional and Reformed Heritage” in which we state in part that “we gladly submit ourselves to the great tradition of our forefathers in the faith.” That is, we believe that the church did not start with us. It also didn’t start with our denominational home, the PCA. It didn’t start with John Calvin and the Reformation. It didn’t even start in the book of Acts. It started in the garden, with Adam and Eve, when God promised that he would provide the offspring from Eve who would crush the head of the serpent, trampling over sin and death (Genesis 3:15). Ever since then, God has been calling a people to himself (his Church) and providing for them every step of the way. From ancient Israel to the growing church in the New Testament, and then for the past 2,000 years of church history, God has been guiding, equipping, and providing for his church.

We stand upon the foundation laid by the apostles and the prophets (Ephesians 2:20), and are the recipients of two millennia of rich history as our forefathers fought for and defended our shared Christian faith, at times with their very lives. We follow in that tradition, and we ought to cherish it. To say ‘it’s all about Jesus,’ is not as pious as it might sound, but rather a willful neglect of what Jesus’ body, the Church, has fought for, died for, and accomplished through God’s grace, for thousands of years. It is by celebrating our past, not neglecting it, that we can truly make it ‘all about Jesus.’