Expert: Bruce Gourley - 12/27/2006

Question
Hello,  Can you help shed some light on my plight, pardon the rhyme :)  
Regarding christinanity:
If you believe in God and you believe that his son died for our sins, then as Christians we are all in the same boat to that point...also, would you agree that those two facts are the most important facts to all Christians? when we move past this agreement is when we all start going in different directions on the interpretations of the bible and how each of our own personal denominations translate this awesome story... my problem is, logically speaking, not all of us are right, it only happened one way...so either one of us is correct or none of us is correct but not all of us are correct... so, again, logically speaking, why invest your time and life into a denomination? why not invest your life into just being a Christian and giving glory to God....the rest is so vague and un-sure, afterall if we weren't unsure and had proof it happened according to your personal denomination there there wouldn't be any others, we would all be one...
My question is, whats the point of denominations, we all (christians) agree on the main two things, why scatter out after those two facts...is that really logical...isn't the smartest move to practice your Christian faith non-denominational?

thank you

Answer
What's the point of denominations is Christians 1) believe in God and 2) that Jesus died for the sins of the world?

Well, I'd say there is good and bad in regards to denominations, not to mention the inevitability factor.

First of all, they can't be avoided: because God created no two humans alike, denominations (particular groupings of individual Christians who agree strongly on certain emphases of the faith other than the basics above) are inevitable.

Each denomination, despite each of their failings and shortcomings, over the centuries has contributed something very valuable to Christianity. The Roman Catholics made certain the early creeds of the Church were preserved. Baptists made believer's baptism mainstream and introduced full religious liberty and separation of church and state to the world. Methodists made piety popular, providing the foundation for small group bible studies which are so popular to this day. Presbyterians emphasized the grace of God. Episcopalians helped believers understand the importance of ritual in worship. To Luther and his followers fall the legacy of believers approaching God directly through Christ, with no human priests in between.

In short, without denominations, we ALL as Christians would be much poorer in our faith.

And yet denominations CAN quench the Spirit, and all have at times in their history.

In the end, if you practice your faith in the fellowship of other believers, and if your group of believers believes anything beyond the existence of God and atoning work of Christ, you are, in effect, a part of a denomination (whether formally or informally, named or unnamed, structured or unstructured).

Bruce Gourley
www.baptistlife.com
www.brucegourley.com