How to be Non-Denominational

It is one thing to say you are non-denominational; it's another thing to be non-denominational. Many challenge whether it is even possible. "As a church, you will have a body of beliefs, won't you?" Yes. "Then you will, in effect, be a denomination, right?"

Wrong. That may sound like good reasoning, but it does not hold true in light of church history and Scripture. The churches in Paul's day, for example, could in no way be considered "denominational," though they clung to an (albeit informal) body of beliefs (teachings, traditions) handed down to them by Paul (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:2; 15:1-4). What characterizes a church as denominational is not whether it has a body of beliefs, but whether those beliefs contain one or more non-essentials of the faith that are used to separate believers from believers.

Scripture does not give us the authority to make into an issue that which it does not. Nor does it allow us to separate from other believers on the basis of our identification with a favored teacher, whether he be Apollos, Peter, Paul...Martin Luther, John Calvin...or even Christ! (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:10-13).

To be truly non-denominational requires being so both in name and character.