One of the most annoying questions I get asked is what denomination I belong to, or which one is the true denomination? I was particularly amused recently when I was told one of my articles "...seems to imply the “invisible church” idea, which is what people use when they can’t name the denomination that compiled the Bible and don’t want to say Catholic". But what is the assumption in all of those? That denominations are important.
In reality, however, not only are denominations not important, but they are actually very damaging, both to the spiritual lives of the saints, and to the outreach to the lost. Regarding the latter, how do you think the Church appears to outsiders looking in? I'll give you a clue: They frequently argue that, since there are too many denominations for Christianity to be true, Christianity cannot be true. We can't all be right, but we can all be wrong, and so atheists in particular argue that we must be.
But regarding the saved, denominations are still a very bad thing. Pay close attention to Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4: "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?"
You're carnal if there are divisions and strife among you. You're babes in Christ. You're behaving like mere men. Even if you're clinging to legitimate authorities, like Paul and Apollos, you're not acting like spiritual people. Denominations, even denominations formed for good reasons, are simply not fitting for Christians to participate in. "Hmm, our denomination seems to be going South a little... Let's split off from it and make yet another denomination!"
Ok, well here's my question: How did you judge your denomination's failures, and what will you do to correct them? Obviously, in some cases, it's a silly reason. If you don't like that sermons have moved from Sunday mornings to Sunday afternoons, just to give worshipers a chance to sleep in, you're a numpty if you see this as moral decline. But a faithful Christian will see a decline in their denomination as something their denomination is doing that, in some way or other, stands in contrast to the word of God. They're capitulating to the world, they're inventing Pharisaic traditions, they're teaching a false gospel. In other words, they're not obeying Christ.
So what's the solution? If you think it's to invent a new denomination, you have a problem, because either you become the one inventing something new, or you are simply putting a new spin on the old truths. In the case of the former, you are committing the identical sin that made you split off from your original denomination, and so it won't be long before there is another split. In the case of the latter, you may as well just teach the old stuff.
In this case, there is no need for any denominations. There's no need to distinguish between Baptist and Evangelical and Presbyterian etc. You're either teaching the truth, or you're not, neither of which can be judged based on your alignment with denominations that did not exist when Christ established His Church.
There are those who would argue, and I wish to clarify I fully respect those who take this view, that denominations are still helpful because they give you a good idea what that Church teaches. Obviously, if you move to a new area, or even if you just visit a new area for a week or so, you don't want to just throw a dart at the map and hope the closest church you hit happens to teach Biblical truths.
And it's true. For that reason, I am grateful that genuinely false Churches set themselves apart from others. I certainly wouldn't want to walk into a Catholic Church on a Sunday hoping for edification and fellowship with my fellow believers, only to find a bunch of people praying "Hail Mary, full of grace...".
But at the same time, there are two major flaws in this reasoning, the first being denominational identification tells you absolutely nothing if you're not familiar with the denomination in question. There are hundreds of them! It's hard enough studying the Bible, you want me to find out what over a thousand divided Churches teach and assess whether or not they're teaching the truth? It gets even worse when you find out there are denominations within denominations.
But the second problem is that if you truly love the Lord, and are committed to Him, you really only need to know one thing about a Church: Biblical, or unbiblical? If it's unbiblical, you don't want to go there, and if you're Biblical, they probably don't want you there either. But if it's Biblical, why would you want to divide yourself against your brethren? They do communion in a different way than you're used to? They gather on different days? They sing different hymns? It's a mess. Heaven, I can assure you, will not be divided by denominations, and so why would you want to be now?
Personally, I don't. I would rather echo the words of Scripture: "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1 Corinthians 1:10). For those babes in the faith who feel the need to suckle on the milk of a particular denomination, very well. I do not judge you, I do not divide from you. As long as you maintain your faith within your denomination, and do not allow man made denominational traditions to supersede the word of God in your heart, I feel little need to discourage you. But a sign of spiritual maturity is casting off these carnal divisions, seeking unity with all the saints, regardless of how they worship. If two Christians from separate churches cannot get along, something is wrong with at least one of their hearts.