To me, one of the most frustrating things about certain groups of Christians is their insistence on the importance of denomination. I grew up a Baptist, and I still attend a Baptist church, but it’s not like I hold any kind of pride towards being a Baptist over being a child of God.

But that’s something that far too many Christians do. We act like our denomination is of singular importance, as if we owe allegiance to it. Some denominations do it worse than others, but almost all of us are doing it completely wrong. We’re buying into a division that God didn’t put in place. We’re separating the Body of Christ because we can’t fight our own sin nature and Satan’s meddling to split us up and weaken us. We have so much infighting over doctrine that doesn’t really matter that we’re not being as capable of bringing the Kingdom of God to Earth as we should be.

Doctrinally, at least seven of the major Christian denominations: Anglican/Episcopal, the Assembly of God, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic all hold to almost the same fundamental beliefs. All express the same view of the Trinity as one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All believe Jesus was fully God and fully man on Earth and that he died to redeem us and save us from our sins.** And while there are some discrepancies between things after that, the important stuff we all believe.

What does it take to be a Christian? Let’s analyze that before we go any farther. A Christian is a follower of Christ. A Christian is one who believes the following:

That God is the only true God who created the Heavens and the Earth and all life on Earth. He formed mankind out of clay and breathed life into us, making us in His image. In the Garden of Eden, mankind sinned against God and brought death into the world through disobedience. Yet, God graciously sent His own son who was fully man and God, born of a virgin, to live a perfect life on Earth, die and suffer God’s wrath for our sins, and resurrect three days later, fully alive. Upon His return to Heaven to be with the Father, He left us His Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to reside in and with us. In His sacrifice on the cross, He provided eternal payment for the sins of anyone who chooses to accept the gracious gift of salvation such that they may have eternal life. It is not by any person’s own merits that they might be saved, but fully by faith in the God who provided the sacrifice.

That’s it. I know it’s kind of a long paragraph, but that one paragraph is literally all there is to it.

Let me point you to a verse real quick that Paul wrote concerning the church in Corinth: in 2 Corinthians 11:3, he says, “But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.” Contextually, Paul is referring to false teachers here, but I want to just leave the hint that, perhaps, the denominations are the false teachers, the deception that is keeping us from the pure and complete devotion to Christ. And if you hold devotion to your denomination over Christ, you can be assured that you are resting your salvation in your denomination and not Jesus.

Now, listen, I’m not writing this to vilify any denominations of Christianity. There are some differences in them that are somewhat important to how you live your life, and if you want to be a Baptist because you prefer how they interpret verses regarding drinking and women as pastors and deacons in the church, go ahead. If you want to be Pentecostal because you believe speaking in tongues is perfectly normal, go ahead. But never make your loyalty to your denomination such that you make it an idol and despise Christians from other denominations because of it.

Because anything besides the tenets of salvation are extraneous beliefs. They serve to supplement the faith that we have in God such that we can do better work for Him. Believing it’s okay or not okay to drink doesn’t change your salvation. Believing it’s okay or not okay for women to be pastors doesn’t change your salvation. I like what Paul says about these kinds of things in 1 Corinthians 8:7-9.

“However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to idolatry up until now, that when they eat food offered to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not make us acceptable to God. We are not inferior if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat. But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak.”

And then let me give you a few verses before that in 1-3: “About food offered to idols: We know that ‘we all have knowledge.’ Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

Okay, now do me a favor and let me have a little bit of a creative expression teaching moment here. Let’s substitute the phrases that have to do with idolatry and food with denominations. Read it like so:

About denominations: we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him … However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to denominations up until now, that when they devote themselves to their denomination, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Denominations will not make us acceptable to God. We are not inferior if we join one denomination over another. But be careful that this right of yours to join a denomination in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak.

We all know about the unsaved that, when they are judged by Christ at the judgment seat, that they will be told, “I never knew you; depart from me.” So, keep that in mind as you go back and read 1 Cor. 8:3. “But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.” Those known by Him are those who will reside with Him in Heaven.

It never says, “Well, because you’re Baptist and not Catholic, I don’t know you, go away!” or “Well, you’re a Presbyterian and not an Assembly of God believer, so I’m afraid you don’t get into Heaven.”

If you love God, you are known by God, regardless of anything else.

Satan loves to twist the Word of God. And even more than that, he loves tripping us up in doing so. He tried tripping up Jesus in this way, as seen in Matthew 11. What makes you think he’s not doing it to us? What makes you think he’s not trying his absolute hardest to split up the Body of Christ so that we are less successful in showing lost souls the only way to Heaven.

We are all one body: the Body of Christ. There is no Lutheran Body or Anglican Body. No Catholic Body or Orthodox Body. There’s just the Body of Christ. The churches Peter started are no better than the churches Paul started. The churches James led are no better than the ones Timothy led.

I’ll leave with this: 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 says, “For 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. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

** My source for the denominational beliefs: https://www.learnreligions.com/comparing-christian-denominations-beliefs-part-1-700537