In Defense of Denominations

There is a weird and unhealthy opposition to denominations and church networks that I think ought to be corrected.

The Chrisian life isn't meant to be lived alone.

We instruct new Christians to find a body of believers to meet with regularly. It's an important part of sustaining a fledgling spiritual life. And the benefits of a church community continue for mature believers as well. The church provides a valuable context for receiving spiritual encouragement, teaching input, correction and discipline, and relational connections. Even more important than those personal advantages, we need the context of a community to work out the kind of growth that the Spirit intends to bring out in us. Learning forgiveness, reconciliation, generosity, patience, and love in the way in the way that God describes requires a committed family of believers. However, the mature believer does not remain committed to a particular church primarily for what he or she can get out of it. We should grow into an intention to give to others, to be a blessing rather than just seeking blessing. Jesus initiated a movement which is supposed to be lived out in and through the church.
When Christians gather as this kind of committed family, they serve one another well, and they live as a demonstration of the kind of living that the gospel provides. The world is invited in to see what love, reconciliation, forgiveness, generosity, patience and love can be like through the transforming power of the Spirit. And the church can make a deep impact on the world around it as it organizes and focuses its priorities and resources.

So, it's right for believers to seek out this kind of church, to gather themselves into committed communities.

And it's right for a community of believers to make meaningful connections with other communities of believers for all the same reasons.

Churches should commit to one another, gather themselves into structures where they can live out, as communities, our obligations to love and serve one another. Leaders of individual congregations benefit from the context of accountability, spiritual input, and encouragement. And they should submit themselves to correction and discipline. Gatherings of church communities can focus priorities and resources in even more impactful ways.
Whenever people gather into communities, there are difficulties and complications. Whenever structures are built, they require maintenance and attention, and they create a new context for corruption. That's a reality of our world that the church is intended to subvert by its good example, not by escaping from commitment or structure. The church demonstrates what a redeemed structure looks like.

Denominations and church networks gather communities together to benefit one another and for the benefit of the world. As with individual believers and individual congregations, there will inevitably be complications and conflicts between denominations as each one tries to live out its commitments. And as with any human organization, churches and denominations will always need prophetic voices to point out where they have gone wrong.

I don't think that Christians have an obligation to join a church that is part of a broader network or denomination. But, I would want to question the motives of a church leader who wasn't willing to be a committed member of any structure or network. And I think that it is genuinely wrong for a Christian to hold a position that considers denominations and church networks to be wrong or sinful.

The Christian life isn't meant to be lived alone.