WHY A NON-DENOMINATIONAL EVANGELICAL CHURCH?

Our small Christian non-profit ministry recently requested and received approval from the IRS to be re-classified as a ‘church’.    

As our primary ministry is hosting two church services weekly, serving as pastor and chaplain to the residents of a large assisted living facility and promoting discipleship through weekly Bible studies, it seemed appropriate. 

As a church our core beliefs and passions led us to align ourselves as an independent “non-denominational" evangelical church.

While there is a great amount of diversity and variety among non-denominational churches—the one likely commonality is they all are embracing a growing trend to not be connected to a denominational structure and stubbornly refuse to be identified by denominational criteria.

My personal stubbornness lies in what I call an aversion to ‘isms.’   ‘Isms’ are an expansion of what likely started as a stated doctrinal belief hopefully based on a Biblical teaching.   However, in time, the ‘ism’ at the end of the name of the doctrine or teaching creates divisions into different, competing and often hostile opposing groups.   While, many of these teachings and beliefs are doctrinally sound, they tend to unnecessarily divide us when Christ and the New Testament is clear that unity of the Body of Christ is the objective.  

Beyond just being stubborn, there are two primary reasons why churches like ours are independent and non-denominational—these reasons are organizational and theological.

1.  Organizational

Denominations tend to become bureaucratic and inwardly focused.  They typically have shown an inability to remain focused on the original vision that created the movement’s vitality.  All too often, the established and traditional methods become more important than the results that are to be achieved.   Methods are a poor substitute for being a part of the true vine that Jesus followers are to cling to.    While there are benefits in tradition, tradition can quickly lead to inflexibility, and the larger the organizational and associated requirements become the greater the opportunity for organizational dysfunction and misdirection.

Many denominational churches have moved to become independent by disconnecting themselves from their denominational underpinnings.   Often, this is accomplished by a simple name change, taking on a generic name that in appearance drops or greatly reduces the denominational baggage.   By maintaining a connection to the denomination, these local churches may find that they can maintain some of the benefits of cooperation and theological training while embracing some of the non-traditional worship, culture and language of the independent churches.  

According to Pew Forum research, most of the largest denominations in the United States reported a decline in membership.   

Interestingly, this same study also found that while Protestants in general saw their share of the US population fall since 2007 (decline of 4.7% from 2007 to 2014), and Catholics also lost approximately 3.1% of their share of the population,  the nondenominational share of the US population grew from 4.5% to 6.2% during the same period.

Declaring a church to be non-denominational by itself doesn’t eliminate the inherent challenges and predictable decline of centralized denominations.  However, when combined with a focus on the primary doctrines of the faith as discussed below, many evangelical, non-denominational churches have thrived and pushed against the trend.

2.  Theological

Non-denominational does not mean undecided or not orthodox in belief.  The vast majority of independent non-denominational churches are also clearly evangelical.  This indicates while non-denominational, there is a common distinctiveness of doctrine.    While there are many that prefer to define evangelicals based on style, political opinions, or by denomination, the NAE (National Association of Evangelicals) states that “Evangelicals take the Bible seriously and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The term “evangelical” comes from the Greek word euangelion, meaning “the good news” or the “gospel.” Thus, the evangelical faith focuses on the “good news” of salvation brought to sinners by Jesus Christ.”

Further, according also to the NAE, many evangelicals choose to not use the word ‘evangelical’ in describing themselves, focusing rather on their core theological beliefs: The faithfulness and authority of the Bible, salvation by grace through faith, the need for a personal relationship with God through Jesus and his death and resurrection, their involvement in evangelism, the desire for discipleship and fellowship and the ultimate return of Jesus Christ.

One of the strengths of the non-denominational, evangelical church is the simplicity of their doctrines.   There is rarely any complex terminology or exhaustive theological explanations but typically a simple reference to a few verses in the Bible.  It can be said that the non-denominational, evangelical church typically majors on the major doctrines of the church and minors on the minors.   For example, the word sacrament can be used to describe their regular communion and baptism rituals without the people becoming ‘sacramentalists.’   The Bible is considered to be faithful in origin as well as transmission without an insistence of any particular translation or edition.  Church services can be rather prescribed or sometimes unpredictable without causing a major breach of an historic ecclesiastical calendar.

As a result, the local pastor is able to build a church that focuses on the primary truths of the Bible, preach the Gospel with clarity and remain in unity with other churches in the community that are considered to all be part of the same Body of Christ.

 

Ultimately, each non-denominational evangelical church will need to grapple with the same issues that the denominational churches have had difficulties with over the years: divorce and remarriage, church governance, church discipline, the roles of women and men in leadership, etc.    The advantage however for these newer non-denominational churches is that they can make even poor decisions without saddling other independent churches with a mandate to go and do likewise. 

Rev. Kenneth Behr (Th.D)                              July 2019

Have you heard the saying “if it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger?   It is similar to the saying “No pain No gain”.   Well believe it or not, that is actually a very Biblical principle.  God uses the difficult times, the pains and the suffering to build us up but just as importantly to help others and to do ministry,    This is exactly what James, the brother of the Lord says, in the first chapter of James, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Jesus never said, "I have come that you should be happy." Actually, God is much more interested in making your life holy than He is in making you happy.    Happiness is fleeting; holiness has eternal value.   No pain, no gain is particularly relevent in building character.  We shouldn't expect that we can avoid pain and suffering as it is inevitable.   Embracing hardship and allowing God to use it to build us up and advance Godly purposes in our life makes us "mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:4)

Getting Unstuck

All of us have had the experience of getting stuck. Recently we experienced that in simply assembling a puzzle.  It started off just fine putting together the borders and then we separated some of the colors. We were excited when we found that there were a specific colors and designs that quickly fit together. But then we got stuck. 

Some are up to a challenge of a 5,000-piece puzzle but for others, it’s just too much of a challenge and we find ourselves stuck, We start wondering if we should continue or just put it all back in the box.

Sometimes getting stuck is a bigger issue. Perhaps it’s financial….We lose a job and the next thing we know we are about to lose our car or our home. We go to the doctor for a checkup and he says, “oh oh”….What do you mean oh-oh? Those are words we don’t want our physicians to say.

Perhaps some find themselves in a bad marriage, a bad job, or a bad neighborhood.  God wants us to have peace in these situations and can give us that peace.  Regardless of our situation, the scriptures remind us that we can be content for God has said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

But sometimes being stuck ends up becoming a true crisis.  How are we to find peace in the midst of a crisis? The Apostle Paul tells us that first of all, we need to focus on God instead of the situation. That's easier said than done, but that's what Paul means when he says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). Paul's not saying that we're happy about what we're going through; he's not even saying to rejoice in our difficulties. He's saying rejoice in the Lord, and that's something altogether different.

It’s possible to have joy in our lives not only when we are stuck but even in the midst of a crisis. True joy is the knowledge that God is in control of our circumstances and allows only that which He permits into our lives.  That's why the Apostle and brother of the Lord, James says to consider it joy when a trial comes our way. (James 1:2) 

It's not that the trial brings joy. Instead, it is what God is doing for us and in us through the trial. He is involved in our lives and is working through these situations. When we truly believe that God is involved, we will consider the trial joy and can find peace and rest in the Lord. In truth, our joy is in the Lord and is completely independent of our circumstances. That is why even in the midst of the worst situations we still worship God. That's what Job did when he lost his possessions and his family; he said, "Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21)

Joyful in the midst of struggles

“Joyful Joyful” is a hymn written by Henry van Dyke, a US born, Presbyterian minister from Pennsylvania.  Van Dyke was born in 1852 and during his lifetime he was considered by many to be one of the leading Presbyterian preachers and religious leaders in the country.  

In addition to achieving fame as a preacher, he was a professor of literature at Princeton University, became a Navy chaplain during World War 1, and represented his country as an ambassador to Holland and Luxembourg under an appointment by President Wilson. He was a prolific writer of devotional material with many of his books being best sellers.

The hymn, “Joyful Joyful,” written by van Dyke was written to Ludwig van Beethoven’s, Ninth Symphony for the song called “Ode to Joy.” It was Beethoven's last symphony, took him six years to complete and is generally considered to be his greatest.

Many know that Beethoven by thirty years of age, had become completely deaf. It’s amazing to think that this Ninth Symphony and many others were written without his access to hearing what he composed.  A story is told that when the audience erupted with applause at the conclusion of the initial performance of the Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria, the singers on the stage had to turn Beethoven around so that he could see the audience standing and applauding.

Joyful Joyful is the best-known of van Dyke's hymns. The Hymn is based on Psalm 71.  The key verse is Psalm 71:23 which reads:

My lips will shout for joy

when I sing praise to You

because You have redeemed me. (HCSB)

I like to look at the context of the verse before I begin to teach.  In Psalm 71, the psalmist (David) is looking for deliverance.  While he is waiting for God to answer him, he reflects on the wonder of God and then shouts for Joy.

I wonder if this song was being written today it could be called  “Happy, happy, we adore thee?”

Today, people will want you to believe the words “joy” and “happy” are interchangeable, when in fact, they are not.

We may not always be happy, which is subject to my emotions and external stimuli; but, as believers, if we have faith in God, we can always be joyful in the Lord.

Here are some distinct differences:

1. Happiness is a feeling, but joy is not.
2. Happiness is fleeting, but joy is everlasting.
3. Happiness depends on circumstances or other people, but joy is a gift from God.
4. ‘Happiness’ comes from the root word that we get ‘happening’, as from the circumstances.  Joy is from the Greek GAIO meaning to ‘rejoice.’
5. Joy is internal. Happiness is external. You may have a happy time at Disneyworld however when you leave you may lose that happiness.

The Bible answers the question of how we may have joy despite what is going on in our lives.

The Apostle Paul faced some very unhappy circumstances. However, in the midst of his struggles he wrote (Phil. 1:18b)“…I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.”

Paul wrote this to the believers in Philippi while Paul was locked up in prison and facing an uncertain future.   The previous four years of Paul’s life were miserable. He spent two years in prison in Caesarea, and then he was put on a ship to go to Rome to appear before Nero (aka, the Caesar known for his cruelty against Christians).

On the way to Rome Paul is shipwrecked, stranded on an island, bitten by a poisonous snake, survived the winter there, continued on to Rome and spent another two years in prison awaiting trial to be executed.

Yet in spite of all of these situations, Paul says in Phil. 1:18b “…I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.”

What was Paul's secret? How did Paul remain so positive in prison, riding above his troubles, and being joyful in spite of the fact that everything has not turned out the way he planned it?

The secret I believe was that Paul knew not only knew who he was but more importantly he knew whose he was …..He was loved by God, called to be an Apostle, a messenger, an Ambassador of God.

Do you know whose you are?   You are called to be a child of God.  Because of God, because of whose we are, the Bible says that we are to consider even our trials to be joyful.

James, the brother of the Lord, wrote in James 1:2-4 Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

As we persevere through trials, with God’s help, our faith strengthens and matures. By God’s grace we can be happy despite our circumstances.

Do Boycotts Work?

So who watched the Academy Awards?   I have to admit that I missed it but not because we were intentionally avoiding it or boycotting the Hollywood spectacular but because it just wasn't on our radar.    We are not big movie fans and really don't know the movies or the stars let alone the screen writers and directors or others that receive the awards. 

The next day I found that I was in good company as many of my Christian friends had not watched the Academy Awards either.    At any time there are a myriad of different entertainment, programs, venues, restaurants, retail outlets and places to visit. 

While we have choices, many see an opportunity to collectively boycott a product, program, service or company.   As Christians we have been both on the receiving end as well as on the offense when it comes to calling for boycotts. 

The causes may be noble but I wonder if boycotts work?   If the 'victory' is in diminished viewers or revenue than the case can be made that boycotts are effective.  At the same time, if we are more interested in winning the war than the battle, perhaps using the national media, our social media sources and our church pulpits to boycott those that disagree with the teachings of Christ and the Bible may be counterproductive. 

Jesus has an interesting thing to say about judging others perhaps it also applies to programs like the Academy Awards or boycotts for those on the 'other side'

In Matthew 7, beginning in the first verse, Jesus tells us we are not to judge "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Then after the familiar verse about the 'plank in your own eye" he has this very interesting and often thought difficult verse: 

Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

Pearls before swine....an interesting word picture at the least. 

Boycotts tend to send a signal to the troops and often its the wrong signal that we send to the opposition.  Perhaps when we love our enemies as ourselves, we provide more of an opportunity to communicate our true mission.  Using economic power may bring economic consequences but our longer term objective is not about economics.