"Militant anti-nondenominationalism?"

I never knew a communion service would be so extreme.

In the past, my parents have expressed some level of skepticism about my brother and I becoming involved in non-denominational churches. They claimed that since such churches were without any accountability to a central organization, the doctrine could be way off target. They often quoted, "if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything." I never completely understood the reason they held this perspective until today. I don't hold this against them; at that time I respectfully disagreed, but I think that they're even coming around to the perspective I've held for a while now.

I went with my parents to their church this morning (a Southern Baptist church) since I've been visiting them this weekend. I essentially grew up in that church, so whenever I go home I visit and see people I knew years ago. They were having their communion/Lord's Supper service this morning, so the pastor gave the usual service explaining what it was, why we had it, why it was important, what it symbolized, etc. etc. I agreed with everything he said doctrinally. However, I didn't take a few things quite so well.

I don't remember everything he said chronilogically, but the first thing that comes to mind is he said that, "if you don't agree with this Baptist doctrine, there's another church out there for you." In other words, if you don't like this, you can leave. It came across in a somewhat hostile manner to me. He also railed a bit against "non-denominationals," which is how I identify myself. He spoke of a person he met that was non-denominational that said the term "saved" is a "Baptist word," and that they didn't use it. I feel he made an attempt to demonize non-denominationals by using an example of a nut-job non-denominational that truly had an incorrect doctrine. Ultimately, it came across to me as though he touted Southern Baptist doctrines moreso than Biblical doctrines.

Now, I will agree that in my experience thus far, Southern Baptist doctrine does closely align itself with Biblical doctrine, but that's the point right there - it's Biblical doctrine. It doesn't matter if it's Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Luthern, non-denominational, or whatever doctrine. If it's Biblical, then it is right.

Given what I heard of this pastor's opinion of non-denominationalism, it becomes clear to me where my parents got their preconceptions from, as well as many other people in this area. Yes, there are some nutjob non-denominational churches, BUT, there are plenty more good ones. I believe my church is among the good ones. If you ask our pastor what our doctrine is, he will tell you that it is every page, from Genesis to the maps, the God-breathed, inspired Word of God that we claim as our core of beliefs. Nothing more, nothing less. It is the only source of ultimate authority and guidance that we claim for our church and our lives. I believe that we practice what we preach as well. We routinely have a series of classes geared specifically toward making disciples of people, getting them educated in Christian sprirituality, helping them understand their role in Christ, and providing opportunities to take part in Kingdom servitude. We support local and global ministries and charities, and engage the community by getting out there ministering to people and showing them God's love at work through us. We're not nut-job non-denominationalists. We don't have ad-hoc doctrines. We definitely don't do this for ourselves, but for our King.

What kills me about this whole thing is in this sermon, the pastor said that in order for us to properly and worthily partake in communion, we must have unity. Unity can't be so narrowed down just to mean church-wide. Unity must flow through the ENTIRE body of Christ. We can't let denominational and doctrinal rifts stand in the way of this.