by Jerry Senn
“For one hundred fifty years (dated) we have been engaged in an effort to “restore” the essential elements of apostolic Christianity. We seek to … build upon the … ‘foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.’
“Denominationalism is sectarianism. As defined by Webster as “Sectarian spirit or belief, exclusive or narrow-minded attachment to a sect.” This was the spirit of some in the Corinthian church (1 Cor 1:11-12.) In fact, the New Testament reveals that this sectarian spirit was at the root of nearly every issue that troubled the disciples. In Phil 2:3 we find the word ‘strife” or ‘faction,” which means putting one’s self forward, a partisan spirit.
“The divine ideal and plan is nonsectarianism, but we as a people are far from this ideal. We have attempted to be non-denominational, but have never really risen above sectarianism? Wherever there is party spirit there is denominationalism. When we want to discriminate where God has not; when we take the view that ‘our side’ represents the ‘good guys’ and the ‘other side’ represents the ‘bad guys’; when we want to reduce the size of the church to the dimensions of our customs and prejudices; we thereby declare ourselves to be denominational.
“There is always the danger that Christians will become attached to an interpretation to the extent that they would impeach the faith and Christian character of those who differ. Such people are bigoted, narrow, factious, and ‘denominational.’
“But if we do not admit that all believers who have been baptized in obedience to Christ are members of the same church that we are, we confess our sectarian spirit. Indeed we may feel that some people in the church are in error as to worship, organization, and the like, but to deny that they are in the body of Christ is sectarianism.
“This does not mean that we ought to approve error or ever participate in what we deem wrong, but it does mean that we ought to acknowledge what is true.” (Excerpts from Ross W Dye, Gospel Advocate, 10/24/63).
It would be well for us to ponder a statement by N B Hardeman, cofounder of Freed-Hardeman University:
“We are Christians only,
But not the only Christians!”