Un-denominating Christianity The Non-sectarian Mindset

A Change From Sectarian Attitudes For most who call themselves Christians, denominationalism is a way of life. We must communicate a different message. To do so we must be truly non-sectarian. Otherwise we will always meet roadblocks.

Do I Have A Sectarian Heart? How would you answer the following questions? “What religion are you?” “What church do you attend?” “Where are you a member?” Do our answers to these questions reveal a sectarian mindset?

Monroe E. Hawley – Redigging The Wells “If one views Christ’s body in terms of a ‘brotherhood’ whose boundaries are defined by a set of personally determined loyalty tests, his understanding of the church will be thoroughly sectarian.” Test question: What does the church of Christ teach about that?

Do We Present A sectarian Spirit? Books like: Why I Am A Member Of The Church of Christ Instead of: “Why I Am Just A Christian” Do we refer to “church of Christ members”? Or, “Christians”?

Should We Alter Our Outlook? Acts 2:47 – “…And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” The Lord does the adding. The Lord adds all those who are being saved to one body. Regardless of where they are or from whom they heard the true gospel.

1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” Every Christian is added to the same body. Every added person drank of the same one Spirit. The church = the body = the saved.

Broadening Our Scope Luke 9:49-50 – “John answered and said, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.’” Is there an application for this teaching today?

Luke 11:23 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” Obviously Jesus knows the difference. We do not always know all things. Starting from a standpoint of “innocent until proven guilty” allows us to have conversation with another to teach them more accurately the word of Christ.

Zeal For “Our” Church? Matthew 23:13,15 – “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in….Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” Yet – they were so SURE of their teaching!

Decide Who We Are Against Ephesians 6:12 – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” It’s not against PEOPLE It is against FALSE IDEAS

So What Are We For? Romans 10:1-4 – “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

How Much Do We Really Know? We have not cornered the market on truth. Some folks still act as though we have. Romans 14:4 – “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands of falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

We must be content to let Christ be the only one on the throne of judgment. We are here to teach the word of God to the best of our abilities. We have been saved by grace, not by our own works. Everyone who has been saved has been saved by grace. God knows who they are even if we don’t.