A man was walking along San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge when he saw a woman about to jump off. He ran up to her, trying to dissuade her from committing suicide. He told her simply that God loved her. A tear came to her eye.
He then asked her, “Are you a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu, or what?”

“I’m a Christian,” she replied.

He said, “Me, too! Small world! Protestant or Catholic?”

“Protestant.”

“Me, too! What denomination?”

“Baptist.”

“Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?”

“Northern Baptist.”

He remarked, “Well, ME TOO! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”

She answered, “Northern Conservative Baptist.”

He said, “Well, that’s amazing! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist or Northern Conservative Reformed Baptist?”

“Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist.”

“Remarkable! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Eastern Region?”

She told him, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region.”

“A miracle!” he cried. “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?”

She said, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.”

He then shouted, “DIE, HERETIC!”, and pushed her over the rail. (1)

Perhaps we laugh with some degree of discomfort at such a joke. After all, many people associate Christianity with division and religious rivalry. And our track record hasn’t always been good. Indeed, things used to be much worse—matters of life and death. Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe experienced religious conflict—indeed, warfare—often between Protestants and Catholics. There was the Peasant’s Revolt of 1524-25 in Germany—with Protestant peasants opposing their Catholic overlords. Over the next decade or so, tens of thousands of Anabaptists would be killed by Catholics, Lutherans, and Zwinglians. The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572 brought the slaughter of around 100,000 Protestants. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), ending with the Treaty of Westphalia, involved fighting between Catholics and Protestants. England’s two civil wars (1642-45 and 1648-49) involved Oliver Cromwell’s leading the Puritan revolt against King Charles I and his Anglican and Catholic supporters, resulting in the king’s execution. The list of examples goes on. This era of religious intolerance and warfare has certainly damaged many people’s perceptions about the Christian faith.

Doesn’t Jesus pray to his Father that his followers “may be one, even as We are” (Jn. 17:11, 22)? Doesn’t Paul write that “God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:24-5)? Though the early Jerusalem church “had all things in common” (Ac. 2:44), what has happened to this ideal? Though we live in a more tolerant age, some Christians argue that the existence of Christian denominations—Baptists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Methodists, etc.—is shameful and sinful. Denominations seem to indicate Christian disunity and diminish our witness for Christ in the world.

However, is this necessarily so? How should we think about Christian denominations? Here are some brief considerations. (I expand on these items in a forthcoming book with Baker Books. Sorry if the summaries are too short!)
First, we must remember that not all professing Christians are genuinely or consistently Christian. As Matthew 7 indicates, spiritual and moral fruitfulness (or fruitlessness) is an indication of a deeper reality within one’s soul or character. Jesus himself strongly warned against hypocrisy; so in some ways, this comes as no surprise.

Second, think in terms of “common denominator”—that is a “basic Christianity” that different denominations share. As one Lutheran scholastic put it, there should be unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials, charity in all things. So denominations don’t necessarily suggest disunity. Genuine Christians of different denominations can work together, pray together, and evangelize together.

Third, believers are in reality connected through their union with the triune God in Christ, not through denominational label. In fact, people may adhere to a certain denominational title, but they may reject certain fundamental biblical teachings. So Christians who are genuinely united by God’s Spirit should seek to make visible the invisible unity they share.

Fourth, the many Christian denominations remind us to be humble and Scripture-seeking rather than arrogant and smug. That said, we must recognize that the phenomenon of denominations indicates that not all of them can right in their unique doctrinal emphases (e.g., infant baptism vs. believer’s baptism).

Fifth, since no one Christian denomination will fully capture the totality of the Christian faith in its particular denominational expression, we should humbly learn from Christians of other denominations, of other cultures, and throughout church history. Christians can become myopic because they read they read Scripture through their own cultural or denominational or contemporary lenses. So they need the enrichment of a global, cross-denominational, and historical perspective to enhance and deepen their discipleship.

Sixth, an awareness of our own traditions and denominational distinctives may give us a clearer idea of what is heresy and what is not. Adherence to denominational doctrinal/confessional standards may actually help Christians be more attuned to potential error than certain “generic” or “independent” church congregations.

Seventh, admittedly, “theological hospitality” towards other denominations may involve challenges and tensions—such as leaving one confessional stance for another. Some Christians will recoil out of fear or because of a lack of confidence in their own theological beliefs. In such cases, one’s denomination may be more like a self-protective fortress rather than an inviting home. (2)

Let me close with an illustration. I was in Moscow in October of 2002. During that time I was speaking at an American club where Russian speakers would come to practice their English. I spoke on the topic of truth and relativism. Afterwards, a young man, who had been listening attentively, approached me and asked me what my “religion” was. I replied, “Christian.”

He answered, “Yes, I know, but what kind of Christian?”

“Isn’t the important thing that we are obedient followers of Christ?”

“Yes, but what kind of Christian are you?”

“I prefer to think of myself—in the words of C.S. Lewis—as a ‘mere Christian,’” I responded.

“But are you Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox?” he persisted.

“If you want to label me, I identify myself as a Protestant,” I told him.

“Why are you coming here to bring division? We are Orthodox in Russia!”

I replied, “I haven’t been the one trying to divide. It seems that you are dividing by putting a label on me!”

This incident illustrates how having certain denominational label doesn’t guarantee a spirit of unity. A Christian can affirm the faith of fellow-Christians from other denominations with charity and grace.
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(1) I’ve slightly modified this (anonymous) joke. Found at: http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=1380. Accessed 31 March 2005.
(2) W. David Buschart, Exploring Protestant Traditions: An Invitation to Theological Hospitality (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 263.

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