Why I’m Not PART OF ANY Denomination (and You Shouldn’t Be Either)

The Biblical Truth About the Church That Destroys Denominational Thinking

For centuries, Christians have argued about which denomination represents the “true church.” Catholics claim apostolic succession from Peter. Orthodox claim to maintain the authentic ancient tradition. Protestants claim to have reformed corrupt practices and returned to biblical truth.

But what if all of them are missing what Scripture actually means by “church” in the first place?

The Fundamental Misunderstanding

The Greek word “ekklesia” that we translate as “church” in our English Bibles simply means “assembly” or “gathering.” In ancient Greek society, it referred to an assembly of citizens called together for a purpose. When the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) was written, it used “ekklesia” to translate the Hebrew “qahal,” which referred to the assembly of God’s covenant people.

This means Jesus wasn’t introducing a new concept when He talked about building His “ekklesia” in Matthew 16:18. He was saying He would gather His covenant people, just as God had always had a covenant people throughout biblical history.

The Church is People, Not an Institution

When we read the New Testament, we don’t see people joining “the Catholic Church” or “the Orthodox Church.” We see people putting their faith in Jesus and becoming part of the community of believers. There’s no headquarters, no central administration, no denominational structure.

Jesus explicitly rejected hierarchical authority structures when He said, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you” (Mark 10:42-43).

Jesus’s Revolutionary View of Authority

Jesus went further in Matthew 23:8-10, saying, “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.”

He rejected the very titles and positions that we still see in churches today. When He established leadership in His ekklesia, it was based on service, not position—”whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Mark 10:43).

The Liberating Truth of Biblical Ekklesia

Understanding the church as God’s people rather than an institution is incredibly liberating:

1. God’s people can be found anywhere. Wherever believers gather in Jesus’s name, that’s church happening (Matthew 18:20).
2. This view promotes true unity. When we unify around Jesus and love rather than precise doctrinal statements, we experience the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17.
3. It frees us from peripheral concerns. Arguments about music styles, dress codes, and building aesthetics are revealed as preferences, not principles.

The biblical view of ekklesia invites us to see beyond denominational boundaries and recognize that all who belong to Christ are part of one body—His church. This doesn’t mean abandoning all structure or gathering, but it does mean holding our institutional affiliations loosely while embracing our identity as part of God’s universal family.

In the New Creation, we won’t be divided into denominations. We’ll all be together, as one people, under one Lord. Why not start practicing that reality now?