Denominations, I'm starting to believe they may be a necessary evil. The more I study Christianity and the concept of Christian community, the more I realize how the divisions created by denominations really do not fit into the idea of a united body of Christ. Still, they prove to be necessary. They keep things organized and allow people to find churches that "suit them" theologically. However, I call them a necessary evil because they can create barriers between people of different denominational backgrounds. I've begun to notice a sort of denominational pride. People like to identify themselves with certain denominations instead of as Christians. In the January 1934 edition of The Other Sheep, this denominational pride was seen on almost every page.
There was a great sense of strong Nazarene identity being presented in many articles. When discussing a large number of new converts, I was struck by the fact that they were excited about more people becoming Nazarenes, not more people becoming Christians. They also spoke of Nazarene solidarity, not Christian solidarity. To top off this stream of "Nazarenedom" there was an entire article describing one Nazarene pastor's decision to convert from Methodism to being Nazarene. I was surprised by the seeming victory felt by the pastor and his dismissal of Methodism. It was as though he had converted from a different religion. As I was reading, I could not help but wonder why this pride regarding a denomination exists. I will say I am no stranger to it. I am fourth generation Free Methodist and my grandparents are firm supporters of the Free Methodist Church to the point that I don't know if I could convert to another denomination without undergoing firm questioning. I still don't understand this pride. I feel as though it is more harmful than helpful. However, as I read more of this magazine, I could not help but notice how much good these Nazarene missionaries were doing, even if they did take pride in their denomination. I wrestled with my desire to dismiss denominations entirely and my realization that these denominations provide organization for missionary efforts. There did not seem to be an easy answer. Yes, denominations have the tendency to divide. Yes, people must be careful not to become to prideful of their own denomination. Still, denominations remain at least somewhat necessary.
Kayleigh, I don't have much to add to our discussion of this post in class, but your point is well taken. Denominational missions, in particular, clearly fostered a strong (even exclusionary) sense of identity. It does, I suppose, make for an interesting contrast with SIM, which was and is an interdenominational organization. I don't recall them particularly fostering a strong sense of "SIM" identity in their missionaries or their converts.
ReplyDelete