Denominational Loyalty

It is considered a cutting-edge observation these days to remark on how church-goers seem to have less and less denominational loyalty than previous generations. Within traditional denominational structures, this phenomenon is lamented by many liberals and conservatives alike. Among non-denominational structures, the phenomenon is celebrated by many liberals and conservatives alike. The laments often focus on how something precious is being lost, while the celebrations often center on what is being gained. In my view, it all misses the point.

Let's be clear about a few things shall we:

1) Liberals in mainline denominations long ago forfeited the right to lament eroding denominational loyalty. By so watering down their theological emphases in favor of blob theology, what exactly do they think people are supposed to be loyal to - an instititution that has chosen to sacrifice its distinctives on the altar of blobbish tolerance? When Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Baptists start swapping clergy, buildings, programs, and find their identity/inspiration for ministry in parachurch institutions and even the UN, what exactly do the lamenters of eroding denominational loyalty think is going to happen? Such denominational labels become devoid of theological meaning and become little more than descriptors of an ecclesiastical hierarchy. While it's natural for members of that hierarchy to lament a loss of loyalty, one truly has to be slow on the uptake not to understand why it's happening and are not able to see it coming.

2) But denominational conservatives don't have much right to complain either. While seemingly counterintuitive, conservatives have often been at the forefront of advancing an individualistic brand of Christianity to a me-first culture that sucks it right up. For denominational conservatives who have fought and broken free from compromised denominational leadership, it is quite understandable why the Christianity they offer would be focused on the lives and convictions of individuals, and would be wary of ecclesiastical structures that they know from experience can corrupt and compromise the Gospel. But just as with the blob theology of the liberals that loses shape, texture, and meaning, the conservative gospel of personal salvation and personal responsibility to the near exclusion of communal factors renders an emphasis on larger ecclesiastical loyalty irrelevant and even a non sequiter. It rings hollow for churches to talk about Christianity almost exclusively in terms of individual salvation and then lament the logical consequence of individualistic Christianity - me-first fragmentation.

3) Those who celebrate a loss of denominational loyalty also miss the point. It is fashionable to say that being loyal to Christ should supersede being loyal to a denomination, and this is true of course. But it's not always true if it is meant in mutually exclusive terms. Traditionally, denominations were born out of streams of theological emphases that have hundreds and even thousands of years of helpful tradition and theology that helps anchor us in today's faddish theological times. Those who celebrate a loss of denominational loyalty are often dangerously close to advocating the severing of the Christian's 2,000 year strong historical theological tradition. And this, my friends, is theological suicide. If we believe that the church is God's house on earth (Eph 2), and that the Holy Spirit has preserved and guided his church in understanding Christ, ourselves, and the world through the responsible interpretation of the Scriptures, to minimize this tradition and its importance to us today is to minimize the Body of Christ itself and the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in shepherding this Body. And it also lends itself to arrogance by suggesting that we don't need tradition to keep us loyal to Christ, because we know better. Those who think this way don't know better, and are usually the ones most in need of the theological grounding that faithful denominational traditions offer us.

In America, we have passed the point where denominational loyalty will be in vogue. As children of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the 1960s, Watergate, and ecclesiastical scandals of all varieties, we 'passed go' on denominational loyalty a long time ago. We distrust institutions, we believe they are corrupt and out of touch, and we feel that we only have ourselves to rely on to protect our interests. This has been the American way since King George, and the church has too often gone along rather than challenge the tide. For liberals in the church, this translates into absurd attempts to dissolve theologically-based institutions for unbiblical reasons while also trying to maintain and strengthen hollowed-out administrative institutions for equally unbiblical reasons, and the results are in. For conservatives in the church, this translates into the fool's errand of taking the reins and trying to guide in one direction millions of individualistic Christians who are flying around in every possible direction. And the church only has itself to blame, because it has knuckled under to the culture in an effort to be relevant. Being loyal to Christ doesn't mean we bend the knee to the denomination. But it doesn't mean spitting at the denomination either.