THE TRICKY QUESTION: WHAT CHURCH DO YOU ATTEND?

WHAT CHURCH DO YOU ATTEND?

Whenever someone asks me, “What church do you attend?”, I sometimes hear another question behind it:

“What kind of Christian are you?”

It is a simple question, and ordinarily it should require a simple answer. Yet I often hesitate, because experience has taught me that people sometimes attach much more meaning to the answer than the question appears to carry.

Why does the person want to know?

Is it simply curiosity? Is my church affiliation being used to decide how trustworthy I am? Whether I am someone to associate with or avoid? Is the question leading to a discussion about doctrine? Am I about to be told why my church is wrong? Or, in some circumstances, is someone quietly trying to determine whether I would be considered an acceptable person to marry?

Perhaps these questions sound excessive, but denominational identity can carry enormous weight among Christians.

Many of us naturally develop strong attachments to the churches in which we worship. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that. A church should teach sound doctrine, encourage holiness, provide fellowship and help believers grow in their relationship with God.

The problem begins when loyalty to our denomination becomes a measure of another person's Christianity.

Churches often have traditions, practices and standards developed to guide their members. Some of these may be wise and beneficial. But we should distinguish between clear biblical teaching and the particular rules or traditions of a denomination. A Christian who does not observe every practice peculiar to my church is not automatically less faithful to Christ.

This does not mean that every church is equally sound.

False teaching exists. Scripture repeatedly warns Christians about false teachers and distorted doctrine. We therefore have a responsibility to examine carefully what we are taught and where we worship. But that makes Scripture more important—not denominational labels. Ultimately, our standard must be the Word of God rather than the reputation, traditions or authority of any individual church leader.

My concern is therefore not with organisations that clearly abandon the Christian faith. It is with the divisions that sometimes arise among Christians who genuinely confess Christ and seek to follow Scripture, yet treat one another with suspicion because they belong to different denominations.

John Wesley expressed a principle worth remembering when addressing disagreements among Christians. If another believer believes he sees something in Scripture more clearly, Wesley's response was essentially: show me the better way from Scripture. Convince me not merely through tradition or personal preference, but through biblical evidence.

That is a healthier approach to Christian disagreement.

Unfortunately, denominational loyalty sometimes extends far beyond theological discussion. There have been situations in which employers favour members of their own churches. Some lecturers or people in positions of authority may show preference to those with whom they share a religious affiliation. Relationships have ended because one church would not accept marriage to someone from another denomination unless that person first became a member.

At that point, we should ask ourselves an uncomfortable question:

Have we made belonging to our group more important than belonging to Christ?

There will always be doctrinal differences worth discussing. Some differences are minor; others are serious enough that Christians should not ignore them. Unity does not require pretending that theology does not matter.

But neither does faithfulness require treating every disagreement as evidence that the person on the other side is spiritually inferior.

The apostle Paul gives us a different picture. Writing to the Corinthians, he explained how willingly he adapted himself to different people so that unnecessary barriers would not prevent them from hearing the gospel:

“I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

  - 1 Corinthians 9:22 (KJV)

Paul did not abandon truth in order to accommodate everyone. Rather, he refused to make himself the centre of the message. His concern was the gospel.

Perhaps Christians today need more of that spirit.

So the next time we ask someone, “What church do you attend?”, perhaps we should also examine why the answer matters so much to us.

A person's church can certainly tell us something about what he or she has been taught. But a denominational name cannot, by itself, tell us the depth of that person's faith, the condition of the heart, or the quality of the life being lived.

There is value in knowing where someone worships.

There is greater value in knowing whom they follow.