What comes to your mind when you hear the word “denomination”?
Maybe you think of an ecclesiastical hierarchy—a bishop or presbytery able to tell churches what to do. Or perhaps you think of a complicated institution with seminaries and sending agencies. At the very least, you probably equate “denomination” with a group of churches identifying and working together.
Does the Bible have anything to say about denominations? Suppose we ignore that word and simply ask if Scripture gives us any insight about how churches ought to relate to one another. Does it?
The answer is yes! Churches ought to relate in four specific and interconnected ways. How these ways are lived out can vary from church to church and, dare I say, from denomination to denomination.
However, I fear many denominations have lost sight of the forest for the trees—they’ve so emphatically focused on cooperation for mission that they’ve neglected other important and biblical aspects that define how independent churches relate to each other.
1. Churches Ought to Know One Another.
To the best of our ability, congregations should know how God is at work in and through sister congregations.
Consider how Paul wrote from Corinth to the churches in
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