Are non-denomination churches just fence-sitters?

Question

Really, i'd like to know! can you just not make up your minds or do you not want to make a mistake? What do you do exactly? Is a sermon based solely on the opinions of your preacher based on his personal interpretation of scripture? I'm not being obnoxious, i just don't understand

Answer 1

I go to a non-denominational church. And the culture at my church is MOST CERTAINLY not one of "fence sitting." We have numerous active ministries and send off more mission trips than you can count on your fingers and toes each year. I think what most nondenominational churches have in common is that they teach the Bible; nothing more, nothing less. We don't have a bunch of pomp and circumstance that humans decided to add and uphold as tradition over the years. I like it because I think all of that stuff can get in the way of just reading your Bible, loving and serving other people, having fellowship with other believers, drawing nearer to God and finding your purpose in Christ.

Answer 2

The Bible talks about independent churches not churches under a central leadership (accept for the leadership of Christ as written in the Bible). So many believers choose to follow that tradition. Most of these churches try to follow the Bible where many main stream denominations take many liberties and add to the Bible's teachings. These churches started as a response to those additions, as churches that could make their own decisions. The sermon is based on the individual church's belief. For instance if a church believes the Bible is interpretable, the preacher will give his interpretation and explanation. If the church believes the Bible is the literal word of God, the sermon will make a point and use the Bible to back up that point. The sermon's main purpose is to encourage thought and reflection. In a non-denominational church, the congregation gets to make the choice of who leads them and can replace that person if necessary, thus giving the church (the people) the opportunity to have a say in the direction of their theology. The Church of Christ is actually non-denominational because the churches are all independent even though they share the same name. Each congregation is very different thus there are liberal and conservative Churches of Christ.

Answer 3

Call me fundie, call me non-denom, just don't call me late for church.... but nobody that knows me would call me a fence-sitter.

Anytime you have a group larger tha just one person, there will be opinions and some kind of agreement must be found. Non-denoms don't have a national meeting where the leaders from each state gather and vote to determine if this year we believe certain things are still true or not, or what is right or wrong in God's eyes, or how we will tip-toe around issues so as not to offend certain groups. We also don't have a catechism book (or any other type of "rule book" ) that's been made up or voted on - these types of books invariably contradict scripture.

Would you have us get off the fence and choose one of these scripture-contradicting books to follow? How in the world could we chose which one better describes God than the bible?

Not me - I'll stay with scripture.

Answer 4

Stop calling everyone who doesn't make a decision among the choices you think are available a "fence-sitter." You people love to do this to agnostics, too. It is terribly insulting. At any rate, you say: 'based solely on the opinions of your preacher.' Um, what? How is that any different from the many other denominations out there? Once you start to interpret ANYTHING, everyone has a different view.

Non-denominational churches vary, but, as they are less concerned with interpretation of odd laws and histories, they focus more on the purpose of our lives, of God, of Jesus, of our relationship to them, etc. While not always the case, it seems they are taking a step in the right direction: putting love and relationships back into the game and taking religion out.

Do you understand what Jesus did on Earth, according to the Bible? He wasn't busy condemning sinners or bickering over small points in the law. And his purpose wasn't JUST to die for humanity's sins. It was to teach love and a mentality of no judgment. He spoke of a church, but he never intended for Christianity to become... this. At least not according to the Bible.

Answer 5

We are bible believing people. Our sermons are all based on the bible and thoroughly proved by connecting scripture to the subject matter of the message.

We are very sure of what we believe and it is based on scripture, only. The reasons I prefer nondenominational is:
--I can read what God has to say in His Word. I do not need someone to tell me what to think as is done in most, if not all, denominations.
--The $$ I give to support my church, supports MY church, not pooled at some headquarters and given or used in ways I am not aware of or would not want it used.

The bottom line for any Christian is that everything can be proved within God's Word, the Bible. And, above all, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So, it matters little which church one attends provided it is based on His Word.

Answer 6

there is no such difficulty as a non-denominational church. A denomination is defined by making use of a collection of ideals. What church does not have a particular set of ideals that they think approximately perfect? If a church does not affiliate itself with any of the main important mainline denominations, it rather is not non-denominational. that's purely a clean denomination, one greater branch in Christianity, one greater deviation from the reported will of God, "that all of them may well be ONE".

Answer 7

quite the opposite they base their teachings on scripture and not so much on the personal convictions of a former leader... much of the teachings are the same as you'd find in a denominational church you just don't have the little hoops you get with denominations like sacraments or predestination i'm not saying these aren't taught i'm just saying they aren't mandatory (cause they're not)

Answer 8

There is no such thing as a non-denominational church. A denomination is defined by its beliefs. The only way a church could be non-denominational is to have no defined set of beliefs, and that would make it pretty difficult to be a church. (Unitarians come close.) A church that doesn't align itself with an existing denomination is simply a new denomination, one more rift in Christianity, one more violation of the stated will of God, "that they all may be ONE".

Answer 9

No, I think you'll find that a lot of them are quite opinionated. Avoiding denominational rules helps them keep their particular approach.

Of course, I'm generalizing, and that's dangerous. The best thing is to visit a few churches and see for yourself.

Answer 10

I go to a non-denominational church and I am non-denominational. Our pastor preaches on many different things, unlike some churches who preach about how to get money for a new car.
For example, my pastor preached one week why not to blame God when a loved one dies. I'm guessing the message was relevent since the following week, my cousin died and my mother wanted to blame God.