The other day someone asked me what denomination I was.  I was tempted to give a flip answer (I am not a denomination, I am a human being.) but instead took the question seriously.  I told him I was “mostly Baptist.”  I confess I did this to stimulate a deeper conversation but it had the added advantage of being true.

I’ve greatly appreciated several things about Baptists.  Two come to mind.  One is the commitment to evangelism.  There is simply no denomination that comes close to the passion we have to reach people for Christ.  The other is the depth of Biblical scholarship.  To be sure our seminaries have great teachers deeply committed to the understanding and teaching of Scripture.  But that depth extends to the pews too.  Baptists always seem to seek to understand and apply Scripture in their lives.

And yet, there are some other denominational tugs within me.  Having been in an Evangelical Free church I appreciate their passion to have each congregation stand boldly for Christ.  E-Free churches are like the Bereans.  Then too I was in a Christian & Missionary Alliance church for some time and grew to love their passion for sanctification, for personal growth in Christ.

Then too, I’ve grown to love aspects of other denominations as well.  For example, I love the Lutheran dedication to making grace a real and practical reality in their lives; or the Assemblies of God and the way they get emotionally connected to their faith; or the Catholics for their sense of global and historic connectivity to the universal church.  So in the end I call myself “mostly Baptist” and freely acknowledge these other influences and appreciations.

It grieves me that most Christians hold, often without any clear information, negative opinions of denominations other than their own.  At best we ignore them and more often take pot shots at them.  And the world watches.  What can we expect them to think when they see us squabbling?

I don’t diminish doctrinal differences, nor do I think that we all need to hold hands and sing kumbaya.  But denominations exist because real people have genuine differences in the way their faith is understood and expressed and not so we can play “everybody but us is wrong.”  What does grace say to this situation?  Here are a few that come to my mind:

-        Grace never allows doctrinal differences to become personal attacks.

-        Grace never proclaims that people who differ with us on secondary issues are unsaved.

-        Grace doesn’t seek confrontation with others in different denominations.

-        Grace is always aware that the world is watching the church in action.

-        Grace doesn’t let itself be baited into an argument.

So yes, I am “mostly Baptist” and content in that.  But I freely acknowledge my debt to, and frequent appreciation of, other denominations. 

What do you appreciate in denominations other than your own?  If you can’t answer that question, why not?