Denominations: Navigating through a Religious World

sstinson46
Aug 14
10 min read

Updated: Sep 11

As you make your way in your homeschool journey, it's likely that at some point you will interact with a religious denomination in some capacity. Perhaps a homeschool co-op is being held at a church that you do not attend; or maybe your kids are in a youth group, such as Trail Life or AHG that is being hosted by a religious organization; or maybe you have arranged a playdate with other homeschoolers who invite you to attend an activity at a church. Homeschooling is all about socialization, but in a world where culture is increasingly luring people away from God, its inevitable that you will encounter people and groups who believe themselves to be Christian while they supplant Biblical Christianity with their own (humanistic) practices. Even going back the first century, Jesus and Paul warn us in such matters, where Jesus countered the Saduccees and Pharisees and Paul had to persuade nascent churches of the right practices in many of his letters.

In this article we provide some guidance as to how to interact with other religious groups so that you can avoid wasting your time and energy in an organization that deviates from Christianity, and so that you do not become ensnared by them.

1. Read their Statement of Faith or Beliefs Closely for Additions

The New Testament, containing the message of Jesus, does not authorize its believers to create new doctrines or new systems of beliefs. Even so, fallible human beings throughout history have added and subtract to Christianity to "improve" or manipulate upon what is described in the Bible, with terrible and long lasting results. You are certain to come across an organization that is doing this today.

Most churches and church groups will have a statement of beliefs or a statement of faith, and you can review these documents for additions which are not in the Bible, or for ways that their beliefs modify what is described in the Bible. For example,

There are very few practices (only two) that were put into place for Christians to continue: 1) the baptism of believers, and, 2) communion: the eating of bread and drinking of wine or grape juice as a symbol of remembrance of Jesus. If the organization has more than these, or its followers (or their predecessors) have invented new ones, you can conclude that it is not a Christian organization.
If the organization has a huge book of doctrines or a separate work of theology that guides the operation of their organization and lays out its beliefs, you're probably interacting with a cult. The Bible is the word of God -- not a separate theology book written by human beings. A description of the theology of an organization should be 1-2 pages, or (at most) up to 6 to 10 if it discusses more current issues. It should not be a 500 page work of theological doctrines.
There are few "laws" that Jesus put into place (only two): love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. If the organization emphasizes and indoctrinates more than these two in their membership, their beliefs, or their practices, they are deviating from Christianity.
Jesus provides a single imperative commission for his followers: to go and make disciples and teach them to obey His commands. There's nothing more that Jesus has commissioned his believers to do in a religious context. For example, he has not authorized Christians to root-out unbelievers or to forcefully convert people; nor has he told them to build an international governing council.
How the religious organization operates in regards to elections or handling disagreements should be straight-forward and limited, largely referring to what the Bible says in the epistles.

2. Ask Questions and Write Letters

If the organization you're interacting with doesn't have a clear statement of beliefs, or even if it is historically established "Christian" denomination (we put this in quotes because most denominations are not Christian, which is a topic discussed below), you'll need to use a different mechanism to gain information. Ask questions and write letters, such as: "does your organization follow the Bible?" Or, "what does your organization believe about the position of Jesus?" In asking these kinds of questions you will not only gain information about what the organization believes, but the confrontation is likely to expose the leaders in what they practice and how they operate. If the leaders of an organization react negatively to your questions about their beliefs and practices (or if they attack you for even asking!), you can be certain they are hiding their cult practices and do not want their true beliefs or practices exposed.

3. Insist Upon Public Discourse and Public Interactions

A common factor of every cult is that they operate in the secrecy of private meetings and interactions. Nothing is transparent as to how things work in a cult. Good organizations always operate in the open: there are meetings, votes, and discussions and no one is forced into a situation that is not of their own choosing. In any true Christian church (one that is following the practices and beliefs described in the Bible) if you ask to attend a meeting of the church, or request that a Priest or Pastor explain the organization's beliefs on a certain matter, they will nearly always agree immediately to accommodate you in some way. The opposite is true in a cult: you will be viewed as an aggressor for asking questions and identified as being antagonistic towards the leaders' positional authority.

4. Recognize Divisive Tactics

Cult leaders and narcissistic personalities know how to manipulate others: they've practiced their tactics and use them regularly, which is how they've achieved a position of authority. They seek to divide those who would follow them from reasonable individuals that may exercise wisdom and discernment. Cult followers do not exercise discernment: they do not question matters. However, you can recognize these tactics quite easily, such as:

You are being isolated: you're invited to a meeting, but its not a group meeting, only you were invited, and the other attendees are in opposition to you. The Bible states that resolving a controversy is always done with others acting as impartial witnesses.
You raised a concern or asked a question, and you were attacked in response: manipulative leaders know that the best defense is a good offense. Instead of attempting to resolve your concerns or questions directly by answering your concerns, they will attack you with their own concerns and interrogate you, moving the focus onto you, rather than their own behaviors and actions.
They escalate minor disagreements quickly or they use official methods of communication with manipulative phrasing, rather than direct or informal communications (such as a phone call) to respond. Manipulative leaders know how to manipulate their rhetoric in the eyes of their followers, and they use their position of authority and the powers they have (the "bully-pulpit") to phrase an issue in a way that they want others to see it. They will not attempt an informal method of resolution or take action to alleviate your concerns and they will purposefully elevate minor disagreements to higher levels, to make themselves more powerful. So why do they do this, you might ask? You have the power to walk away from the organization at any time; but for them, their social power is their life, and if they lose their authority or their authority is questioned in any matter, they lose everything.
They insist that others use their title or position in addressing or referring to them; they can only operate from a position of authority: real Christian leaders do not insist that others address them with their title, since they are directed to be servants of others rather than acting as a commander of soldiers. For cult leaders, it is the opposite: they will insist that others use their title, because doing so implicitly gives them more power. More so, they largely operate from a position of authority rather than from a perspective of persuasion.
- A corollary: they wear special clothing or outfits that designate them with their assumed title so that others will use or recognize their title automatically. Jesus didn't come wearing a special costume that identified Himself as the Messiah: he let others figure it out based upon his actions and words, even to point of asking "Who do you think that I am?"
They control information, rewrite history, and do not acknowledge or address past mistakes: cult leaders manipulate information to their advantage and they will not address mistakes, because it reduces their position of authority. Conversely, true Christian leaders will authentically recognize their mistakes, change their ways, and will work to resolve issues.

The Christian Religion is Simple

Contrary to what many people would want to believe, the Christian religion is a simple one and the gospel message is very straight forward; that is, if you truly believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you will be saved. Believing Him as your Lord means he's in control of your life and you do what he says. You let the Holy Spirit guide your actions, tempered with wisdom and discernment and directed by prayer as well as reading and applying the Bible. If Jesus tells you to repent of your sins and give them up: you do it, just like what is described in the Bible in the story of the tax collector, the rich man, or the prostitute (Mary).

You can tell when you're interacting with a cult or a manipulative leader because everything becomes complicated. Instead of Christianity being simple, social interactions and engagements become complex, filled with all kinds of rules and doctrines that you have figure out and puzzle over for hours and hours. You have untangle what is going on or why things are happening: there's no obvious cause and effect, and consequences do not seem to follow actions.

Lets Talk about "Christian" Denominations

The topic of Christian denominations is a sensitive subject due to the long history of some denominations. Note: not all denominations are cults, but all cults are denominations. So let's start with the basics.

The Bible does not authorize Christians to form such denominations. Nowhere in the New Testament will you find Jesus or the apostles suggesting or implying that a group of churches separate from others and name themselves by their practices, the person who founded their group, or their ecclesiastical body. We are not followers of Paul, nor are we followers of Martin Luther or John Calvin.
The Bible specifically states in multiple places that Christians are not to divide amongst themselves, which occurs as a result of creating a denomination.

So what is a "denomination?" The word "denomination" literally means,

de-: meaning “away from, about, concerning”.
nomin-: meaning “name” or "identify as".
-ation: an act, process, or result.

In other words, forming a denomination necessarily involves speaking (naming) into existence towards an act or practice that is away from others. In other words, forming a denomination is synonymous with division.

And this is what we see in all "Christian" denominations: they have all formed when one group of believers have formulated a set of extra-biblical doctrines that add to, detract from, or modify what is described in the Bible which divides themselves from others, either from a previous denomination or from mainline Christian practices (the basics of the Bible). Here are some examples of the practices of denominations that deviate from the Bible:

Praying to dead people to help you.
Baptizing infants.
Believing that there is another place that you go to after death that is not heaven or hell.
Believing that a human being has the powers of Jesus (of God) or the power to revise or modify what is described in the Bible.
Believing that Jesus is really an angel in disguise (or something like that).
That kissing the hand of a church leader or a statue provides a blessing.
That Christians must follow all 613 laws of the Old Testament, but that they must follow a reinterpretation of those laws, since its no longer possible to apply some of them.
Believing that some guy found a golden tablet which had a new version of the Bible on it.
Requiring others to refer to a church leader as a His Holiness or Father.
Believing that when a priest drinks a sip of wine for you, it transmutates the wine to be spiritually the body of Jesus (or something like that).

So how do you know if a denomination is really a cult?

Or how do you know if a specific church is a cult?

Here are some obvious signs:

They add to, modify, or detract from the gospel (see Galatians 1:8-9).
They redefine Jesus's nature in some way from what He describes directly.
They add new requirements for salvation, such as performing good works.
They have an extensive theology that operates above the supremacy of the Bible.
They add or take away from the words of the Bible in their doctrines or theology (Revelations 22:18-19).
The leader or leaders claim to have special powers, such as being a successor of an apostle, or the supreme earthly leader of the universal church.
They wear a costume, a special hat, or a distinctive uniform, rather than regular clothing.
They insist that others affirming their title or position.
They take offense easily and you have tip-toe around their sensibilities. You feel like you are on defensive with them.
They exercise a type of command authority over their followers.
Their followers do not make reasonable challenges to their practices.
Their followers are silent during controversy.
They are hostile in responding to reasonable questions.
They ban, un-invite, or excommunicate you based upon minor disagreements.
They escalate small matters quickly to an unwarranted level.
They isolate you or hold private meetings where the interaction is being manipulated to their advantage.
They make ad-hominem attacks or raise their own concerns in response to challenges that you express, rather than dealing with the issues directly.
They use official church actions when informal actions are warranted.
The operation of the organization occurs in secrecy: matters are not decided in open forums.
They display non-Christian symbols (such as an LGBTQ themed flag).
A significant portion of the donations they receive is not directed towards evangelism.
They replace their Christian identity with a denominational one: "I am a proud <denomination>" instead of, "I am Christian".
The denomination has a large hierarchy of magisterium that extends beyond the local assembly.

These are all obvious signs, but sometimes things are not as clear cut.

Here's a good "rule of thumb" to follow:

Christianity, as described in the Bible, does not authorize its followers to name or create new religions from it.
If a major part of your church's structure and operation is determined by its associative denomination and that organization has a lengthy list of doctrines and theology --meaning that the denomination has developed their own version of Christianity -- it's 99% likely that it is a cult, even if it is a historically founded and well established denomination.
If your denomination is described by doctrines and practices that are from the Bible, it's not a cult or a denomination: it's just the name of the organization, rather than being a denomination. For example, being a "Baptist" or "Evanglistic" church is not a denomination, because baptism and evangelism are described in the Bible.

We are veteran homeschoolers. We invite you to browse our website for more articles about school choice related issues, navigating the homeschool world, limiting screen time for your family and more.