boppysbud,
The problem here is that there are two different meanings to “nondenominational.” The plain, simple meaning of the term is “not belonging to a larger organization.” You’re right that many nondenoms think that by not belonging to a denomination they have somehow freed themselves from any kind of sectarian tradition and have become “just Christians.” I completely agree with you that this claim is bogus. But a “denomination” is different from a theological tradition. It has a fairly clear, agreed-upon meaning (though fuzzy round the edges–there are “nondenominational denominations” like the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, which do have some kind of organized fellowship but no centralized bureaucracy and hence claim not to be a denomination). It simply doesn’t serve the purpose of clear and respectful discourse to redefine “denomination” to mean “a set of particular traditions and ways of interpreting Scripture.” We have other words for that, like “tradition” or “movement.” A denomination is an organized group. (That’s why Presbyterians, Lutherans, even Anglicans are not denominations–PCUSA, PCA, OPC, ELCA, LCMS, ECUSA, REC, CEC, ACC–these are denominations within those broader traditions. One could actually make a case that while the Catholic Church is not a denomination, the various sui juris churches–such as the RCC strictly considered–are). I know how maddening it is to hear nondenoms claim to be “just Christian” and thereby assume some kind of superiority over those of us who are frank about our traditions. (Though there are Catholic equivalents–the popular list “who founded your denomination” is a particularly silly example.) But the fact is that a theological/liturgical tradition functions differently than a denominational bureaucracy. Nondenominational churches are subject to the former (as all churches are) but not to the latter. The best way of deflating their pretensions is to distinguish between these two things and help them see that throwing off the latter doesn’t necessarily free them from the former (as if that were a good thing in the first place–their phobia of tradition reminds me of Chesterton’s warning against freeing triangles from the prison of their three sides). And meanwhile, as I said, the rest of us can learn a lot from them.
In Christ,
Edwin
