The Irrelevancy of Denominations

Denominations are something that has existed with Christianity for a while now.. With the breaking off of the Catholic church by the Lutherans and the Protestant reformation that followed, it seems like the last twenty years has seen a introduction of a new branch of Christianity custom tailored for your viewpoints. But lately, something has beginning to happen, and it was interesting to see it unfold: Angelicans are talking with Catholics, even holding services together sometimes, United is coming together with Methodists and Presprebtrain, and Bapists and Evanglicals are.. well, I'm not sure about that department.. but you get the hint. Part of this harkens ( sorry about that, I just wanted an excuse to use the word harkens ) back to the day, in which we thought that the end times would come with the merging of churches as one (Rev ? Still looking into this) body of Christ.

Personally, as a Christian, I have come to see Denominations much in the same way I see name brands like: Levis, McDonalds, Wal-Mart, Roots, etc because it has less to do with Christ's intentions (personally I think he's just happy we're good Christians), and more to do with marketing and branding. When we start to treat our values like commodities on a open market, something is terribly wrong. I think this is why people have been moving towards this interdenominational churches which are little more than some halls with people praying. People want to get back to the value part of Christianity, and away from the political/economical aspect of it. Church shouldn't be some fancy shirt you wear because you're cool.

Another reason why I think interdenominations are catching on is obvious: people really aren't that caught up in the details, and don't care if Joe sitting beside them thinks that no meat other than fish should be eaten on Friday. They're there to pray, to meet other people who believe in God, and find common ground, not to look for what is differant.

Finally, I find most interdenominational churches are informal. Which is a nice change of pace. Sometimes it's nice to have structure, and that's why I will go to an Angelican or a Catholic service. But other times, it's nice just to hear somebody say like they see it. Kinda like Christ did.