“Nothing is everything” might ring a bell from the Skyrizi commercial. It’s a prescription drug to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.[1] Drug-naming, really branding is more accurate, is a multimillion-dollar industry especially since the advent of “ask your doctor if ___ is right for you” took over the airways which is only legal in the U.S. and New Zealand. Ask your doctor why. Nondenominational churches share the branding problem with drug companies.
Go back to my blog of October 8, 2018, on Shoreline, Austin. This is the same church as Grace Covenant. Nondenominational comes in 3 flavors, at least so far in my visitation. There’s ethnic, easy listening, and country. I’m sure the other genres of music on the radio are represented. There is a rap, rock, and punk nondenominational church out there somewhere.
They all begin with the same 3-song set which the real members know is the warmup act, so no need to be inside the auditorium for that. They all talk about being guided by the Spirit, surprised by the Spirit, helped by the Spirit. Never does Pastor Jeremiah Ebeling tie the Spirit speaking, guiding, answering to anything more than he heard, knew, realized. This will eventually break forth as full-blown Pentecostalism for there is no boundary to this Spirit. They have a sense of this themselves. See their “outlawing” of the sign gifts in their services and teaching (https://grace360-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/PPTheSignGifts.pdf).
A mark of nondenom churches is that they portray themselves as Spirit-led, or people sensitive, while playing down ordained clergyman. Yet they have pastors galore. I count 11 on their website (https://grace360.org/leadership/). I’ve never heard of a Mobilization Pastor, but they got one.
The “worship” format is the same. You stand for songs, and some actually sing with the six-piece band, but most don’t. You put one hand up to show an increase in your devotion. Two hands are the max, but at that level you seem to sway more.
Confessional Lutherans stand in the presence of Christ when we He reads the Gospel. We bow and kneel before His presence on the Communion Altar. We kneel in His presence as confessed sinners and in some times of prayer before the God of mercy and grace. But what are you standing for in these 3 contemporary worship songs that string together catchy Biblical phrases, but never a coherent Law or Gospel? You are singing the praises of a generic God who is there, who helps, whose blood speaks better. They do know the Gospel. Their website is clear on this, but you could have attended the service I went to on 10/9/22 and walked out of their not confronted with your sins or the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
At best you’re getting the Third Use of the Law. The Spirit can do what he did for Philip in Acts 8. He used Acts as it has been used by Church Growth for almost 80 years: A guide for how to be a Christian, how to share Christ. Though Pastor Jeremiah never named it, he emphasized prevenient grace which says God was there tilling the ground someway, somehow before you showed up with your shovel. This is an Arminian concept found long before in the Early Church and found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2670).
As with all the nondenominational churches I’ve visited, there is a whole lot of distinctive doctrines expressed, used, alluded to, and foundational. Go to Grace Covenant Church’s beliefs page https://grace360.org/beliefs/ . After identifying as a “Bible church” and as “nondenominational” their belief page shows they are Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage, and Baptist in their theology of Baptism and Holy Communion. So why are they content with being the 21st century equivalent of the generic food craze 1981-1987? And don’t they know that generic labeled things disappeared?
Yup, the above pictured beer was my ‘brand’ back in that mythical day. Meat, cigarettes, cola, cheese, and more all came this way. These were labeled this way to show they cost less than the name brand did. Store brands do this today. Do nondenominational churches cost less? Their campuses have the best in tech, lighting, sound, parking, golfcart transportation, name brand coffee, etc..
I’d say nondenominational churches are today’s 18th century pirates. Pastor Jeremiah even hinted at being spy-like if a Christian in a new place. Secretly wait for your opportunity. They fly no flag that might drive you away. Though they teach and preach and think and have ordinances as Baptists do, there is no Baptist label to remind you of your poor experiences with Baptists. The nondenominational churches are the equivalent of spies in the Church Militant. Gay Activists won’t hound them like they have the Roman Catholics because there is nothing in their confession that can be labeled as anti-homosexuality. Same thing with their Pro-Life position. Everyone knows if you want to find Christian representatives of that position go to a Roman Catholic Church.
Victorinus famously told a Roman senator who said to him secretly, “You know I also am a Christian,” “I’ll never believe that until I see you in the Christian Church.” When you walk into a nondenominational church, you’re purposely walking into one that doesn’t want to be labeled as anything but generic, where being nothing is everything to them. As C.S. Lewis said: Staying in one is like being content with staying in the hall of a big house. The food and shelter you need are only in the specific rooms, i.e., there is nothing in the halls.
[1] Www.skyrizi.com says as of January 2022 the Wholesale Acquisition Cost is 18,272.79. You get one shot the first week, one the 4th week, and then one every 3 months.
