I was sent a message this week by a teenager this week, who was trying to explain to a friend what “religion” she was, and what Plymouth Community Church was.

“Christian” I said. “Yeah, I know, but what “TYPE”? She replied.

To many, you can say “Christian”… but that requires more definition. Does that mean Baptist, or Roman Catholic, or snake-handling fundamentalist? The liberal “accepting” Episcopalians fall under the umbrella of “Christian”, as does the vitriolic Westboro Baptist Church, though each would exclude the other from the label.

I myself grew up Roman Catholic, but then spent some years with the Assemblies of God, so I understand the pros and cons of being part of a larger and more structured denomination.

Still, I am convinced, that it is the labels and constructs of the denominations themselves that divide as much as anything else. The apostles never had the intention of starting a denomination. As a matter of fact, the were absolutely opposed to the divisions caused by an “ism”. In the 1 letter to the Corinthians, Paul upbraids the church by saying “What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” (1 Cor 1:12).

Paul says that this was proof that they were still immature in the faith. Still “missing it”. And today, people identify themselves with a denomination, now substituting Luther, Calvin, the Pope, and even Joel Osteen, in place of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas.

The bottom line is this- there is only one church that Christ started. It was handed on to the apostles. It was faithfully passed on from generation to generation. The fractionalized, divided, tradition-laden constructs we see today are a terrible and pale representation of what that church is supposed to be.

So when answering that question- What type of church- the only answer, as pompous as it might sound, is that we are part of THE church. The one church that Jesus started and ordained the apostles to carry on. And as much as we can understand and are able, we believe and hold to that which they believed, tossing away the man-made tradition that has arisen over the millennia that has only hurt the church. We don’t have a catechism from the middle ages we need to ascribe to. Just the Bible, as properly understood in context. We don’t add to the Word of God. We don’t subtract from it.

Now it all believers in Jesus Christ too this same, common -sense approach, how nice would that be? There would be one “Type” of person believing Christ. Just “Christians”.