Is it a sin to attend more than one denomination?

RaymondG

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A dear friend invited me to her church and I have been attending it and also the one I belong to, which is a different denomination than hers.

I enjoy both churches and feel closer to God by doing this.

I have opened up a bit about this to both churches and have not gotten any outright opposition about it, but there is kind of an undertone from a few members of the church I belong to. For instance, last week someone came up to me and told me she was taking me to church next week and left no room for discussion. I agreed, since I had planned to go to that church anyway, but what if I had planned to attend the other instead?

We all worship the same God and the same Jesus and Holy Spirit. I don't feel as if I am doing anything wrong. I don't see anything in the Bible that would say this is a sin. I think something else is going on here, but I don't quite know how to describe it. For instance, the church I belong to does not own me, does it? GOD owns me since He created me, as far as I can see it! I feel His presence at the church I have been visiting. I should think that is all that matters.

What do you think?
Let's liken your situation to a person working at a Business.

If you are an employee/member....When you attend this second Job....are you missing work at the first? If so, your employer would be justifiably concerned. If the second job does not affect your first.....the first employer need not know or be concerned.....unless the second job is a direct competitor in opposition to them....in which case, they should be concerned....... as it would have been mentioned in the signup process.

another thing to consider is, why do you need a second job? Are you not making ends meet with the first? Wouldnt it be better to have one job that pays all bills, than two that pays half the bills?
 
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Chris V++

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I have had that happen when the teaching is somewhat different. There were two women that were friendly for the most part but they did not like the other church I attended and the pastor ended up putting a gag order on me and I was prohibited from teaching because they were afraid that other churches beliefs would find their way into their church.

I also had a problem when I attended my wife's church but I was still going back to the church I was attending before we got married. The pastor there told me to get all the way in or get out. He did not want me attending two different churches. So we left and started to attend another church of the same denomination. This was not an issue for the pastor there. He was just glad to see us whenever we showed up for their worship service.

These kind of stories scare me, since the church I attend seems to have declared July and now August as 'Everyone must join a small group' drive months. Last week's sermon was the pastor speculating about why people who don't want to join small group won't join small group, and then answered those arguments. It seemed to come down to 1. If you don't join you are grumpy and don't like people, and that's not an acceptable excuse. (He had a visual aid of Grumpy the Dwarf up on the projector) or 2. if you don' t join you think you already have fulfilling prayer life, but there is room for improvement. 3. You're afraid you're not good enough yet or will be judged.
 
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timothyu

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Let's liken your situation to a person working at a Business.
How about likening it to those who are supposed to be of the Kingdom, spending most of their days immersed in and defending the ways of man instead. IF the denomination hopper actually finds the Kingdom somewhere and rises above the world, then the hopping will stop. If not, then it doesn't matter as all of the world are looking in the wrong places anyway.
 
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timothyu

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1. If you don't join you are grumpy and don't like people, and that's not an acceptable excuse. (He had a visual aid of Grumpy the Dwarf up on the projector) or 2. if you don' t join you think you already have fulfilling prayer life, but there is room for improvement. 3. You're afraid you're not good enough yet or will be judged.
Wow.. my way or the highway mentality. You have free will but I'm giving no options. lol
It's like politics.The ones who would make the best leaders are never given a chance. Instead those most likely to best serve the money behind the party are put forward to give the people their choice but in reality they are being given no choice at all because any one of the offered would do in the minds of the party elite.
 
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zoidar

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A dear friend invited me to her church and I have been attending it and also the one I belong to, which is a different denomination than hers.

I enjoy both churches and feel closer to God by doing this.

I have opened up a bit about this to both churches and have not gotten any outright opposition about it, but there is kind of an undertone from a few members of the church I belong to. For instance, last week someone came up to me and told me she was taking me to church next week and left no room for discussion. I agreed, since I had planned to go to that church anyway, but what if I had planned to attend the other instead?

We all worship the same God and the same Jesus and Holy Spirit. I don't feel as if I am doing anything wrong. I don't see anything in the Bible that would say this is a sin. I think something else is going on here, but I don't quite know how to describe it. For instance, the church I belong to does not own me, does it? GOD owns me since He created me, as far as I can see it! I feel His presence at the church I have been visiting. I should think that is all that matters.

What do you think?

No, it's not a sin to attend different churches or denominations. There may be advantages attending different churches. It's healthy to get different views on things. The problem could be that you get more confused around theology. Stick with churches that take the Bible seriously. It may be harder to get to know people and be of service to two churches. Other than that I see no real problem.
 
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Tigger45

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Some say, I am of Catholic; others say, I am of Protestant; or I am of Orthodox; or I am of this, another I am of that: Is Christ divided? was Catholic crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Protestant? for while one says I am of this, and another says I am of that are they not yet carnal and still walk in the conformity of this world?
Amen! 1 Corinthians 1:11-13
 
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timothyu

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Absolutely not. Limiting churches to the foundation of Christianity ignores most of the Bible.
You mean we are to turn it into the previous image of man and institutionalize it in the same way, thus ignoring the separation between Kingdom and world of man? Jesus was a carpenter, not a contractor.
 
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GodLovesCats

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You mean we are to turn it into the previous image of man and institutionalize it in the same way, thus ignoring the separation between Kingdom and world of man? Jesus was a carpenter, not a contractor.

You are making stuff up here. Nobody ever said anything about institutionalizing the image of man.
 
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timothyu

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I was referring to the religion. When a way of life that Jesus promoted becomes a hierarchical institution resembling every other form of government man has ever come up with. Why is man so intent on having the Kingdom resemble the world of man instead of the other way round? Was not the original Way of the Kingdom good enough?
 
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SpiritSong

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No, it's not a sin to attend different churches or denominations. There may be advantages attending different churches. It's healthy to get different views on things. The problem could be that you get more confused around theology. Stick with churches that take the Bible seriously. It may be harder to get to know people and be of service to two churches. Other than that I see no real problem.

Yes, I do attend churches that revere the Bible a lot and use it during worship. I would not have it any other way! I enjoy Bible Study a lot, and the 2nd of the 2 churches has weekly Bible Study as well as Bible School before its weekly worship service.
 
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Devin P

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well, it really depends on the church..

I was invited to a church once by someone that I had been freinds with, and I walked out of her church after being there only a little bit into the worship service, and broke off the entire friendship with her, so demonic was that church.

There are times it could be considered questionable, I'm fairly certain.

But it really depends. If she's in membership at a Lutheran church and is attending a neighboring Presbyterian body, it's no issue just not as polite to her home church body perhaps as it could be.

My issue was that when asked, she refused to say what denominations.. and I think that can make a difference.

If she's off for demon worship three times a month then that straight laced Baptist church has a right to be concerned, for example.
Well yeah, they'd have a right to be concerned if she's doing demonic things. But just attending multiple churches isn't a sin. Regardless of the church. Never would it be, in any situation. Unless one of the churches you went to was demonic like you were saying, other than that, it's not a sin.

If it is a sin, the burden of proof would fall on you to show the scripture where God says that it is. That's all sin is - the transgression of God's law. And nowhere in God's law does it say that's a sin. And when you read Acts, considering how often the apostles visited different congregations, it's definitely not considered sin.
 
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RaymondG

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I was referring to the religion. When a way of life that Jesus promoted becomes a hierarchical institution resembling every other form of government man has ever come up with. Why is man so intent on having the Kingdom resemble the world of man instead of the other way round? Was not the original Way of the Kingdom good enough?
Do you believe that none should attend church, or that it could be wrong doing so?
 
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LoricaLady

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There is no such thing as a denomination in the Bible. Now many Churches have done incredibly good things for the world where they have stuck to the truth of the Word and followed its principles, but the truth is that we are never told to go to a Church. If you find one that is a blessing to you, great, but you are not commanded to go there. The word "Church" is simply a Greek word translated from "ecclesia" which means a gathering of believers any time and anywhere. The Church is the body of believers, the body of Messiah.

You might want to search the Bible to see what it says on how to keep the Sabbath. First, we are told that the Almighty says He "will not alter" what goes out of His mouth. He audibly spoke the 10 Commandments to the ears of the terrified Israelites below Mt. Sinai and this included a Fri. nightfall to Sat. nightfall Sabbath. The 4th Commandment, the Sabbath Commandment, is the longest of the 10 and is stated as being the very sign of the Covenant between the Lord and His people. Other religions speak out against theft, murder and so on. Only in the 10 Commandments do we see a command to rest one day a week. We are told to congregate on the Sabbath, but not told to do so on Sundays or in a big building with a cross on top. Yes, we can worship on any day of the week, but we are not to work on the Sabbath.

(Some say "Paul said.... Paul said.... " about the Sabbath and holy days. First, Paul had no authority whatsoever to change what was spoken by the Father and written with His very finger and he himself said not to follow him but the Savior, Who certainly never said the Sabbath would change. 2nd, Paul never even said the Sabbath was changed to Sunday. His "Let no man judge you" speech was directed to newly converted pagans about avoiding peer pressure in keeping the holy days of the Scriptures.)

Now, the 4th Commandment says to not work on the Sabbath, to have no servants work, not to even have any animals work, not to cook on that day. All denominations that I know of, even if they think the Sabbath is Sunday, pretty much ignore all that. (Some SDAers do pay attention, but not all.) They feel they have done their duty on Sundays when they go to Church. Then they go out and shop or eat in restaurants where others have to serve them. Though we are told, in Isaiah, that we are to keep the day holy unto the Lord, they often watch Netflix or engage in other forms of worldly entertainment.

I would say not to seek out what denominations say, but what the Bible really says about the Sabbath and when and how to keep it. For me it was helpful to search out first century historians to see what the early believers were really doing on the Sabbath. They all agree, secular, Protestant and Catholic.
 
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SpiritSong

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Well, for whatever it is worth, I contacted the international offices of the church I am a member of, explaining what the other denomination is, and they said it was OK to attend the other church with my dear friend. They did warn against trying to teach the doctrines of the 2nd church to the church I belong to, but this Pastor who answered my questions was very pleasant and understanding. So, I have an answer now, not only opinions. I am thankful for all your replies here. You all gave me some things to think about. I do agree that what is most important is to abide by what Scripture says. I am doing that to the best of my ability.
 
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LoricaLady

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Well, for whatever it is worth, I contacted the international offices of the church I am a member of, explaining what the other denomination is, and they said it was OK to attend the other church with my dear friend. They did warn against trying to teach the doctrines of the 2nd church to the church I belong to, but this Pastor who answered my questions was very pleasant and understanding. So, I have an answer now, not only opinions. I am thankful for all your replies here. You all gave me some things to think about. I do agree that what is most important is to abide by what Scripture says. I am doing that to the best of my ability.
Yes, that is what is most important.

John 2:27
Christ gave you the Holy Spirit and He lives in you. You do not need anyone to teach you. The Holy Spirit is able to teach you all things. What He teaches you is truth and not a lie. Live by the help of Christ as the Holy Spirit has taught you.

Of course the primary way He teaches us is through Scriptures.
Thessalonians 5:21-23 ESV "... but test everything; hold fast what is good ..."
 
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