Does Your Church Name Really Matter?

Dec 5

You’re looking for a good church that actually belongs to Jesus—not just in word, but in reality. But every town has dozens of churches with dozens of different names. You’ve got Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Orthodox, Jehovah’s Witnesses, LDS, and on and on. It’s confusing, right? If all of them claim to follow Christ, why do they wear different names?

But the real question is this: does the name of a church actually matter?

Why Names Matter

When a baby is born, parents don’t just pick a name out of a hat. They choose it carefully because a name carries identity and meaning. The last name shows what family a person belongs to, and the first name often has special significance within that family.

Even in the business world, names matter. When I say Microsoft, you instantly think of Bill Gates, Windows, Office, Excel—even the blue screen of death. One name carries all that information. That’s the power of a name.

And names matter to God as well. Otherwise, He wouldn’t have changed Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, or Jacob to Israel. Each name carried meaning.

What Church Names Communicate

The same is true for the names of churches. Names like the Baptist Church, the Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, the Episcopal Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints each carry with them doctrine, tradition, history, and identity. From the name alone, you can usually know:

Who founded that church.
What it teaches about God’s plan of salvation.
What the leadership structure looks like.
How it views Jesus.
How it worships God.
Whether or not it’s found in the Bible.

Looking for Church Names in the Bible

So how does that help us find a good church in our community? One simple way is to look through the pages of Scripture and see if any given church is found in the Bible. Why? Because we want to do things God’s way. We want to call Bible things by Bible names, and do Bible things in Bible ways.

You may be surprised to discover that you’re not going to find the Baptist Church in the Bible. Neither will you find the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, the Episcopal Church, or any other modern denomination in the Bible. You’ll never read about Peter walking into a Baptist church or Paul writing a letter to a Lutheran church. You’ll never see Scripture saying Jesus built the Catholic Church. Those names didn’t exist—they were created centuries later by men, not by Christ.

So if we don’t find those churches in the Bible, what do we find?

We find descriptive terms that God used to refer to Christ’s church. But before we look at them, we need to recognize something important: we’re talking about Christ’s church. It’s His church. He built it (Matthew 16:18). He has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18-20). And whatever we do in word or deed ought to be done in the name of Jesus—by His authority (Colossians 3:17).

Now, here’s a partial list of descriptive terms used for the Lord’s church in Scripture:

In Acts 8:1, Luke simply calls it the church. Christians in the first century were part of the one church—Christ’s church.
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and called it the church of God in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:2).
The church is also called the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12).
It’s referred to as the church of the living God (1 Timothy 3:15).
It’s called the church of the firstborn (Hebrews 12:23).
But I think the clearest designation is found in Romans 16:16, where Paul referred to multiple congregations in different cities as the churches of Christ.

A Simple Starting Point for Finding a Biblical Church

We could talk about how God condemned the church in Corinth, where some said, “I follow Paul,” others, “I follow Apollos,” others, “I follow Cephas,” and some, “I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:4-9). Is it really any different today with all the denominational names and divisions?

We could talk about the many warnings about false teachers.

We could talk about how Satan disguises his servants as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15).

But we won’t go down that negative path. I simply want to help you find a good biblical church in your community.

One of the easiest ways to start is by looking at the name of the church. If the name isn’t in Scripture, it’s best to steer clear.

I’ve done a lot of research over the years, and I have not found any major denomination in the United States that teaches the gospel according to the Scriptures. They teach a gospel different from the one Paul preached. And we know what God says about that:

“As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:9 | ESV)

The “you” in this verse refers to the Galatians—the gospel being talked about is the gospel that they received when Paul preached to them. It has to be the same gospel. Unfortunately, major denominations today don’t preach that gospel.

But there is a church whose name is found in the Bible. It’s non-denominational, and it preaches the same gospel Paul preached. It worships God according to Scripture and has a leadership structure according to Scripture.

So what is the name of that church?

The churches of Christ.

There is likely one within driving distance of your home. Just go to Google Maps and search “Church of Christ.”

Don’t Trust the Name Alone — Do Your Research

The Church of Christ is not a denomination. Anyone can put “Church of Christ” on a building or website. So you need to be like the Bereans and do your research.

Here’s an easy way to research a church:

Go to Google Maps and search “Church of Christ.”
Find a congregation near your home.
Go to their website or Facebook page.
Read what they teach.
Compare it to Scripture.
See if their worship, their leadership, and their teaching match what the Bible says. If you need help, go back and watch the last few videos where we walk through what the church in the Bible actually preached and practiced.
Visit there this Sunday. Talk to the preacher, the elders, and the members. Get to know them, and see if you find the people of God.

If you live near us, we’d love to have you visit. Our Contact page has all the information you need.