I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what denomination are you?
I don’t mind at all that you ask me about that. As I always do, I will try to answer your question by using scripture. Let’s look at Matthew 18:20 which says, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” The Lord has promised His presence when we are gathered together in His name. Of course, the name of the Lord is the “name which is above every name” as we read in Philippians 2:9. The name of the Lord is of much greater value than any other name that we could name. It is the very name in which we find salvation. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, we read in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” It is the very name in which we approach God in prayer. The Lord Jesus, Himself, said in John 14:13-14, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
So, we see from scripture that we are saved in the name of the Lord, we pray in the name of the Lord, and we gather in the name of the Lord. How great is His name!
In the early church, people began to divide and name themselves after those that they admired the most. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:12-13, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” He also wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:4-6, “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” Paul warned against the practice of dividing and using a name to gather to other than the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Although I have many friends in many denominations, I am not associated with any denomination. I fellowship with other believers that gather to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does that mean? It means that as we are gathered together for worship, ministry, or prayer, we do so without any name that is not common to the whole body of Christ. We are content to simply be known as Christians and brothers and sisters in the Lord.