First published 2/27/23 Updated 2/15/2025

Seeking a Deeper, More Rooted Faith

Over the years, I’ve been part of different non-denominational churches, and I’ve seen many of them drift from their original mission. Sometimes it happens because leadership loses integrity, and other times it’s a slow shift away from foundational beliefs, focusing more on cultural relevance than spiritual depth. Sometimes the church is torn apart, leaving people disillusioned with church or even faith itself. Those who walk away are often told by well-meaning Christians that all people are fallible and that they should follow God, not people. While there’s truth in that, it can also minimize the devastation of watching a once-connected faith community crumble. Maybe that sounds harsh, but I think there are patterns in non-denominational traditions that make these scenarios more likely to happen, and that has caused me to investigate other Christian traditions.

If you're alone you drift, you drift, you know, and you'll drift in the direction of your biggest weakness. View Video

Jordan Peterson

After stepping away from church for a while, I realized I was drifting too. I started to see just how important a faith community really is, not just for accountability and spiritual growth, but for connection. That led me to dig into church history and rethink a lot of what I believed about what Church should look like. I wanted to understand how much of my faith had been shaped by culture and whether it had strayed from what Jesus actually taught.

Wrestling with Modern Trends in the Church

At a time when at some of the people from my faith community were "deconstructing their faith" (which, I think it is no accident that is ends in tearing faith down and removing it entirely from ones life), I found myself wanting to return to something deeper and less shaped by modern trends. People joke that non-denominational churches today feel like a mix between a rock concert and a TED Talk, and honestly, they’re not wrong. That got me thinking: maybe a more structured, authoritative tradition, like Catholicism or Lutheranism, does a better job of preserving the truth of Christianity and making it less vulnerable to cultural swings and individual egos.

A great book on this is Set Adrift, which explores this topic in depth. It helped understand the roots of that term and that deconstruction was not my goal, but rather a refining or reformation of my faith. It also helped me reflect on how much of modern faith expression is shaped by shifting cultural norms rather than historical continuity.

I remember a conversation with someone who had "deconstructed" their faith and told me that all music in church is just emotional manipulation. I think he was, and still is, wrong. Music has always played a role in worship, not just to stir emotion, but to help connect people to something beyond themselves. This conversation, however, made me reflect on what it means to worship beyond personal experience. That’s when I discovered liturgy: a structured, intentional approach to worship that doesn’t depend on trends or emotional highs.

From a Lutheran perspective, liturgy is not just a set of formal rituals; it is a means of shaping and preserving faith through scripture, prayer, and sacraments. It follows a structured order that connects worshipers to the historical church and to believers across generations. The focus is not on entertainment or personal expression, but on receiving God’s Word, participating in communal confession, and partaking in the sacraments as central acts of worship. This rhythm of faith resists the influence of shifting cultural norms. Instead of chasing relevancy, it anchors believers in something steady and enduring, reinforcing the idea that worship is about encountering God, not about producing a particular emotional experience.

I have been picturing the truth like the sun, with different Christian traditions orbiting around it. I know the Catholic Church went off track at times, but it also made course corrections. Now, my big question is whether the modern American church, especially the kind I grew up in, has drifted even further than the Catholic Church did in Luther’s day. And where does Lutheranism fit into all of this? Sometimes, I even find myself questioning aspects of Christian Orthodoxy too.

The Role of History and Authority

The stories of churches opening their doors to hippies back in the day are inspiring, but that shouldn’t be the foundation of my faith. And I admit it, having heavy metal bands and professional skateboarders connected to the church I was going to spoke to my skateboarding heavy metal heart 🖤. I was repelled by what I saw as weak men, stuck in tradition. Welcoming people is great, but not when it comes at the cost of bending faith to fit culture. The more I learn about the history of Christianity, the more I realize how little I actually knew about the faith I’ve claimed for much of my adult life. That realization has pushed me to explore traditions that have stronger doctrinal continuity. I used to dismiss ideas like church authority and tradition, but now I see how they can be important guardrails for keeping faith steady.

As I’ve dug deeper into church history, I’ve come to really appreciate the beauty of Catholic, Orthodox, and High Church Protestant traditions like Lutheranism and Anglicanism; not just visually, but in how they acknowledge the need for authority. I still love metal music, but I’m coming to see the value of timeless beauty steeped in symbolism. What I used to think were just empty rituals now seem like meaningful practices that have helped people stay grounded in their faith for centuries.

In many non-denominational Protestant churches, the claim is that the focus is on scripture alone. But in practice, it often seems that this approach opens the door for music, culture, and art to inform the church rather than being born from it. More historically rooted faith traditions emphasize that scripture, church authority, and church culture should work together to shape faith. I’m starting to see their point.

The Problem with Constant Church Splits

That makes me wonder: can the non-denominational model really last in the long run? Without some kind of accountability beyond the leadership of the local church, it’s easy for things to go off track. The thousands of Protestant denominations that exist today make me question whether breaking from the Catholic Church was really the success we think it was. And when churches split over every disagreement, it sends the message that the church needs to change instead of us. What if that mentality is actually contributing to the drift we’re all worried about?

Living on the West Coast, where Catholic and Lutheran communities aren’t super common, I haven’t found a lot of people who want to talk about these things. When I do bring them up, I usually just get confused looks, and it’s been tough finding others who are wrestling with the same questions.

Seeking Truth in Church History

I’ve come to see that a lot of what I was taught about Catholicism just isn’t true. Orthodox Christians argue that Protestants looking to rediscover early Christianity by turning to Catholicism didn’t go back far enough (I bet Catholics love that one 😉). There are many misconceptions I once held that I now see were inaccurate, and I may explore those in a future post. Right now, I’m mostly focused on getting my hands on solid historical sources so I can understand how different traditions developed and how authority has played a role over time. Who's up for reading about the Church Fathers over a beer? 🍻📚

I have far more questions than ever; about Catholicism, the Papacy, Orthodoxy, Lutherans and men's rolls in modern churches (don't get me started🤔). But I think (or hope) asking these questions and learning church history is key to strengthening faith and finding the right community to grow in.

A Faith That Can Endure

What I do know is that a church without accountability is risky. Just like the American founders built checks and balances into government because they understood human weakness (and, well, that system has had its ups and downs 😂), I’ve seen firsthand how churches where the head pastor has the final say on everything often don’t go well. I’ve come to believe that churches need more than just good intentions; they need built-in accountability. That said, I’m not here to persuade anyone in non-denominational churches to leave them, but I do want to highlight what I see as systemic flaws in churches rooted in the Christian traditions of non-denominational churches in California. I don’t have everything figured out yet, and I’m okay with that. The search for truth is ongoing, and I’m here for it.

Also, I think it's the coolest thing ever to make beautiful art to glorify God, and I'd really love to visit some of the churches in this pinterest board one day.

Other resources:

• Here is another video on this topic from Gospel Simplicity - I Was WRONG about Tradition (and you might be too)
• Sips with Serra does a review of another video Ruslan Asks Pastor Why Protestants are Going Catholic the line that stood out here was in reference to seeker friendly churches "you shouldn't feel like you're hearing a sales pitch when you're going to church that's terrible but often times that is what it feels like"
• I highly recommend these Channels:
  • Dr. Jordan B Cooper: Theology, Philosophy, and Culture.
  • Truth Unites exists to promote gospel assurance through theological depth. Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is President of Truth Unites and Theologian-in-Residence at Immanuel Church.