The Significance Of Protestant Associations

In a recent thread on the New Testament Research Ministries boards, a poster commented that groups like Oneness Pentecostalism and the Word of Faith movement are part of Protestantism, even if we don't want them to be. The same poster has said, in another thread, that he's moving toward Eastern Orthodoxy, so his concern over what's happening to "our" Protestantism is dubious. As somebody moving toward Orthodoxy, he has an interest in putting Protestantism in a negative light.

Since this criticism of Protestants is common, I've decided to post part of my reply here. If we agree with the teachings of a Presbyterian or Methodist church, for example, should we refrain from joining it because of its association with Protestantism? If groups like the Word of Faith movement are associated with Protestantism (or groups like liberal Methodists, liberal Baptists, etc.), how much significance does their association with Protestantism have for other people who consider themselves Protestants? Here's what I wrote:

Since Eastern Orthodoxy claims to be the one true church, should we associate every group that claims to be Christian with Orthodoxy? Should we say that though Eastern Orthodox "may not want to claim them as their own", these groups are "theirs"? Should we put Eastern Orthodoxy together with every heretical group that ever existed in the Eastern regions of the world, then call all of them together "Eastern Christianity"?

In addition to the category of "Protestantism", we can speak of other large categories, like "Eastern Christianity", "Western Christianity", "modern Christianity", etc. We can categorize groups by the region in which they originated, some of the doctrines they hold, etc. All of us, no matter what church or denomination we attend, can be placed in a number of smaller and larger categories, and that categorizing will sometimes associate us with other people we disagree with on some issues. If followers of the Word of Faith movement are to be considered Protestants, the fact would remain that I can join a local Methodist, Presbyterian, or Lutheran church without having any close associations with the Word of Faith movement. If I think that the evidence leads to the conclusion that a Methodist church is correct in what it teaches, should I refrain from joining that Methodist church just because that church shares the broad category of "Protestant" with other groups I don't agree with? It would be difficult to live your life without having any broad associations with any group you disagree with. Protestantism is a broad movement defined in different ways by different people.

Our primary concern in deciding what church to join shouldn't be its broader associations, but rather its own teachings and behavior. The more distant an association is, the less significance it carries. Being part of the Protestant movement is too distant an association for the inclusion of something like the Word of Faith movement to make it unacceptable to be a Protestant. There's nothing inherent in being a Protestant that involves the acceptance of something like Word of Faith theology.

We should ask why it is that so many of the people who raise this objection against Protestants don't seem to apply the same reasoning to their own church (or the church they're considering joining). If you're going to refrain from becoming a Baptist because of the distant associations a Baptist church has with other groups, then why not apply the same reasoning to Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, etc.?