Yesterday afternoon I found myself traveling an old highway through some very small towns in Central Maine. Instead of finding a restaurant along that old road, we found one small church after another, churches of every possible denomination- Independent Baptists, Congregationalists, Nazarenes, Churches of Christ ( not United, by the way) and so on and so.......Let's not leave out a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall.
Travel Europe's back roads in about 1500 AD, little more than 500 years ago, and for the most part, there was ONE church, the universal ( Catholic) church......Yesterday, I thought to myself ( and spoke aloud!) that Martin Luther would be amazed at what the Reformation he triggered had produced. What would he have thought, I wondered, about all the 'splinter groups' within this one Christian movement...
Well, I don't have Luther to ask, so I will ask you: What do you think? Is Christianity TOO divided? Is there REALLY a UNITY beneath it all? I have my thoughts, but I'd love to hear from you and to give them as response to yours...
By the way, we will look at this more closely in our church's Education series starting SEPTEMBER 27...details linked on home page of www.unioncc.com
Pastor Bob
19 comments:
I really and truly believe that so many of these divisions and the focus on creed and dogma and has really gotten us away from the point of the essence of Christianity and what REALLY meant by following Christ. We are no different from the Pharisees, Essenes and Sadducces and probably many other unnamed sects that Jesus came to free us from. We like many Hebrews of Jesus time have really missed the boat. Show Justice, have mercy and love and worship God with all our hearts and Love your neighbor as yourself. Your neighbor despite all of their warts and flaws and "sins" because they are no different than you. Care for each other. That is what we are called to do. Donna
... and let GOD alone judge who is "saved" It is hard enough for us to keep ourselves on track and be honest with ourselves and GOD about our own misgivings . There is no need to be the judge of what is right or wrong or sinful or un biblical in others. That's GOD's job. Donna
One of the problems that I see is that many of these divisions are based on the premise of ' I've ggot the whole truth and you are missing a piece'..............
To me, what we have got to start doing is really finding ways to bring Christains together in unity....
This is why I appreciate a denomination like the UCC which is built on principles of UNITY....
Also, an overlooked expression of unity is the Formula of Agreement between churches such as the UCC, Presbyterian Church USA, ELCA and Reformed churches and different agreements such as ELCA- Moravian, not to mention the UCC- Disciples of Christ partnership.....
Unfortunately, there is fast paced splintering going on- even rebellious Episcopalians, angry over gay rights and women's ordination, are splintering off from the splinter....
PB
What do you think unifies us as christians given the diversity of practices, worship styles and beliefs?
The centrality of Jesus- that Jesus reveals God...........
Unfortunately, church history has shown that we have wrapped orthodox teaching so tightly that the doctrines and practices become divisive....
Of course, the lack of doctrine gets pretty problematic too----
I think there has to be a commitment to serious dialogue/conversation and exploration of how these practices and doctrines came to be...
PB
What do you think Jesus reveals to us about the nature of GOD? And what should our response to that be?
Though it sounds simple, LOVE....
And our response? LOVE....
I agree wholeheartedly.
I think I am going to try to make it to your adult ed offerings later in the fall. Thank you for taking the time to dialogue with me.
What's wrong with diversity? Must we all where the same denomonational label, have the same confession of faith, say the same doxologies, etc...? I don't believe Christianity is divided at all, that is true Christianity, because all Christian denominations hold the same core beliefs. This of course assumes that the Jehovah Witnesses and other Satanic faiths which deny the deity of Christ are not being lumped into Christianity.
David
I just picked up and started reading CHRISTIANITY'S DANGEROUS IDEA, a book about the Reformnation which really details the effect of Protestantism within both church/culture....
The 'dangerous idea', a phrase NOT used critically, is the one that individuals are able to interpret the Bible without resorting to church authority to do so.
The author traces the effects of taht simple idea on church and culture...
Will keep you posted----
Reading it at same time I've wrapped up THE FAMILY (frightening!) and am finsihing up a great bio of JOHN XXIII...fascinating juxtaposition of ideas...and I still have to get to the novel GILEAD!!
PB
The bible is an interesting thing... It is beautiful in its complexity and the way the divine weaves through its narrative... yet it is filled with at times violent imagery (like life I suppose) and has been misused throughout history as has other holy scripture- the Koran for instance.I have come to love the Bible but there are still many parts of it I continue to wrestle with and I suppose that will be the case for the rest of my life
I just checked out thebook on Amazon. I think I will try it.
I am very interested not only in how splintered Christianity can come together but also in how we can come together with people of other faiths as well. The house of Abraham project Hartford habitat for humanity is a wonderful example of that. I would love to see more of that in this world.
You may enjoy Marcus Borg's THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY an the work of John Shelby Spong---
PB
Even better is " The Meaning of Jesus" by Marcus Borg and NT Wright. This book shows that it is possible for people of diverse beliefs to come together and dialogue with open minds and open hearts without judgement.
Thanks for the suggestion!
PB
You probably go to the Library...but... I just got the Kindle- wireless access to Amazon for ebooks- for my birthday. I am so addicted. This thing is the closest thing to heaven for a booklover. I can download new books within minutes from anywhere and read the first chapter for free....dangerous
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