Something has really been bothering me for a while. I have written about this before abut I am going to try to dive a little deeper into it this time. I have had a unique opportunity to have been involved in several different churches within several different denominations during my life. I have attended Baptist churches (where I accepted Christ), Pentecostal churches (where I dedicated my life to serving Christ) and most recently Reformation/Restoration Movement churches (where I was baptized). I even have a close friend who is heavily involved in the house church movement that I would have to say may be onto something. Each church was very different from the one that I attended before it. At each one, my faith and understanding of Christianity grew. But looking back I see one disturbing trend. For the most part with only a few exclusions, each church was convinced that the other denominations had it all wrong. I would even go as far as to say some churches felt that other denominations were so wrong that a person who attended a different church in the past should question their salvation. This really strikes a nerve with me. Something deep within me tells me that the churches of the world "united" are the body of Christ. I can point out what I don't like about every denomination that I have experience with from Catholic to Baptist to Pentecostal, but I can't say that in my heart I feel that they are wrong. I may not agree with some methods that are used, I may not agree with someone's interpretation of a part of the Bible, and I may not agree with how a church uses or teaches about finances and money but who am I to say that Christ is not working through the followers of any specific denomination. I do feel that there are church leaders out there who are leading people in the wrong direction. I feel that there are churches out there that have perverted the Gospel and turned it into a get rich scheme, but I also know that there are people out there who are being exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ and there is a spark of life within them. The churches and their leaders are so quick to try to point out where everyone else is wrong, have we forgot that we all are here to serve the same purpose? I do believe that we need to take a stand against false teaching that clearly goes against the Bible, regardless of translation or interpretation. But we need to be more careful in our condemning of other denominations or church models. I think that too often we forget that if a person is truly seeking a relationship with Jesus Christ, they will be led to the truth. It goes along with the mindset that we go out into the world and save people. I don't know about you, but I have never saved anyone and I can assure you that no one saved me. I have been saved by the grace of God alone.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
A Long Time Coming…
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2 comments:
Even though I am not Christian (in a spiritual sence) I do believe you are right about how most churches are very segrigated about how the view different types of people and how the message is twisted and contorted to appeal to a specific group and taught in a way where "if you don't believe in our way then even though you believe in Jesus Christ as your savior, you're still going to hell". As the movie Dogma says "They took a good idea and ruined it by building a beliefe structure around it"... Preach the Bible as it's written and send the messege of Love and Understanding as you travel and teach others about the awesome power and unconditional Love of your God, Mittnick. Don't muddy the message, and don't be THAT guy!
I am starting to see that the biggest hindrance to the spreading of the Gospel in the world and especially in America today are the Christians. If more people who claim to be Christian would simply love the world the way that Jesus did, we would not be fighting the label of hypocrite that all too often is correctly applied to us.
Just a question, who is this who commented. It has to be one of a very select few people.
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