Denominations
My wife, Kim, and I have recently started looking for a new church to attend. This process is hard for me since there are things from my past which keep me from being excited about the whole church experience in the first place. Being a pastor's kid really showed me the inconsistencies and problems in the church at a very young age. To be honest, I am surprised I even go to church anymore.
Having been in church my whole life, I feel like I've heard everything, seen everything, and done everything (at least that I want to) the church has to offer. One of the first churches we visited in this search was Lookout Mountain in Golden, CO. The pastor there, Peter Hiett, is an amazing speaker unlike any other preacher I have ever heard. He gives the most compelling sermons and proposes ideas that makes you want to get into the Bible and research everything he says. I can say, I have encountered very few other preachers like him before. A couple of weeks ago he gave a sermon that touched on a topic that has bugged me for as long as I can remember. DENOMINATIONS. I say "touched" on the topic because he didn't really talk about denominations, but it got me riled up enough that I went home and did my first studying in the Bible in years.
What I found out was pretty eye-opening for me as to why I have a hard time with Christianity today, at least the way the western world practices it. I started out by finding out the actual Webster's dictionary definition for denomination.
-- Denomination - a particular religious body.
That of course was pretty obvious to me, so I looked up the word particular.
-- Particular - regarded separately; specific
That led me to the word separate.
--Separate - 1) to part, become disconnected 2) to withdraw 3) to go in different directions.
So, I took these definitions and looked at a particular point in pastor Hiett's sermon. He was saying that as Christians we should not be divided and take sides with groups. In first Corinthians 1:10, the author, who I think was Paul, said let there be "no divisions among you." and in verse 13 , Paul proposed the question, "Is Christ divided?"
So, I took the word divide, which is in both these verses and looked up the definition for that.
-- Divide - 1) to separate into parts, sever 2) to make or keep separate.
So, for me, this ties into the whole idea of denominations. Denominations divide and separate Christians into different groups and that is exactly what Paul was preaching against. I feel that denominations rose out of men's wisdom instead of God's and it bugs me that I have to shop for a church and worry about what denomination believes what. I read a little further into I Corinthians and the next section, verses 1:18-2:5, and it tells how we are not to depend on men's strength or wisdom. Well, I think that a big reason why churches split and form new denominations is due to someone, or a group of people, thinking they know how to interpret the Bible better than someone else. Wouldn't this be depending on men's wisdom instead of God's?
The glaring problem now is that so many people depend on denominations for their living that we can't do away with them. Churches and denominations are big business nowadays. They are definitely run as corporations, which is another whole discussion. Just take a look at places of worship and all the high tech media equipment used by churches, especially the mega churches. The church has truly bought into western materialism. Churches feel they have to lure peole by their fancy buildings and state of art facilities. I feel like instead of collecting an offering they should just have a box office in the front and charge admission. It wouldn't surpuise me to see something like that in the future. God knows those pastors need their big houses and fancy cars.
Anyway, these are just some of the problems I am having with the modern church and why I feel Christianity is ineffective in this day and age. We as Christians have conformed to worldly ideals and that has seped into how the church is run. It's really sad.
Having been in church my whole life, I feel like I've heard everything, seen everything, and done everything (at least that I want to) the church has to offer. One of the first churches we visited in this search was Lookout Mountain in Golden, CO. The pastor there, Peter Hiett, is an amazing speaker unlike any other preacher I have ever heard. He gives the most compelling sermons and proposes ideas that makes you want to get into the Bible and research everything he says. I can say, I have encountered very few other preachers like him before. A couple of weeks ago he gave a sermon that touched on a topic that has bugged me for as long as I can remember. DENOMINATIONS. I say "touched" on the topic because he didn't really talk about denominations, but it got me riled up enough that I went home and did my first studying in the Bible in years.
What I found out was pretty eye-opening for me as to why I have a hard time with Christianity today, at least the way the western world practices it. I started out by finding out the actual Webster's dictionary definition for denomination.
-- Denomination - a particular religious body.
That of course was pretty obvious to me, so I looked up the word particular.
-- Particular - regarded separately; specific
That led me to the word separate.
--Separate - 1) to part, become disconnected 2) to withdraw 3) to go in different directions.
So, I took these definitions and looked at a particular point in pastor Hiett's sermon. He was saying that as Christians we should not be divided and take sides with groups. In first Corinthians 1:10, the author, who I think was Paul, said let there be "no divisions among you." and in verse 13 , Paul proposed the question, "Is Christ divided?"
So, I took the word divide, which is in both these verses and looked up the definition for that.
-- Divide - 1) to separate into parts, sever 2) to make or keep separate.
So, for me, this ties into the whole idea of denominations. Denominations divide and separate Christians into different groups and that is exactly what Paul was preaching against. I feel that denominations rose out of men's wisdom instead of God's and it bugs me that I have to shop for a church and worry about what denomination believes what. I read a little further into I Corinthians and the next section, verses 1:18-2:5, and it tells how we are not to depend on men's strength or wisdom. Well, I think that a big reason why churches split and form new denominations is due to someone, or a group of people, thinking they know how to interpret the Bible better than someone else. Wouldn't this be depending on men's wisdom instead of God's?
The glaring problem now is that so many people depend on denominations for their living that we can't do away with them. Churches and denominations are big business nowadays. They are definitely run as corporations, which is another whole discussion. Just take a look at places of worship and all the high tech media equipment used by churches, especially the mega churches. The church has truly bought into western materialism. Churches feel they have to lure peole by their fancy buildings and state of art facilities. I feel like instead of collecting an offering they should just have a box office in the front and charge admission. It wouldn't surpuise me to see something like that in the future. God knows those pastors need their big houses and fancy cars.
Anyway, these are just some of the problems I am having with the modern church and why I feel Christianity is ineffective in this day and age. We as Christians have conformed to worldly ideals and that has seped into how the church is run. It's really sad.
posted by JN | 4:34 PM
1 Comments:
Welcome to the blogesphere, Jarrod!
Great first entry, well thought out. I share similar views with you.
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