No, I’m not talking about the new plastic Canadian bills, folks! 🙂 I’m actually talking about a critique that comes up quite a bit against us Protestant believers, to wit:
“Oh you guys can’t even agree among yourselves! Anglicans, Congregationalists, Baptists… At least we, the (–>insert so-called “monolithic” religion’s name here) all agree!”
Let’s get this one cleared up once for all time, shall we? But first, the Ground Rules: we shall not refer to anything that may have happened in the Ignorant Past, all-righty? YES, there was a time when protestant denominations were quick to yell “Die, Heretic!” (to paraphrase a joke my pastor told at church the other Sunday…) to other protestant denominations. Get over it. We realize it was bad and have, for the most part, stopped doing it. I’ll explain why later as it’s the main reason for my post this month.
So why then, you ask, are there still denominations?
Because I firmly believe in the God of Diversity and Liberty. Christ died for sins, and with that death came freedom to worship Him with a free conscience and in our cultural milieu.
What does this mean? Well we all have different subjective tastes, don’t we? Some of us love being in the Big Cathedral with its awesome grandeur and time-honoured traditions and rituals, “smells and bells”, as I like to call ’em! 😉
In fact, one of the fondest memories of my teenage years was going to St. Michael’s Cathedral right in downtown Brussels for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve… a symphony orchestra, a huge choir, thousands of people with all of us standing because there were no actual seats, in a cathedral so old (about a thousand years off and on) that there were nets high overhead to catch the occasional falling piece of stone! I was heartbroken the day my mother told me that she had read that the cathedral had burned to the ground and the decision was made not to rebuild it…
Then others of us also like a simpler “Protestant” service: uplifting worship music (contemporary or traditional), a rousing sermon and and prayer and communion once a month or so. That’s the kind of church I attend now, and I LOVE it as well! Go Bethel!
Then there are those who have opted to return to a basic “Book of Acts” model: they meet in someone’s home and all take turns in participating in the preparation for worship.
Finally there are those among us who meet in someone’s home in secret, because if knowledge of their beliefs gets out, well… they’re dead. Pray for these suffering, secret believers. They are still very much among us, it pains me to say.
Now, what do we all have in common, though? What do we all believe “for salvation”? Let me quote old Paul here:
“For I determined to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” (1 Co 2:2, NASB).
So now, let’s ask the question:
– do Anglicans believe in Christ, and Him crucified? YES.
– do Congregationalists believe in Christ and Him crucified? YES.
– do Baptists believe in Christ and Him crucified? YES.
Does the fact that some of us are into smells and bells (and some of us aren’t) REALLY matter? NO, because that’s not where our salvation comes from, but that is where a lot of denominations part ways. So what, I ask?
In my own Bible Study group, I have had Anglican, Roman Catholic, Dutch Reformed and Congregational believers (and probably others I don’t even know about!) over the years. Do you know what we had, and continue to have, in common? JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED. And THAT, people, makes us sisters in Christ, period.
Now, some caveats though, before I get accused of being… gasp!… liberal and seeing salvation everywhere (those who know me are probably laughing out loud as we speak, but hey…):
– does this mean that there aren’t some legitimate divisive issues between some denominations? Absolutely… but we are learning that as sisters and brothers in Christ, it’s okay for “iron to sharpen iron” (Prov. 27:17) without fundamentally dividing on the issue of Christ’s death and resurrection. For example, everyone knows that I personally have some huge issues with Roman Catholic theology, but what I’ve decided to do is to take my Christians one at a time: one is no more more “not” a Christian because they’re RC than one is “automatically” a Christian just because they’re Protestant, ya know? Being a member of a denomination, and agreeing with everything that denomination says, are two different things.
– “Diversity” does NOT mean universalism, period. Not all will be saved, be clear on that piece of doctrine. If you have a problem with that, please take it up with Jesus Christ. I’m just the messenger, and he spoke more about eternal separation from God (i.e. Hell) than anything else, probably because he didn’t want us to go there! It’s become popular in recent years to try to repeal the doctrine of hell. Silliness, really.
– Diversity also does not mean “syncretism” (“a conscious combining of two or more religions over a short period of time, or a process of absorption by one religion of elements of another over a long period of time” – Harper’s Bible Dictionary). A disturbing example of this which is surfacing in our time is the so-called “Chrislam” movement: trying to appeal to Muslims to convert to Christianity… all while telling them it’s okay to continue to read the Qur’an and attend the Mosque. Some Christians have even created a translation of the Bible that removes any reference to Jesus as the Son of God, because it’s so offensive to Muslim sensibilities (e.g. when Jesus gets baptized, God says “This is my Messiah, in whom I am well pleased.”) WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, people! Christ is either the son of God, or he is not. We do not “change” his family status just so we won’t offend. May I quote Jesus on this one?
“But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him
before My Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 10:33, NASB).
(Notice his use of the term Father there too!)
Finally, in the “other people’s wild ignorance” by the way, I have news for you if you think that Protestants are the only ones with this so-called issue:
ROMAN CATHOLICISM:
– Everybody knows the actor Mel Gibson. He, and many others like him belong to a branch of Roman Catholicism that simply rejects anything having to do with Vatican 2 – they still practice a traditional High Mass in Latin.
– There are nuns and priests in Roman Catholicism who have been fighting for years for the right to marry, without success until now. But their fight goes on.
– there is also a theological battle ongoing between those who would have Mary declared “Co-Redeemer with Christ” and those who would not – this is especially a problem in South America where the cult of Mary actually surpasses the cult of Christ in some cases (“We don’t need Christ… we have his mother!”) By the way, should this ever pass, get out: your church is no longer Christian.
ISLAM:
– this is pretty simple, I give you Shia and Sunni Islam, a division which occurred at the death of Mohamed and which rages today (and they don’t hesitate to kill one another over it, I might add).
BUDDHISM:
– some Buddhists believe Buddha should be worshiped as a god (which I find mildly humorous since Buddha was an atheist…), and others do not.
I could go on, but we all have things to do (case in point, actually: tomorrow, I, a Congregationalist, am heading over to the local Salvation Army where I volunteer in their emergency pantry… shocking! 🙂
Now… we’ll hear no more of this “denominations” nonsense, right?
SEEGOD'S SPOT 