Ekklesia
The term church comes from the Greek word ekklesia suggesting that Christians are those who come out from the world. They are separated from the world.
We live in a time when the Protestant church has many similarities to the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. Instead of the church being those who are called out from the world; it has become an entity which was once called out but now has been reinfected by the world. The result is that we are now in a state which is worse than when we began.
To take the analogy further, the church is like the person in the Bible who was cleansed of the demonic and then demons worse than the first have repossessed it.
The Protestant church in the U.S. has been repossessed by all the evil that it desired to escape. The result, like the demoniac that was repossessed, is that we are seven times worse off than before.
Harsh words perhaps. But I believe that it is true.
As a Christian, I am not tied to one denomination. I began as a Baptist , but have spent substantial time in the United Church of Christ, Christian church, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches. My daughter is educated in a Catholic parochial school and I have a masters from a major university specializing in the history of the Catholic church. I have studied comparative religion and have spent time in both the Orient and India. I have attended services in mosques and in temples in order to learn more about people and their beliefs. I also have a degree in law from a major university.
Although I believe that God has a profound love for all people, be they Buddhist, Muslim or non-believers, the Christian church is not made up of those who believe that there is a God of love. It is made up of those who believe that Jesus is the Christ. However, hopefully we also believe that God is a loving God.
The term church comes from the Greek word ekklesia suggesting that Christians are those who come out from the world. They are separated from the world.
We live in a time when the Protestant church has many similarities to the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. Instead of the church being those who are called out from the world; it has become an entity which was once called out but now has been reinfected by the world. The result is that we are now in a state which is worse than when we began.
To take the analogy further, the church is like the person in the Bible who was cleansed of the demonic and then demons worse than the first have repossessed it.
The Protestant church in the U.S. has been repossessed by all the evil that it desired to escape. The result, like the demoniac that was repossessed, is that we are seven times worse off than before.
Harsh words perhaps. But I believe that it is true.
As a Christian, I am not tied to one denomination. I began as a Baptist , but have spent substantial time in the United Church of Christ, Christian church, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches. My daughter is educated in a Catholic parochial school and I have a masters from a major university specializing in the history of the Catholic church. I have studied comparative religion and have spent time in both the Orient and India. I have attended services in mosques and in temples in order to learn more about people and their beliefs. I also have a degree in law from a major university.
Although I believe that God has a profound love for all people, be they Buddhist, Muslim or non-believers, the Christian church is not made up of those who believe that there is a God of love. It is made up of those who believe that Jesus is the Christ. However, hopefully we also believe that God is a loving God.
The church is not the equivalent of the world, it is made up of those who are called out from the world. When you are called out from the world by the living Christ, you become a chosen people. There is a sense of difference, and perhaps to be bolder, there is a sense of exclusivity. Without this separation there can be no conversion, no call, and nothing that makes the Christian unique.
In an effort to be all things to all people, the current Protestant church has become a stew, and an unappetizing one at that. Instead of being the salt of the earth, we become trampled upon by all that is unholy in the world.
For those who are called to be Christian, we are identified with Christ. In His time, people did not like Him for who He said He was . He was judged to have been blasphemous for proclaiming his relationship to God. Before His crucifixion He warned us that if the world hated Him we expect nothing less. If it crucified Him, that was what we could also expect.
Jesus was hated and we are hated as well because we proclaim that we are different from the world. We are called out from it. There is a sense of separation and exclusivity and an implicit condemnation that not just any belief will fit. We proclaim the danger of being different from the world. That proclamation condemns the world and causes hatred to be our inheritance in this life.
Jesus proclaimed that he was THE way, not a way.
And so there are distinctives. Gradually as our denominations try to accommodate all beliefs under the terms love, acceptance and grace the denominational lines have been stretched to the point of breaking. We try to stay together in the name of unity and one church, but there is no unity. At some point, you can not accept both Jesus and Mohammed as Lord. Even in Hinduism which is often called the umbrella of religions there comes a point where the fabric tears. For that reason there is enmity between Islam and Hinduism.
I applaud the famous saying: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, freedom; but in all things, love. But then how do we determine the essentials.
Our problem today is not far different from the early church. Their effort to deal with what was essential was a creedal response using the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. It was not a bad response.
Below for instance is the Apostles Creed:
I believe in God the Father Almighty
Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost;
Born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead and buried;
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
The holy catholic church;
The communion of saints;
The forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body;
And the life everlasting. Amen.
So if you want basics and essentials, there they are.
Other groups trying to deal with modern day apostasy masquerading as Christianity have tried other attempts at trying to separate the wheat from the tares. One noteworthy attempt is The Confessing Church Movement that seeks churches to proclaim that they are committed to the tenets below:
That Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation.
That holy Scripture is the Triune God’s revealed Word, the Church’s only infallible rule of faith and life.
That God’s people are called to holiness in all aspects of life. This includes honoring the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate.
The creedal approaches are attempts by early Christians and more recent Christians to make distinctions.
But distinctions are not in favor today. In fact they never have been. Jesus taught us about a broad way, an inclusive way, that led to destruction. Then there is a narrow way that led to salvation. That narrow way is the way of embracing Christ and his word. It is not a popular way. It is not surprising that today’s protestant church has chosen a broad way. But that way does not lead to Jesus Christ even though it is posted with signs of love and grace and encourages acceptance and an affirmation that any action when properly understood is not really sin.
And so my call and plea to those who follow Christ is to return to our first Love. We are to love Him and His word first. Then we can love our neighbor. I have learned the hard way that love is not always acceptance. Acceptance without repentance only leads to a downward spiral. The Loving Father met the prodigal son when he came home. However, the prodigal son came home with a spirit of repentance. I do not believe that we can rewrite the story to say that had the prodigal son brought the swine that he tended and the prostitutes that he partied with, that his father would invited the whole group into the house and given a great party for all of them. Instead the son, had to become separate and leave those things behind.
In an effort to be all things to all people, the current Protestant church has become a stew, and an unappetizing one at that. Instead of being the salt of the earth, we become trampled upon by all that is unholy in the world.
For those who are called to be Christian, we are identified with Christ. In His time, people did not like Him for who He said He was . He was judged to have been blasphemous for proclaiming his relationship to God. Before His crucifixion He warned us that if the world hated Him we expect nothing less. If it crucified Him, that was what we could also expect.
Jesus was hated and we are hated as well because we proclaim that we are different from the world. We are called out from it. There is a sense of separation and exclusivity and an implicit condemnation that not just any belief will fit. We proclaim the danger of being different from the world. That proclamation condemns the world and causes hatred to be our inheritance in this life.
Jesus proclaimed that he was THE way, not a way.
And so there are distinctives. Gradually as our denominations try to accommodate all beliefs under the terms love, acceptance and grace the denominational lines have been stretched to the point of breaking. We try to stay together in the name of unity and one church, but there is no unity. At some point, you can not accept both Jesus and Mohammed as Lord. Even in Hinduism which is often called the umbrella of religions there comes a point where the fabric tears. For that reason there is enmity between Islam and Hinduism.
I applaud the famous saying: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, freedom; but in all things, love. But then how do we determine the essentials.
Our problem today is not far different from the early church. Their effort to deal with what was essential was a creedal response using the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. It was not a bad response.
Below for instance is the Apostles Creed:
I believe in God the Father Almighty
Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost;
Born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead and buried;
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
The holy catholic church;
The communion of saints;
The forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body;
And the life everlasting. Amen.
So if you want basics and essentials, there they are.
Other groups trying to deal with modern day apostasy masquerading as Christianity have tried other attempts at trying to separate the wheat from the tares. One noteworthy attempt is The Confessing Church Movement that seeks churches to proclaim that they are committed to the tenets below:
That Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation.
That holy Scripture is the Triune God’s revealed Word, the Church’s only infallible rule of faith and life.
That God’s people are called to holiness in all aspects of life. This includes honoring the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate.
The creedal approaches are attempts by early Christians and more recent Christians to make distinctions.
But distinctions are not in favor today. In fact they never have been. Jesus taught us about a broad way, an inclusive way, that led to destruction. Then there is a narrow way that led to salvation. That narrow way is the way of embracing Christ and his word. It is not a popular way. It is not surprising that today’s protestant church has chosen a broad way. But that way does not lead to Jesus Christ even though it is posted with signs of love and grace and encourages acceptance and an affirmation that any action when properly understood is not really sin.
And so my call and plea to those who follow Christ is to return to our first Love. We are to love Him and His word first. Then we can love our neighbor. I have learned the hard way that love is not always acceptance. Acceptance without repentance only leads to a downward spiral. The Loving Father met the prodigal son when he came home. However, the prodigal son came home with a spirit of repentance. I do not believe that we can rewrite the story to say that had the prodigal son brought the swine that he tended and the prostitutes that he partied with, that his father would invited the whole group into the house and given a great party for all of them. Instead the son, had to become separate and leave those things behind.
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