Buff Scott Jr.
Sophomore
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2023
- Messages
- 484
- Reaction score
- 135
- Points
- 43
The Myriad Abuses of “Churchianity“
Our obsession with “church” and church idols (edifices) are not the only reasons we have an apostate establishment on our hands, nor are they the only culprits. For even “congregation,” “community,” and “assembly”—correct renderings of the Greek ekklesia—are not immune from ecclesiastical abuse. And if our English “church” had never surfaced, our people would have devised another foreign icon to use as their sacred cow.
When we adopt any label or title that separates us from our fellow Christians, as we have done with “church,” we become a divisive religious league—a party, sect. I like the way The Living Bible tenders Galatians 5:20. It identifies the party spirit as “the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group.” I’m inclined to believe this strikes at the very core of our divisive predicament. The New English Bible renders “party intrigues,” and The Christian Bible describes the party spirit as “dissensions, sects.”
So we need to inquire: Have we adopted the “church” epithet to separate ourselves from other believers and to identify ourselves as a particular breed of Christians? To clarify, are we Baptist Christians, Methodist Christians, Church of Christ Christians, Lutheran Christians, Presbyterian Christians, Assembly of God Christians, or Church of God Christians?
If “yes” to any of the above, the Spirit justly charges us with possessing the party spirit (Gal. 5:20). No tossing of the coin will alleviate that fact. And if we are guilty of creating and/or promoting religious parties, how can we then claim that Jesus authored our churches? He founded the “one body” of believers, not our multicolored schisms (Eph. 4:4). His children are scattered among most sects—for wherever He has a child, we have a brother or a sister. But He is not the framer of our denominations, just as He was not the framer of the sects of his day.
There are, of course, other earmarks of a sect or religious party besides its name, label, or title. When a group of professed believers sets up a doctrinal platform, whether based on truth or fallacy, and rejects other believers who cannot accept it, that group becomes a religious party or sect. The “Christ party” at Corinth was as wrong as the “Paul party,” the “Apollos party,” and the “Cephas party” (I Cor. 1:12-13). It was wrong because it rejected other believers.
May your Thanksgiving be a great one
