Apologetics

I feel compelled to make some statements here and now about the Church, not only to Christians in the Church, but also to Seekers outside our doors. I make these statements as one who identifies with Christ and the principles He taught. I feel a little bit in writing this like Martin Luther, nailing his theses on the door of the church. I say this because I feel, as Martin Luther did, that the Church is in need of Reformation. The modern Church is not committing all the same grievous mistakes as once it did but is, now, only adding to them all new mistakes. Fundamentally, the Church has gotten wayward. We have lost our way from the essential truths and doctrines which Jesus taught into the legalism and politics of modern Christendom. Rather than break out war within the Church over differences in theological beliefs, as the Church had been guilty of in the past, we fragment into thousands of little 'denominations', each catering to its own brand of legalism, its own theological interpretations and traditions. We no longer have congregation; we have segregation. We cannot agree on the unimportant beliefs, so we sacrifice the important beliefs that we do agree on in order to preserve that which does not even matter. The Church has become worldly. Even today, most churches warn their patrons not to become caught up in worldly affairs, a sin which churches, themselves, commit. We become involved in the politics and issues that are worldly. Christianity upholds principles of non-violent protestation before violence, of flight before fight, and of putting things in God's hands before taking matters into our own hands, but we are shooting up abortion clinics, committing hate crimes, and bombing people in foreign nations. We have become so caught up in fundamentalism that we have lost sight of what is fundamentally important. God did not come to impose laws and put forth amendments. He did come to condemn those who failed at the laws or to settle once and for all what the scriptures mean. He did not come to teach us how to read Hebrew or Greek, so we would be equipped to make the superior translation of five-thousand-year-old texts that had been passed down over thousands of years as stories by word of mouth from simple, superstitious-minded, pre-civilization peoples in one isolated part of the world. He did not come to confine our view of the world to a narrow interpretation of what is right and wrong. He came to open our minds to wider, more far-reaching truths. He came to free us of the burden of sin and of the laws that had become imprudent thousands of years earlier. He came to teach us that people are immeasurably more important than fundamentalism and also, how we might help people in more profound ways than just saving their souls. These most important principles have become subjugated by legalism and corruption in the Church. As I see it, Martin Luther failed. Martin Luther failed, because he allowed the Church to survive. He allowed the old traditions, fundamentalism, and legalism to linger as he re-introduced the more important fundamentals. In doing so, the Church was able to return to its old and invalid ways and invent new ways to preserve its heresies. As I see it, the Church needs a burning, a dying off, of all that it is and was. The Church must fall and burn, and from the ashes, essential Christianity can rise like the phoenix. Every forest must burn to experience new growth. We should not fear it. Every bible, every hymn book, every pew, every church house, every sacred artifact could burn and be scattered to the wind, and Christianity would survive. God could raise the Church again, anew, and preserve only that which was important. I am not advocating the burning of bibles or church houses. I am advocating that we, as a Church, lay down all the unimportant minutia of modern Christendom, and take up the Cross. Put forth only that which is important, that which helps people and glorifies God. Hang on only to the principles Christ taught. Do not indoctrinate congregations and fellow believers with six-thousand-year-old laws that Christ himself nullified. Do not put forth as truth and law that which is only an interpretation of vague scripture. Do not impose your own interpretation of scripture on others, but rather, give them the freedom to make up their own minds about it. The Bible has survived numerous attempts to destroy it. There is something there worth preserving. There are essentially important truths and overarching themes that are still relevant and will always be relevant. But there is much that is in question and should remain in question. There are questions, which cannot be legitimately answered until the Eternity, and we should not pretend that we have them in the corporeal. We don't have all the answers, and we should be courageous enough to admit it, humble enough to go before God and let Him teach us what He would have for us, as individuals, to learn from His Word. I feel at times ashamed, not of Christ, but of Christians. I feel as though I must apologize to the Seekers for my brothers and sisters in Christ, who have at times been more of a hindrance than a help to you. I am sorry if you have been more hurt by the Church than helped by Its ministry. I must say to you that Christianity does not teach those things. Christianity does not teach that we are to put forth moral objection before proactive sympathy. Christianity does not teach that our moral convictions supercede your human needs. Christianity does not teach that our own biblical interpretations supercede, your own personal experiences, which are both more real and reliable. I must say to you that Christianity really does teach that there is a God out there who loves each one of us as individuals. Christianity really does teach that He loved you enough to die for you. Christianity really does teach that He freed you of the burden of sin, though sometimes, wayward Christians have condemned you for your sins when they had no place to do so. Christianity really does teach that love is preeminent. Christianity really does teach non-violence and peace. Christianity really does teach that there is life after death, and if you so desire, you can spend it with the God who created you and loves you. Sometimes, the Church just gets lost in less-important principles. Please, do not fault Christ or Christianity for the misdeeds of wayward Christians. Christians are human, too, and are given to human frailty. The frailties of Christians are not a reflection of Christianity. Christianity stands alone as a guiding light to Seekers and Believers alike.

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