39,000 Piece Puzzle

A small town near my brother's home has 3 Reformed churches. First Reformed, Second Reformed and "Smalltown" Reformed. This town has a population of about 1,800, why do they need 3 Reformed churches??? Could they differ that much in doctrine??? Can't they see how much more effective they would be if they joined together??? It used to really, really bother me.

The standard answer as to why there are so many denominations/congregations is that satan creates strife to prevent the work of the Kingdom from being accomplished. We get caught up in whatever little soap opera is going on around us in the congregation and take our eyes and minds off of Christ Jesus. It happens over and over.

I don't know why Smalltown has 3 Reformed churches. Maybe there were very significant disagreements over doctrine. Maybe there were issues with the character of the pastor. I can only guess. What I do know for sure is that Christ is victorious no matter how many denominations or congregations are formed. The work of the Kingdom continues to be carried on and, in the case of Smalltown, they have 3 Reformed churches carrying on the mission - preaching the Word, baptizing, sharing communion, praying, worshiping and praising! Alleluia!!

According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity there are 39,000 Christian sects in the world today. That's an awful lot of people I have to convince that I am right. ;-)

What I am trying to say is that if you are looking for the differences you will easily find them. It takes real skill to find the similarities - and to see the whole picture. Like the stained glass image of Jesus, it takes many pieces to make the whole. The Lord will sort it out in the end (Matthew 13:47-50).

Freedom, Part 2

Once again (and this time complete) the first freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

I didn't intend to have a second post on religious freedom but the situation with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) piqued my interest. This is the church/compound that law enforcement authorities raided this week in Texas and removed hundreds of women and children. Members of the church are accused of polygamy, and physical and sexual abuse.


The guarantee of "free exercise" of religion obviously does not provide protection for unlawful behavior. That's a good thing....Right? In this case involving the FLDS the answer is obviously and emphatically Yes! Law enforcement should have stopped this cult's activities years ago.


There is an interesting article regarding the FLDS on MSNBC titled "Is Texas Group a Religious Sect or a Clear-Cut Cult?" From this article:

Janja Lalich, a sociologist at California State University, Chico...told LiveScience she definitely thinks the Texas compound should be called a cult. "If you've got a group that's abusing hundreds and hundreds of women and children, let's call it what it is," she said....the distinction between a legitimate sect and a cult is simple: It depends on what or whom you worship. "In a healthy or legitimate religion or sect, you are presumably worshiping some higher principle or some higher authority," Lalich said, "whereas in a cult people tend to end up worshipping that living human leader." She added, "Your salvation is tied up with that particular living leader, and obeying orders and not breaking the rules, and subjecting yourself to whatever personal transformation you're expected to go through to be on that correct path to salvation."

She hits on some of the hallmarks of a true cult:

1. Abuse or violence used against those who disobey, disagree or try to leave.

2. Leaders who claim to have the key to salvation. Outside of the cult there is no hope for salvation.

3. Leaders who claim to have a mandate from God, to speak for God. (The FLDS leader claims to be a prophet.)

4. Separation from those who do not believe as you do.

5. Teaching that obedience to the laws of the cult will result in personal transformation

Cults exist and have existed in small scale and in large scale throughout history. This isn't the first and it surely isn't the last. Plenty of cults exist and go unnoticed because members are not overtly breaking secular law. Yes, even cults are guaranteed freedom to practice their religion.

Now that I think about it, in some ways the Texas authorities who broke up the compound were acting much like Martin Luther. :-)

Freedom

Last week I saw a "coexist" bumper sticker like the one pictured above. Fourteen-year-old speculated that the driver of the car must be a pastor.

Huh?

I explained (rather long-windedly) that I thought the driver would not be a pastor because the bumper sticker implies that all religions are equal and a pastor ought to believe what he believes to be the truth and not just one of many potential truths or what would be the point of believing anything. After all, believing in everything is the same as believing in nothing.

Fourteen replied, "Oh. I thought it just meant we should all get along. You know, peace and stuff."

Oooooh.

Maybe it does....but maybe we do.

Remember this?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...

The first article of the Bill of Rights. The first freedom guaranteed to Americans. A promise that there would be no American version of the Church of England. Hence, a plethora of religions coexist here. And they not only coexist, but thrive.

"Coexist" you say? I can't imagine it any other way.