Congregation or segregation?

…As of 2003 we had over 30,000 independent Churches and denominations

We continue to ‘break of and divide’ sadly, this is the nature of dualism… Plato thanks for nothing! A largely Hebraic faith has been turned into Greek philosophical thinking, that focuses on ‘doing’ and not on ‘being’ The only way that dualism can survive and thrive is within the context of black-and-white absolutes. Denominationalism is an extension of this same thinking and its propensity for absolutes.

Denominationalism is yet another form of that, ever enlarging, fort called the ‘ghettorization of Christianity’. We should all consider, at least once, visiting or better still, moving to another denomination, even if only for a few weeks, it would serve us all well. If we are Pentecostals we could consider embracing the Hi-Anglican tradition. If we are Church of Christ we might consider the Pentecostal and or charismatic tradition.

Now this may seem an absurd suggestion by many, and in truth the vast majority will reject this suggestion with some venom. This leads to the inevitable question…why should we give this any consideration?

Case Study: I came from a strong, fundamentalist, Pentecostal tradition; Years later I now embrace, amongst others, the Anglican-Catholic tradition. I also have a great appreciation for the Presbyterian / Wesleyan traditions. This, quite by default, has brought with it a much deeper a much greater appreciation for my own charismatic /Pentecostal tradition, in particular pneumatology, and the importance of the gifts of the Spirit.

Please consider…

The Christian faith traditions are as broad as they are deep, yet human nature being what it is; we define our parameters through, we would describe as, sound theological reason. In doing this we then build up well developed and defined theological walls, we reinforce and defend these same theological biases, and more often than not they are, through denominationalism. Disappointingly our denominations are not defined by our vast similarities as Christians, and lets face it our similarities are vast and overwhelming in comparison, but sadly by our differences. Within these same walls we not only find a dubious sense of identity, but we defend it to the hilt, often times above and beyond the scope of scripture. For far too many, denominationalism is much more important than our broad scriptural common ground and heritage. What this does is to keep us re-defining and then reinforcing these same differences. The ghettorization of Christianity will remain and will continue due primarily to this issue of denominationalism, why? Because like a whirlpool it pulls us in, never drawing us out, it creates a vortex. The centralist is denominationalism.

When we ‘break away’ from our own denomination, at the every least we broaden our theological centre, not to mention the greater appreciation for our own denomination, and more importantly we open up vast opportunities for God’s Spirit to work. God’s Spirit is often times limited by and too our own denomination, our great strengths create and sustain denominational blind spots and weaknesses. In investigating other denominations what we are doing in reality is opening up ourselves to God’s Spirit and then saying in effect “I want to experience you God in a NEW way”. For many, there own denomination becomes almost an impenetrable obstacle, immunizing them in effect against experiencing God in new, fresh and vibrant ways, in effect what we are stating is; “my denominations is the ONLY way in which I can experience God” when we open up to the experience or expose ourselves to other denominations we are, at the very least, exposing the chinks in our armor and letting down our defenses, from this position ‘all things are then possible’

This new experience has the capacity for broadening our appreciation of the trinity. Denominationalism focuses on particular facets of theology and in doing this also singular persons of the trinity. What this experience, going to another denomination, does is open us up to the vast river of the Spirit that operates above and beyond and outside our, oft times, limited denominational capacity to understand and experience God.

In doing this, it also helps us to embrace the similarities and in doing this blurs the lines that separate and divide. No one denomination has the whole truth of scripture, even through many would challenge this, we share in the commonwealth of all believers, we hold to certain truths in scripture that are never above and beyond the truths of other denominations. What we do in effect is hold the two in tension, and in holding the two in tension we give honor to the other, and in giving honor we allow the Spirit vast opportunities to move above and beyond our own very limited, very strategic boundaries, and in doing this we grow above and beyond the scope and possibilities of our own denomination.

Please consider;

…when was the last time a hi-Anglican was filled with the Spirit during liturgy? When was the last time a hi- Pentecostal experienced the power of God through solitude and silence during a service?