Non-Binary Unity
I jest with the title of this post, but here's a concept I've been thinking about a lot today.
Whether you're talking about a very strict Armstrongian methodist church, or a flamboyantly liberal Osteenesque prosperity only church, a politically charged Evangelical church or a classical Catholic church, all teach nuance in certain areas. For instance, all teach varying degrees of Faith, in particular that faith does not come in a binary package. You can have a little of it, none of it, a lot of it, etc.. All have the understanding of nuance and variation in SOME of their doctrines, but there is one particular doctrine that ALL organized churches seem to have that DOES NOT include any acceptance of nuance or variation... that is Unity. All Churches it would seem impose a hardline, binary concept of unity. Either you're with us or you're the enemy, no in between. Unity though, is probably one of, if not the most varied trait of individuals amongst a group, for crying out loud no two people agree on everything... and thank goodness. Can you imagine that as a parent, one of your children didn't like washing the dishes that you would disown them? So much power and control is baked into the organizational concept of unity.. it's NEVER about being unified with Christ, it's always about being unified with the organization. I ask you to think, to what end? If your church had every member as a yellow pencil with no complaining and full attention, would anything change? Would any "major work" as so many suggest actually be done? Does your church even "Do" anything now?? I challenge someone to specifically articulate "what" and precisely by what method could be done by a large 'unified' organization that is not possible now.. I challenge you, because you can't. That is all for now, just ruffled feathers from this morning's walk.
But seriously.. if you can articulate 1, one single thing that an organized religion can do in God's service that an individual cannot do, Tell me!
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