LRC, Houston - the weekends-free church in Houston, Texas

Where have we landed, as Christians living in America in 2006?

Many things have changed since Jesus walked and lived among us, but some things have remained the same. As Christianity tried to find its legs and establish itself after the death of Jesus, the battle for “who would be right” began in earnest. Not that it didn’t rage DURING His life. Can you say Pharisees and Sadducees? How about Essenes, Zealots, and a dozen other sects?

But back to AFTER his death. What was Christianity? What did it mean? Who was it’s leaders? Of course if you were Catholic, you knew that answer- Peter of course! Have you ever asked anyone HOW the Bible came about? Let’s make it easier. How about just the New Testament? Who decided that the twenty seven books would be our canon? Oh yes, and which translation of those twenty seven books?

Translations were not canonized, King James notwithstanding!

For a heated three hundred year+ period (40ce to 400ce), various groups duked it out over which books you and I should read. The Holy Spirit did it you say? What Holy Spirit? From what I see in history, there was very little “holy” in the attacks on each group (too many to list here). The central issue though was basically the “nature of Jesus”. Was He human, divine, both, neither (possible), or what? Did the Christ leave Jesus right before the cross? Did the Christ enter Jesus at His baptism, or much earlier? Think about the theological impact of those two questions.

Today, the battles still rage on; however, we have departed from the nature of JESUS, to the nature of our RELIGION, which means the nature of our local CHURCH! And of course you know that YOUR way, YOUR church, YOUR views, and YOUR doctrines are the right ones. By the way, that means that everyone else is WRONG!

Wonder what Jesus thinks about such an attitude?

Yeah, yeah, why ask, we know what He thinks about it.

It seems to me that what we today have in common with them of 2,000 years ago is that we’re still missing the point (is that the definition of sin?). Shouldn’t the focus be on loving God and enjoying Him forever? And if we think someone else is being led astray, would praying for them and loving them be better, produce more fruit, be more pleasing to Jesus than putting them down, calling them names, and using a bullhorn in the middle of the street to codemn their ways (can you say abortion terrorists-protesters?).

Don’t give up on us Father.