Monday, March 03, 2008
False Religion
CNSNews reports that many view "global warming" with a religious eye. I agree - it is a branch of the growing "scientism." There is another pseudo-religion growing in this nation and everybody knows it - "Oprahism." I am also beginning to wonder if there is also not a "politicism" finding its way into our midst, which if you think about it would be the most fractured church in history.
These things are all apologetics if you think about. They are evidence of the contention that we as people are built to to hold dear something greater than ourselves with a faithful and uncritical eye. Throughout the history of the western world, until very recently, that has been some form of Christianity. However that predominance is fading, and one is forced to wonder why.
The common answer is complacency on the part of the greater, whole church. I agree, but I disagree with the conventional wisdom on how that complacency has expressed itself and how to respond to it.
I think the complacency has expressed itself by the various branches of Christianity infighting. Since we presumed that everybody was more-or-less a Christian, we started competing over what kind of Christian, which in turn looked VERY ugly to those that are not which resulted in a downward spiral towards these secular religions. It is still going on. It is pretty well documented that growth in megachurches is at the expense of other congregations in the neighborhood.
The plain fact of the matter is we have to get our internicene squabbling back into check or we risk losing it all. Our disagreements are real, but they must be kept in the proper perspective, and they must be somewhat behind the curtain. This is particularly true in the politico/cultural wars.
Frankly, much as I trumpet transformation around here, I fully understand that most people come to church for cultural reasons, not deeply religious ones. The church, to have any hope, must have cultural presence. The consequences of these false religions are too terrifying to think otherwise.
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These things are all apologetics if you think about. They are evidence of the contention that we as people are built to to hold dear something greater than ourselves with a faithful and uncritical eye. Throughout the history of the western world, until very recently, that has been some form of Christianity. However that predominance is fading, and one is forced to wonder why.
The common answer is complacency on the part of the greater, whole church. I agree, but I disagree with the conventional wisdom on how that complacency has expressed itself and how to respond to it.
I think the complacency has expressed itself by the various branches of Christianity infighting. Since we presumed that everybody was more-or-less a Christian, we started competing over what kind of Christian, which in turn looked VERY ugly to those that are not which resulted in a downward spiral towards these secular religions. It is still going on. It is pretty well documented that growth in megachurches is at the expense of other congregations in the neighborhood.
The plain fact of the matter is we have to get our internicene squabbling back into check or we risk losing it all. Our disagreements are real, but they must be kept in the proper perspective, and they must be somewhat behind the curtain. This is particularly true in the politico/cultural wars.
Frankly, much as I trumpet transformation around here, I fully understand that most people come to church for cultural reasons, not deeply religious ones. The church, to have any hope, must have cultural presence. The consequences of these false religions are too terrifying to think otherwise.
Technorati Tags:secularism, false religion, idolatry, squabbling
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