I think I'm becoming something of a Christian purist, but it's not happening over night. My friends and I are attempting to peel off the barnacles of dogma and orthodoxy that have attached themselves to the hull of the S.S. Gospel over the centuries, relentlessly slowing the ship until it is almost dead in the water. We're finding that the underlying vessel is nearly unrecognizable to the religious bystander. Most everybody knows that there's something there, but it hasn't been seen in years, so nobody even knows what it looks like anymore-- and that's where much of our challenge lies. What are the true essentials to our faith?
There's a field of theological thought and practice called "Jesus Only". This is a long-standing detachment of pilgrims who have long known that the religious system we know today is not the essential faith that God had in mind when the Church began at Pentecost. 150 years ago, the Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard, said, "Christendom has done away with Christianity without quite being aware of it." For about 1,700 years this ship has been sailing under the flag of Christ while concealing the dozens of other flags to which it maintains allegiances-- flags of politics, denominations, various theologies, traditions, dogmas and so on.
Okay, so I have badly mixed my metaphors: Is it flags or barnacles? Well, I guess it's both. The barnacles might be the traditions and practices which have attached themselves to the gospel but have ended up detracting from it. The flags are the collusive loyalties to which the church has aligned itself which betray it's true allegiance to the gospel of Christ.
As an up-and-coming purist believer, here are some of the compromising alliances that I've dislodged and discarded so far:
- Church attendance. --the purist says, "I am the church... well, part of it anyway."
- Commitment to a local assembly. --"Now I can be committed to my neighbors."
- Tithing. --"I live a life of generosity, managing the %100 that belongs to God." (Some say that tithers are cheating God by approximately %90.)
- Legalism, The Law. --"The work of Christ is Freedom." (Gal. 5:1)
- Alignment with the more Christian Republican party (in the North. Democrats in the South)
- Militarism, nationalism. --"I am loyal to a greater Kingdom."
- The Sunday uniform of proper apparel (obviously, because I'm not attending)
- The doctrinal registry of who is "in" and who is "out". --"I leave that up to the Lord."
- Accepted Christian behavior. --"Love God, and do what you want." -(St Augustine)
- Condemnation of sinners, including gays, divorcees, etc. --"I follow Jesus' 3rd Great Commandment: 'Do not judge'."
- Hierarchy. --"As a member of the Body, I am answerable directly to the Head, which is Christ. There are no ranks or levels in between."
- LIstening to sermons. --"I don't need to be fed, I need to love. That's all."
- Contributing to the upkeep of a church building. --"Starving children need it more."
- The Pastor. --"We are all priests and minister to each other."
- Worship time. --"Life is worship. Serving the needy is true worship. Millions of believers the world over never attend a worship service; look at the Chinese."
- Guilt, Condemnation. --Avoiding legalists, condemning people, and oppressive religious environments has helped liberate. "There is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1
It's not comprehensive, but it's a pretty long list, isn't it? That should be a revelation in itself that there is a whole lot of non-essential foreign matter attached to this Ship. So what's left for the purist believer? It's the same thing it was at the start, and here it is:
- Love the Lord and your neighbors. Express it any way you want to. Be like Jesus, who didn't waste time in the company of the religious when he could be hanging out with the irreligious.
The number of purist believers is rapidly growing in America. How many do you know?
