The Brokenness of Christianity

One of the main causes of such division is that we rarely do doctrinal triage. We treat nearly every doctrine as essential, and insist that fellowship depends on conformity. Unity requires we accept that we all see through a mirror darkly, and so none of us knows the full truth. Which means we have to come up with a tiered importance. Some doctrine render someone non-Christian, these are the essentials and are those things that directly deal with Christ and His divinity. Some things are worth separating ourselves from those who disagree, but still possible to recognize them as brethren. These tend to be the moral issues, questions of hierarchy, polity, and conduct. The last ones are ones where we can respectfully disagree and still be happy to worship side-by-side. These are whatever is left, things that are highly speculative like eschatology and technical like soteriology. If we all practiced some kind of triage, we'd be able to find more common ground.

Learning always said:

That's not judging. You misunderstood my usage of that word.
That's fine.
If you believe no change is necessary, I have nothing else to say.
Christianity is not broken, that's only what you think.

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@Learning always, I think we can extend a little bit of charity to @Delvianna since she's stated elsewhere that she's fairly recently experienced some amount of victimization under the guise of 'spiritual authority.' It's understandable if, at the moment, she's dealing with feelings of hyper-vigilance and going through a process of personal inquiry.

On some level, her concern here about the vast interpretive and ideological pluralism we find among those who claim to be Christian is legitimate.

2PhiloVoid said:

The Big Picture is that having God's Presence within us via the Holy Spirit doesn't guarantee our instant nor complete understanding of all of the various component messages, narratives, parables or prophecies that make up the overall Gospel and Kerygma.

It's just a part of being human; our understanding comes in degrees and relativeness to our ability to be better educated and to understand.

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I agree and that’s been my experience as well. As I’ve walked out my purpose there’s things I didn’t understand at the onset or possessed the experience or maturity to grasp as I should. But as time progressed the pieces began to fit and continue to do so. And I see them differently too. The bible is a lot like phyllo dough and there’s layers of revelation. An a-ha moment today becomes wow down the road. It was staring you in the face all along but you weren’t aware. That’s the beauty of His presence and constancy. We’re always learning.

You mentioned makeup in a previous post and you’re correct about its role in our approach. It reminds me of a piece I found years ago on spirituality types. We frequently have a dominant trait or a pair that resonates more than the rest. I’m definitely in the contemplative camp primarily because of my schedule. I have the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Him that’s unhurried which deepened our relationship. I was more intellectual in the early days and contemplated seminary. But it isn’t required for my calling and I focused on the activities that aid its accomplishment.

I don’t believe one is better than the next and ideally we have a bit of each within us. This topic is a good example of the beauty of spiritual gifts and the impact they have on our perspective. I don’t consider denominations as a hindrance for ministry or togetherness if that‘s the goal I have in mind. I’m viewing it through the lens of leadership with wisdom in tow. Devising a solution isn’t difficult if it was an impediment.

We weren’t designed to mirror one another. We’re meant to address our challenges with the tools He bestowed. Which comes back to the body and its functions. We usually see an issue from our position and gifting. A hand and head have different functions and will rarely think the same. The end goal may be shared but the way they go about it differs. The team won’t succeed if you don’t know your place.

~bella

ChubbyCherub said:

As soon as we split our following of Christ into 'denominations' we were set onto a path of chaos.

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Maybe it's perfectly fine.

Jesus is the one overseeing His church, so I don't think He is allowing it to get out of control and chaotic as you seem to think. There are differing levels of maturity in the body of Christ, and not everyone can believe all their bible.