What? Did I just say that? Am I off my rocker?

Perhaps. But despite every effort of my mind to dismiss such a peculiar, radical statement, I have come to embrace it, realizing that yes, we do in fact need more conflict in our churches.

Now, such a statement can’t be made without careful explanation. So give me a minute before you click the X in the corner of the window and vow never to visit my site again. It is, after all, easy to misinterpret the argument that more, not less, conflict is needed in our churches.

Firstly, I am not at all advocating division, anger, or hatred. Instead, I am advocating the exact opposite: unity, love, and forgiveness. But what does conflict have to do with that?

Forget, for a moment, everything you’ve been conditioned to think about church community. I am about to argue that conflict is, in fact, absolutely necessary in order for true unity to occur. Even more, without conflict, there can be no true love, nor even true forgiveness within the Church. Why then do we look at conflict as such a bad thing?

(continue reading…)

In taking a class about the so-called Restoration Movement, I have come to realize to a new degree how Christianity has been hijacked by a different faith. The two most famous fathers of the Restoration Movement, namely Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell, were, by orthodox standards, heretics (Stone rejected the Trinity, as well as the eternality of Christ; Campbell held a view similar to baptismal regeneration, where the Holy Spirit was completely uninvolved in conversion). However, the movement, despite its unprecedented theological laxness, grew extremely quickly throughout the early to mid 19th century and easily became accepted among the mainstream denominations. Why?

For an answer, I direct the reader to the American Revolution. The attitude that sparked the Restoration Movement was the same attitude that inspired the Declaration of Independence. The United States of America was founded upon strong ideas of individualism, egalitarianism , free will , antiestablishmentarianism, and primitivism (for example, the strong classical Greek and Roman influences upon the United States Government). As Americans, these are our greatest values. This American sentiment was so widespread that it could not be escaped—even in the Church. Hence, the Restoration Movement became a religious echo of the Revolution, characterized by a much wider range of acceptable religious beliefs (individualism), a push for unity (egalitarianism), an increase in Arminian theology (free will), a distrust of denominational authority (antiestablishmentarianism) and the drive to restore the church to its New Testament ideals (primitivism).

With this understanding, it is clear that the spirit of the age—the cultural values of early 18th century America—easily crept into the Church, virtually undetected. A few schismatic men decided to break from tradition, and many followed them. After all, they, too, held the ideals of the Revolution close to their hearts. This was the beginning of the sneaky interweaving of Christianity and Americanism. “God and country” became more closely tied to one another than ever before, and the American civil religion—a patriotic, individualistic, freedom-loving twist on traditional Christianity—soon flourished throughout the land. Before long, it was hard to separate so-called Christianity from Americanism, and the two have since often been confused.

(continue reading…)

I’m using this highly alliterative title as a demonstration.

We, as humans, are oft-driven by an attraction to witty catchphrases. You probably noticed a superfluous repetition of the letter “S” in the title of this entry and immediately became relatively curious as to what I’m writing about.

In a way, you could say I’m marketing my blog to you by trying to “sell” it with a catchy title. In fact, we’re all bombarded by a fusillade of similar marketing pitches daily. Whether it be a product, a service, or an idea, someone’s always trying to sell you something. This marketing relies on the consumer-driven mindset of humans, which, in my opinion, is part natural and part cultural.

Human beings are naturally created, in a sense, to be consumer-minded. We’re created with reason and will and must inevitably make choices that will benefit us. This is part of the story of human survival; through a basic consumer’s attitude, we know not to eat poisonous mistletoe berries (which can be fatal), but instead enjoy blueberries and raspberries. This type of discrimination has remained with us to the present day, where it is brought out in very new situations.

Since the beginning, marketing has occurred to appeal to man’s consumer instinct. In the Garden of Eden, Satan craftily used marketing—in the form of temptation—to coax Adam and Eve into “buying in” to sin. Referring to the fruit of the forbidden tree, the serpent said, “in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Likewise, marketing today “tempts” people into buying into things by making lofty claims and promises or by appealing to a person’s insecurity and fear.

However, although marketing has persisted throughout the millennia as means of manipulating consumer-driven people, today’s culture is filled with an unprecedented level of propaganda and marketing. While humans have always been consumers, is is only in the present age that the “ism” morpheme has been attached to the word “consumer,” as our society becomes increasingly materialistic. Today, advertising has reached unbelievable heights as new media allows consumers to be reached and make purchases within the comfort of their own homes. There is an entire industry wholly dedicated to marketing; companies know how to sell things effectively.

But companies aren’t the only ones trying to sell something.

With a charge to be evangelistic, Christians are certainly trying to “sell” the gospel, to some extent. This is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, we bear witness and give testimony in order that others might come to know Christ. If we want people to know Jesus, we’re undoubtedly going to try to get people to “buy in” to the gospel. What makes this dangerous, however, is our method of doing so.

(continue reading…)