Friday, December 12, 2008

Christian Carousel?

When I wrote to the evangelistic association as a teen to tell them that I had made a commitment to Christ, they kindly wrote back and gave me a gospel of John and some advice. They advised me to find a local church where the Bible was preached and to leave mine if the Word was not preached there. Sounded like good advice; the only problem is that it was not Biblical! One is hard pressed to find any evidence of "temple hopping" in the Hebrew Bible( there was only one!) and people did not" synagogue shop" in Galilee during Jesus' day. People understood that they were not a member of an organization which they could choose to join or leave; they knew that they were part of a community and that they would have to live and work out issues in that community. Not so today. People switch frequently (my church gains many folks this way). In fact I find the more "biblically based" people say
they are the more likely they are to consider switching communities. Perhaps they are more biblical but not in this case; Jesus would be amazed at their move and a bit disappointed as well.
dmac

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