I ran across this on a blog yesterday.
Quote:
I’ve already mentioned this week that it’s biblically impossible to be “biblical,” but there’s something else that’s impossible for evangelical Christians: unity as intellectual uniformity. Authors/speakers/bloggers often lament that the church could truly be unified if only we could all agree on “X.”
The measure for unity has been anything from adopting specific doctrines or creeds to a particular approach to social issues.
If I’ve made one huge, colossal mistake over the years, it’s the expectation that the right theology can fix everything. That’s where so many evangelical and progressive reform movements fall off the tracks.
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And in another place, I read where someone has suggested that the best answer to "what are you?" is:
Quote:
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I am a Christian. I practice my faith in way "X."
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Lower the position of the group, the doctrines, the theology. Elevate the association with Christ. That is the only thing we have in common. Among Christians, we disagree on:
Calvinism
Baptism
How to "do" the Lord's table
How to preach the gospel
Music
Forms and traditions
We even disagree on:
Democrat v Republican v Green v Libertarian v Tea party
How to deal with social issues
What we should do about homosexuals and abortion
Chick-fil-A
The Boy Scouts
Home schooling v private school v public school
Unity is clearly not in any of these things. Even within a single congregation there is division on these.
Unity is only in Christ. Not in doctrine, creed, apostle, or even dirt.
At least most of the Christians "out there" kind of know all of this. It is the ones who are sure that they have found
THE WAY that are the most fooled by their own minds. Or rather darkened in their own minds. The LRC is not alone in this. They are just very close to most of us, often in ways we wish they were not.
I'm continually dumbfounded that there are so many truly intelligent people who can listen to TC (or Lee, or BP, RG, RK, etc.) say the kinds of things we have quoted from these men in this thread and their insides don't scream so loudly that the people on the next block can hear it. But only silence.