Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
One could possibly make the same critique of Christianity; not a few have done so. As time went on and the message spread, it changed.
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This is where it's important for people to differentiate between spreading the gospel versus spreading a movement. Obviously, it's churches/movements that serve to tell others about Jesus. But more or less, there is always the additional concern with the health and growth of the group. Nothing wrong with that. But what happens when the growth of the movement takes precedence over the gospel? Then the 'gospel' becomes whatever serves to help the group grow. Admittedly, it's a trap that a lot of Christian groups have fallen into.
Part of my purpose with what I posted yesterday was to address the inevitable sociological/political issues that influence the formation and growth of different movements. And as far as I’m concerned, such things are factors in all groups, like it or not. Notice though, how I avoid the temptation to characterize such aspects as being something negative. Understandably, people might feel that the implications of such things might 'detract' from the image of any given group, but I don't really think that's any reason to shy away from talking about that. The real issue is not the imperfections or shortcomings, but it is any assumption that such things don’t factor into the equation.
Take the LC for instance, they would like to think that their group is free from anything related to cultural, politics, etc. As such, they have proceeded to attempt to spread their movement everywhere introducing the same cookie-cutter template wherever they go. It is for that very reason that they have been met with a tepid response.