Reluctantly Ecumenical

Early on as a Christian, I was nurtured in a fairly fundamental Baptist church. It's not something I regret at all; over the years this has given me a fairly solid understanding of Scripture even if my daily Bible reading aren't what they should be, or even what they could be.

But I've learned a lot over the years that I can only chalk up to wisdom, to God putting the proper agents of grace in my path to teach me and guide me. And what I've learned has led me to a position many of my early instructors would consider heretical, and cuts to the core of why I call myself a "misfit Christian".

See, I've seen things. I've seen machines in the workplace that weren't maintained to OSHA standards, and whose very operation daily risked the lives of everyone who worked around them. I've seen families left out in the cold by an unfeeling bureaucracy and a church that largely believes its duty is to "its own" and not to EVERYONE around it. I've seen the heresies of the prosperity Gospel and dominionism creep into the church, as well as a few early church heresies, such as the teachings of the Judahizers. And I've seen a church that cherry picks its theology to its own convenience, carefully crafting God in their own image.

And through all of this, I've seen a simple religion; a religion that doesn't operate within churchhouse walls, a religion of less than perfect people who know they are less than perfect and who feel their guiding purpose is not perfect theology but to love without limit and care unconditionally. A church of healers, of helpers, of people who feel that the short span of their lives can make a substantial difference.

The problem with the latter church is that not all of its agents consider themselves "Christian".

Several years ago, I had a vision of a ministry of "Aggressive Servitude". Of finding people where they are, of encouraging, uplifting them daily (not just on holidays), of discipleship, of fellowship and of love. The specific vision I had involved things like pressing onesself into service to meet very specific needs that make a substantial difference.

For over ten years I have tried to use this vision within the churches in my area with complete futility. I've increasingly come to believe that it was not the devil turning me back on this one, but God, because this vision should be larger than the confines of the Laodicean church that dominates the area landscape.

One of my core doctrines over the last fifteen years has been what I call "the paradox of the grace only Christian". That is, most of the churches I have attended have considered themselves to be saved "by grace, through faith". They believe that the grace of God covers their own imperfections. Yet they increasingly label other doctrines and other denominations "cults" because they don't hold a perfect theology. In other words, the grace of God covers their own imperfection but not that of others.

If anything is the heresy, it would be this. All of us have flawed theologies. We cannot be expected to understand every bit of theology when much greater thinkers than us have been stymied by some of the same questions. And so we really should press forward trying to figure out the best ways to manifest our faith.

I am learning to take care of the big things; to let the little things work themselves out. And I am equally learning that the bigger things consist largely of: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (the fruit of the Spirit). And that judgment is more in line with the fruits of the flesh.

To the critic who thinks I myself am judging: I am not. I am speaking against a doctrine, against a movement that I see in the church, not against an individual or group of individuals. Leaving congregations for me is not about criticizing that body of believers, but rather about understanding that what God has called me to transcends that body. It's not a greater ministry, it's just MY ministry.

And so in my path, I have become reluctantly ecumenical because I believe that I cannot effectively minister and put the label that an individual places on their faith above the need to serve where I am at. I know there will be people who do not understand, who do not agree, but that's their burden, not mine.