If you were to count up all the Christian "religions", and their individual sects, branches, and other divisions, you'd probably retire before you even found them all.
Why is it so difficult for people to agree about what to believe about faith issues? Whenever there is even the slightest difference in those beliefs among people, another "religion" springs up to add to the growing list.
What started over 2000 years ago by somebody who simply told people the most important thing they can do is to love God more than anything, and to treat people right, has become this tremendously complicated, overly interpreted set of rules, regulations, laws, and oh yes.......obligations. Each group interprets differently, each group believes differently, and consequently, you have more Christian "religions" than you can count.
This is not to say that organized religion is a bad thing. That most certainly is not the case. Organized religion provides tremendous resources and opportunities to grow in faith and it most certainly can be the best way to worship. But it can also become a problem if it trys to take the place of the primary reason it was formed, to foster and promote an ongoing relationship with Christ.
Unfortunately organized religion sometimes takes on a life of its own. The focus on following rules and the resulting condemnation that comes from not following the rules, becomes more important than helping people deepen and grow in their relationship with Christ. That's when you see people participate in services, traditions, and rituals simply because they believe they "have to" or they are committing a sin.
It is only when participation in these things is done with specific intent and purpose that they provide any benefit to the people. And it's only when these things help deepen the ongoing relationship with Christ, that they have any real value.
If, instead of focusing on one's own own religion, people were to focus on the relationship that Christ promotes, and providing meaningful ways to deepen that relationship, perhaps there could be more unity AND more commonality........and even more importantly, more relationship amongst the Christian churches.
Just think how the face of Christianity would change from many different groups that focus on their differences, to one group that focuses on the real mission of Christianity. Ah yes......to love God more than anything and to treat people right. What a concept.........
Karen Wolff is the founder of http://www.christian-books-for-women.com, a website where Christian women can find help with issues they face every day
Any reprint of this article must include the author's bio and website links.
Removing Interior Walls
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