- For those preachers who preach the prosperity message and maintain that Jesus and His apostles were at least well-to-do...why did Jesus have to be interred in a borrowed tomb?
- Jesus' sermons were rare, and usually composed of parables that illustrated points He wanted to make. So how come we get long sermons that are devoted to a line-by-line 'unpacking' of the Bible?
- While we don't know a lot about how Jesus' followers dressed, we do know that His sermons were relatively informal affairs, like as not held outdoors. So why do we have big, fancy churches, uniformed ushers, and, often, professionally prepared and equipped musicians?
- Jesus didn't follow the rituals of the Pharisees - but so much of what we do in church is ritualized. While this may be comforting, Christianity is supposed to make you think. It's not a security blanket.
- Why do we have cry rooms to separate out the kids, when Jesus said not to hinder them?
- Why do we have Sunday School and VBS, when we're told to bring kids up in such a way that they won't 'depart from it'? I think it meant bring them up ourselves, and not outsource.
I'm neither a clergyman nor a theologian, so I don't know any of the answers. But it seems to me that Christianity, as practiced in the West today, has drifted from some of the characteristics that formed the early church, and made it different in specific from the practice of Judaism at the time.
Maybe McLuhan was right, and the medium (or method of delivery) has become the message.
Sure hope not.
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ReplyDeleteBAD typo there...let's try again, shall we?
ReplyDeleteI had someone tell me that the KJV was the ONLY acceptable version of the Bible.
"So, some remote tribe in the Amazon needs to learn to speak and read Old English before they can read the right version of the Bible?"
"Yes."
Jerk.
You can figure out the rest of the conversation, can't you?
Would have LOVED to be a fly on the wall for that one.
Delete