Back a month or so ago, I initiated a discussion in this forum on the "Gnostic Gospels", which turned out to be a great topic, but fostered several angry, debative posts from other Christians on the board, as well as a number of rather pointed PM's which, after the name calling stopped, generally asked "what kind of a Christian are you?"
I'm going to tell you the answer to that question, and explain WHY, over the years I've gotten to this point in my faith, and what I see as the cause. This is a personal testimony, and therefore not open to debate (Mrs Smith please take note), however, please feel free to discuss the substance of the reasons why I have found myself in this position, their validity, and your personal experiences in your particular churches.......
The answer to the "What kind...." question is, that I consider myself to be a "Gnostic Christian".......not because I believe that I have any more "knowledge" than any other Christian, and not because that I consider the "Gnostic Gospels" as valid, special, or anything other than Christian curiosities........I'm a Gnostic Christian because I believe, as the ancient Gnostic's believed, that ones relationship with God (and Christ) is vested in ones personal relationship with Him, and not through the conduit of an organized church I firmly believe that one can maintain a state of "grace" and redemption, relying only on ones personal faith, prayer, and communion with the roots of Christ's teachings.......without a "church"......
My wife and I DO attend church regularly, several of them, and over our lives we have attended thousands of them, ranging from "Mass" at St. Peter's in the Vatican......all the way to a service in a humble dirt cave in upper Egypt, attended by half a dozen Coptic Christians (with an interpreter). I found the latter to be the most inspiring.....
I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church, and my wife, in the Christian Church (both in the same small town), and during our youth, we found that fellowship experience to be a rewarding and satisfying one.......however over the years (fifty or so), "our" churches, as well as the hundreds of others that we attended around the country, changed......it was subtle at first, and then seemed to accelerate over the past two decades or so.....until now, I can't recognize the "church" of my youth, its priorities and fellowship, and my wife's church is even worse.......
There have always been "splinter" church groups in America, which held unusual methods of worship, and differing levels of "passion", but those are not my concern.......my concern are the "mainstream" denominations, to which the majority of we Christians belong.
Hence the "Crisis in American Christendom........."
For the sake of discussion, I will express the levels of "devotion/direction" in American Christian churches as a simple continuum......an arithmetic continuum from "0" to "10". The church of my youth (and my wife) I will establish as a "5", or right in the middle. The middle (5) is a church that is centered on teaching the Gospels, and advancing ones Christian experience and knowledge through prayer and fellowship.......never losing sight of its primary mission, which is the spiritual health of its members......no other priorities exist in a "5" church.
My wife's church, has moved from a "5" to a "1"........interestingly this church is a one-room country church, in the middle of nowhere in rural Missouri farm country that has met in the same building since 1892......one would think that this church would remain anchored in its ecumenical roots, and remain focused, but alas, no. Around 1980 this church became affiliated with a national organization known as "The Disciples of Christ"....and that was when the changes began. Over the years, The "Disciples of Christ" (at the national and state level) began taking an interest in liberal political causes, and did so on an international level as well. We knew that something was wrong, because the congregation seemed no longer focused on the spiritual nature of church membership, but they seemed to be attending services just to "see and be seen", not worship.......services became little different than the Saturday night dinners at the country club after a round of golf.......they were "social" and not "spiritual".
All of a sudden, about two years ago our pastor left suddenly........and since he and I were close, we had a long discussion that absolutely shocked both of us.......he told us that he is required to attend "developmental pastoral conferences" monthly with the state leadership, and based on what the leaders were telling him that he must preach and support, he could no longer continue to be associated with the organization.
He was told that he must "embrace homosexuality" as an acceptable lifestyle, and attended Bible study workshops where the leadership told the pastors that they should teach that "Its OK to believe, and teach that Mary, the mother of Christ, was not a virgin, and that there was no real evidence that the resurrection actually happened, and that his church should be "open and accepting" to members who held divergent views on Gospel matters". We therefore did a little research on our own, and discovered that that the "mission offerings" that were being collected in our offering plates, were being used to support despotic African rebels, with communist connections that were at the very least questionable, and at worst genocidal.
We began looking for a new "church home", and looked at a number of other denominations, including the Southern Baptist church of my youth. We found the same "country club" attitude, coupled with a very real interest in all things political, whether at the local or national level......they were very active in conservative politics, and very inactive in the spiritual health of their members.......oh, they went through the "motions", but there was no passion in their devotion......only in their politics. I would rate them a "3"........
On the higher numbers of the numerical continuum, the "7's, 8's, and 9's, we found what I will referr to (for want of a better term) the "fundamentalists"........now these denominations were not into "faith healing", or "handling serpents", but these churches were so "hidebound" in the absolutes of scriptural interpretation that they refused to allow any discussion, conversation, or deviation whatsoever in THEIR version of Christianity, that they also completely lost sight of the fellowship and spiritual health of the members. There was no "teaching" in their discussions of the life and message of Christ, they were essentially dictatorships, which told the members exactly how they should conduct each and every aspect of their lives, and any deviation was generally met with scorn, or ostracism...........
Then there are the Catholics.......now I have, as I have stated in the past.......no axe to grind with Catholicism, but whenever we've attended Mass, and the priest invokes the Virgin and the Saints......there has always been a immediate vision form in my mind......of me, standing at the foot of a mountain, with its summit enshrouded in clouds.....when a voice, so loud that the ground shakes beneath my feet......states...."Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me......." I don't say this to insult Catholics, their ritual or dogma, just that this is my reaction to their services, and further appears to not be my thing..........
So, at least from our personal perspective, there appears to be a crisis in American Christendom.......we are experiencing Churches that have moved away from their roots, whether to appear "modern", "hip", "inclusive", or whatever, and we are having difficulty determining whether these churches are doing this to thwart declining membership, increase revenues, or just because the "spirit" is no longer in them.......the long and short of it is.....we are not finding any "5's" any longer.......
We'll continue our quest, but until we find a fellowship that stands behind its Gospel-based spiritual principles, we will be known as "Gnostic Christians" wandering in the proverbrial "wilderness"......
doc