One aspect of sin is a desire to be "god", to be "lord over all", to be powerful and controlling, to be seen as powerful and infallible.
It is undeniable that while Christians are clean ("saints") via the Blood of the Lamb, they are also sinners - and sadly, that means there is a struggle with that desire for power. And this impacts individual persons, congregations, denominations and sects.
While Jesus left the church (the corpus of ALL believers, ALL with the gift of faith in Christ as THE Savior) with only a few imperatives: Love one another even as Christ first loved us, Go and make disciples of all people, Do not lord it over others as the Romans do.... ironically, the first denomination (established by Rome for Rome in the 4th Century) was, well.... Roman, and was a reflection of the Roman obsession with POWER, CONTROL, AUTHORITY, LORDING (created as it was in the image of Rome), and sin impacted the church (since all its members are sinful).
As this Roman Church struggled with the other powers at work in the Empire and with each other, there developed a struggle for POWER - CONTROL - AUTHORITY - LORDSHIP and a call for docilic submission to IT (rather than Jesus' call to love, humility and service). As the real power moved East.... and as the once grand city of Rome became a conquered cow town, the Bishop of Rome sought to regain the power and lordship and "godness" that he once had when his palace was next to Ceasars. The ploy became that Jesus founded the Church of the Roman Empire (the Roman Church) and made the Bishop of Rome essentially god on Earth - the powerful one, the authoritative one, the Lord, the infallible/unquestionable Voice. It was a power ploy, a desire to control, to be the unquestioned/unaccountable Lord. This ploy simply grew and grew.... But it required that "Catholic" be especially a denomination (itself) - the denomination controlled by the Bishop of Rome, IT being the Body of Christ, the Voice of God, with all the Authority and Lordship of God - essentially IT (that singular denomination) being God on Earth, the Incarnation of God. (Very Roman, very unbiblical and unhistorical.... a position formed from a sinful desire for the power of God not a desire to love as God first loved us, to avoid lording it over others as the Romans did). There must be an earthly IT with all this unmitigated, unquestionable, infallible, divine POWER to which all must docilicly submit. Thus, "church" in its fullest sense becomes it itself - the institution, the denomination.
We see exactly the same thing in the LDS and additionally in every "cult" known to me. Where the church - denomination - sect - cult is (in fullness) is it itself. It is a power ploy and it is a result of the felt need to avoid accountability and to simply call all to docilic submission, even to make IT essential (or at least very important) for salvation/eternal life itself, thus with the POWER of the Father and the role of SAVIOR. The felt need for POWER/CONTROL/LORDSHIP simply requires it itself to insist that it itself alone is essentially God, Christ, the Voice of God. Now, when this is pointed out, members of the denominations/churches/sects/cults that do this will respond, "But that's EXACTLY what Jesus did" which just proves my point, equating self with God and claiming the authority of Christ.
WE are the children of God, the family of God, the church. We are such solely by the mercy of God via Christ and in no way because of ourselves, so that NONE of us (individually or collectively) have reason to boast or claim or grab power or lord it over another. We are to be marked by our LOVE for one another, not our Roman obsession with power, control, authority, institutionalism, centrality, lording it over others. Submission is to be to CHRIST (not some denomination) who is the Lord (He never resigned from that role). We are to SERVE one another, not lord it over one another. WE are family (oikos), a holy community - one marked by love, service and morality NOT by being a mirror image of secular Rome. Sadly, that mark of sin can be found.... including in denominations/churches/sects/cults... and it's ugly.
I have nothing against congregations/parishes or the denominations of them (such as the RCC or LCMS), but they are OUR creations and they exist to empower Christians, not the other way around. A good church/denomination/sect is one what points people to CHRIST - not itself, who uphold Christ as THE one and only Lord - not itself, that points to God as the Authority and Voice and Infallible one - not itself, that calls on all to submit to Christ - not itself, that lifts high the Cross - not itself, that desires to agree with God rather than insist God must agree with itself (or God would be wrong) as itself appoints itself to correct God and fill in what God neglected. The church should be marked by love and humility, not sin and an mitigated quest for the POWER of God.
- Josiah
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