Our current "church" formula.

Hey everyone, I've had trouble deciding when to do these blog posts, so I think I'll just stick with Sundays because why not.

There was some really great discussion last week. One of the things that I realized was the difference between a religion and a moral code, and there was a lot of other really great discussion.

Disclaimer: this week's topic is going to be fairly Christian-centric, but please feel free to refer to all kinds of belief systems in our discussions.

So today's topic is going to start with the 500 year rule. Perhaps you've heard of it, it's the concept that most major empires in the world last for around 500 years before they fall. Give and take some years, the Roman empire, Ottoman empire, and British empire all fall into this rule.

There's another version of it though, the one that applies to Christianity. Basically it says that for the past 2000 years, there's been a major change in the way the church operates about every 500 years. Let's make a brief timeline.

~0 CE- Birth/death of Christ, major change in the way God interacts with his followers
~500 CE- Council of Nicaea- Resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine
~1000 CE- East/West split, church splits into Orthodox and Catholic churches
~1500- Martin Luther publishes his 95 Theses
~2000- ????

There could be many arguments about what could be the next big change in the Christian church. Perhaps it's rooted in all of the civil rights movements that have happened/are happening in the past 100 years.

I personally predict that is will be a huge change in the way that the churchgoers participate in this whole "church" thing.

Currently, for the most part, "church" means a place where people go once a week to sing some songs and listen to a sermon that's too long, then go home and take a nap and forget about it until the following Sunday. And yes, I know that not every Christian goes through this type of pattern, but I would argue that the "average" Christian would behave this way. I think part of this issue is that in many places, America probably most of all, it's not that difficult to be a Christian.

And I think that a big change in the way that Christians interact with the rest of the world is on its way, or perhaps it already has and it's just a little hush-hush.

So here's my question for you all.

Christians: What kind of major change do you think will/should happen to the church?

And non-Christians: What kind of major change would have to occur in the Church to make you become interested in it?

Terms and Conditions

I am not interested in discussing the nuances of ancient Greek texts. I am not here to tell you how to read the Bible. I am not trying to make devotions. I’m not here to rally the people behind a religious cause.If you want anything like that, there are plenty of other religion blogs out there for you. 

I am here to bring about the points that make both religious and non-religious people uncomfortable. 

I have no religion degree, no Sunday school diploma, absolutely no credentials. I’m just an individual who was raised in the church, and therefore I feel prepared to make the statements you will see here. 

This blog is an attempt to fill a need that I see: a place for reasonable, civil discussion. I will present my views, then we will discuss them, either in the comments below, on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, wherever we decide to discuss.

Now less formal :D

My name is Matt, and I'm the son of a minister. While that might not sound like much, it has allowed me to see a side of the organized church that not everyone has seen. Maybe someday I'll take the plunge and become a minister myself, but right now I'm content to run a simple blog about my religious experiences.

Also, don't expect to see very many Biblical references. I'll refer to stories, but specific verse citations aren't something that I feel like I'll need to do.

Or maybe I will. Who knows? The nice thing about beginning a blog like this is that I can sort of write what I want, and eventually it will mold itself into some kind of ministerial objective.

So let's start with a preview, since I've already talked enough for one week.

What is the role of religion? It could be in your life, in the world, in this country, in politics, wherever. Religion influences people's daily lives, so it makes sense that it would influence other decisions that they make.

I've heard many people say that a person's religion shouldn't influence things like...

1. How they vote
2. How they raise children
3. How they make decisions outside of the church

2 and 3 are a bit of a generalization (remember, no degree. Also, it's 11:30 pm). But I think my point is clear.

So to those people, I would remind that a person's religion is synonymous with a moral code, and it would be pretty ridiculous to ask them to abandon it when making decisions (boy I'm good at writing).

So, armed with this knowledge, can you give an example of a time when someone's religion shouldn't be used to make a decision?

Next week I'll follow up (if I get any responses) and introduce a new topic: our current "church" formula.