Christian Craziness

Does all of the absolute insanity and sometimes downright violence that masquerades under the banner of Jesus ever just get to you?  It's been really getting to me lately.

Harold Camping predicts the end of the world and rapture on May 21, and (for the second time) gets it wrong....

Thousands of Christians expecting to be raptured out of the world and into heaven give massive amounts of money to avowed atheists to watch over their pets during the coming tribulation....

Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona condemns men for peeing while sitting down and prays for the death of President Obama....

Premillennial dispensationalist Christians lobby and sends millions of dollars to AIPAC, CUFI, and other pro-Israeli organizations that further programs of forced deportation of Palestinians and the illegal occupation of their homes and lands....

I remember back when Jerry Falwell announced to the world that Hurricane Katrina was the result of homosexuality in America.....

You can find Youtube videos of Christians burning NIV, NRSV, and other non-KJV versions of the Bible....

The pickets at military funerals, saying the deaths are the result of pro-gay policies in the US....

I just recently saw several people on facebook lamenting that they were "still here" (i.e. the rapture didn't happen)....


I just jumped on Google's search engine and typed in "Why are Christians so" (a little trick I picked up from Leonard Sweet).  Do you want to know the options that Google gives me for finishing out that search?
...fake...
...divided...
...mean...
...ignorant...
...annoying...


These are apparently some of the most popular searches on the Inter and, you know what, it's kinda hard to blame people for asking these kinds of questions when we see such lunacy in our midst, isn't it?

How did it get this bad?  How come we have people who claim the name of Christ who obviously know so little about who he is, what he came to go, what he's about and what he's not about?

You know, I've noticed (at least) one common thread that binds much of the above-mentioned lunacy together; it's something I've only notice in recent years: All of the things that I've mentioned here are the product primarily of independent churches--churches or ministries that have broken away from or were never associated with a denomination or established church tradition--usually independent baptist or non-denominational congregations/ministries.


You might wonder why that matters at all.

When churches separate themselves from the established traditions of the classical Christian faith, they break themselves off from any theological or practical accountability.  There is no one inside the church tradition of Harold Camping to challenge him when he makes a doomsday prediction, because he has cut himself off from the body.  There is no one inside the church tradition of Steven Anderson or the late Jerry Falwell or the countless dispensationalist pastors in independent baptist and non-denominational churches across America to challenge them when they make their crazy or bigoted or down-right hateful assertions, because they have cut themselves off from the body.


There is an epidemic of independence in American Christianity today, and I have come to truly believe that much of the craziness, lunacy, and bigotry that masquerades under the banner of Jesus is enabled by the fact that our congregations and independent ministries have cut themselves off from the rest of the body that was designed to, among other things, keep them accountable to the truth.

So how do we correct this?  For one thing, stop starting new independent churches!  That phrase "independent church" ought to be an oxymoron to us anyway--if the church is anything it is an interdependent community, a body with many members (who are not just 'spiritually' connected, but who strive for actual connectedness and accountability).  Instead let's try working within (despite the many problems) our existing traditions and denominations (and there are plenty).  At least when you are a part of the Roman Catholic Church, the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church, the Church of the Nazarene, etc. you have checks and balances in place.  No one independent pastor or ministry organizer can spout of craziness or bigotry without being checked by others within their tradition.

And if we can learn to work within the existing traditions and denominations (as flawed as they are), then maybe we can even start working toward ecumenical unity--it was Jesus himself, after all, who prayed "that they be one." (John 17)  Obviously there is much work to be done, but separating ourselves into ever-increasing numbers of independent churches has created the environment for lunacy and heresy to spread throughout American Christianity, and the only check for it is the body of Christ functioning as the body of Christ.  Just saying "the Bible is all we need" won't cut it (just google "Steven Anderson" to see as much proof as you will need about that).

The ancient church fathers used to say, "You cannot have God as Father without the Church as Mother."  Unless we want to see more unchecked lunacy and violence spread under the banner of the name of Jesus, we would be wise to heed these strong words.