Unity in the church

Something that has been weighing a lot on my mind lately is the unity in the church or the lack thereof.

The reason why this is such an important topic to me, is because it seems that the society we're living in here in the US, is at a turning point right now, with all the economic stress and bills being passed that are rapidly taking away many of our basic freedoms. The turning point is a place where something new is going to happen and new can either mean "really good" or "really bad" at this point.

I know that a lot of the time, when someone mentions the word "church", people cringe and are reminded of some time they got hurt by a person in the church. This is really sad because it wouldn't have to be that way, and I believe that if there were more unity in the church, it wouldn't necessarily be associated with something so negative. Of course, for me growing up in the church, I know I already see things differently than someone who hasn't been there all their life. But at the same time, I've found myself wanting to leave my church for the same kinds of reasons too.

Growing up in Switzerland, I hadn't really been exposed to all the different denominations yet, as they make up the church over here in the US. Over there, we have four main denominations: Catholic, Reformed, Methodist, and so called Free Churches (the equivalent of non-denominational churches in the US). There is also a very strict and smaller denomination there that would be the equivalent of the Baptist church over here, but most people there view them as a sect.

Now having lived in the US for almost 5 years, I'm still learning about new types of churches and denominations. And what is strange to me is that they (mostly) all read the same bible and believe in the same God, but they keep fighting over who is right about certain small details and who is the final authority over those issues. There is definitely more unity over great issues in Switzerland, even if they don't all agree on some of the smaller ones.

One example of this is supernatural miracles and healings. I would say a good chunk of the church in the US today believes that these took place 2000 years ago when Christ walked the earth, but that they don't take place anymore today. Another large portion believes that it's possible for them to still take place today, but have never seen proof of one or that they won't happen to them. And there's some who have witnessed them, but have scientific or theological ways to explain them away. And finally, there's the churches that have signs and wonders happening on a regular basis.

Lately, I've been running into people from the first two groups more frequently and for me as a participant of the last group and being excited about the experiences I've had, it's been hard to watch how believers have limited themselves because of denominational barriers, basically saying things like "we don't do those kinds of things in our denomination."

I think that because the church has entrenched itself within their specific denominations and values, it has lost a lot of its power, authority and recognition in our society. I think that the new Hate Crimes Bill being passed is a direct result of the church not being strong and unified enough to prevent it, and may ultimately result in criminal charges against churches that speak out about issues like Gay Marriage etc.

So to wrap this up, I believe it's time to lay aside the petty differences that keep the church from being unified, and stand up as one for the issues that really matter.

San Diego Lobster

Have you heard about this place? It's a Lobster restaurant that's opening sometime this month on university avenue here in San Diego. I hear they have fresh lobster from Maine... Who wants to go check it out?