The Difficulty of Ecumenicalism

In developing a Christian culture, there is clearly much at stake - economically, socially, and of course, spiritually. Christian music, Christian schools, Christian dating networks, churches and Christian organizations/charities are all parts of this culture. Each has its mission and its niche, and quite a few work together on varying levels. In many ways, groups that want to be included in this Christian pop culture must do what it takes to appear attractive and receptive.

I've been reminded numerous times that we Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ. The problem with this argument is that people want unity and uniformity. We are told in the Scriptures that many claim to be believers and followers who are not. Many of these people are false teachers and false prophets, seeking to lead people astray. That may sound irrelevant, but what about this: members of churches who use their power to achieve their goals, to accomplish what they want; members of Christian organizations who are more interested in promoting the social gospel rather than responding to the call of Christ. This is different from adding one's calling to the rich tapestry of work to which Christ calls us by the Holy Spirit. Sin gets in the way of our relationship with our Creator and Savior, and it affects what we do. Instead of dealing with it, we try to ignore it, we let it fester, and it infects and affects more areas of our lives.

What does all this have to do with Christian culture and ecumenicalism? Many people who call themselves Christians are driven by their desires, including to unite churches. Unfortunately one of the primary ways to unify Christians is by using the lowest common denominators. In order to promote harmony, we simplify things. We stay away from the explosive issues. We stay away from theological issues. Christ becomes "the famous One," God is "bigger than the air we breathe," and many people who claim to be Christians don't even believe that the Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God. I'm not blaming contemporary worship songs. But oversimplification of our faith pervades so much of Christian culture. Take a sample of these parts of Christian culture: think about the meaning of the sermon during worship, the meaning of Christian song lyrics, the kinds of doctrine that schools hold, and how it's expressed. Does it have spiritual truth and depth? What do the words really mean? Are the Scriptures actually taken in context?

One of the problems with ecumenicalism and denominationalism is that largely as Christians we don't even look any more at what we claim to believe. What is a Roman Catholic or a Greek Orthodox or a Presbyterian or a Methodist or a Baptist? What makes one different from the others? It's so easy to claim to be a Christian that there's no real need to look deeper, to truly search, to seek God with all our heart, soul and strength. When it's easy, we don't need to think about what we believe or why we believe it. There are real theological issues that led to splits in denominations. But if we don't even have the depth to understand what those theologies are, there's no reason for us to care about them. Suddenly the reason for our divisions disappears - but reason isn't that we've reconciled our differences at all. So we have people who truly desire to reunite the church; people who don't know why there are so many splits; and people who want to make Christianity fun, inclusive and culturally relevant.

The ecumenical movement has made strides to link believers in many ways so that movements, organizations and dealing with issues are not just drawn down denominational lines. It has also helped to rid Christian groups of unwarranted animosity toward one another. We are realizing, little by little, that Christ's church is universal, that believers are diverse, and that Christians can and should reach out and work together for the glory of the Father through Jesus by the Holy Spirit. It's time that we take a deeper look at our faith, at our doctrines, at our theologies. It's time that we focus on being obedient to God, whom we claim as our Father, Savior, Lord and Comforter. And God is so much more than that. It's time that we understand that in our hearts as well as in our minds.