No perfect church

[Fellow Traveler]

How many times have we heard this? We find something disagreeable in a congregation or denomination and we hear "Well there is no such thing as a perfect church!" Or "well I doubt you'll ever find what you're looking for!" Then some of the same folks will turn around and act like their church does it "right" and the gospel is proclaimed in all it's purity at that locale. I still love Jesus, but I just grow ever frustrated with the inconstancy of the fan clubs.

And another thing, I also find it humorous that some of the same Protestant denominations whose fore fathers eschewed the excesses and extravagance of Catholicism now have a lot of the same things and more! Big bands, light shows, thousands of dollars spent on spectacle. Seriously, do Christians ever really know what they want?

[GuitarHero]

Oh, Christians know what they want, and they will make sure to twist the Bible just enough to get it! Just don't ask them for consistency on anything.

A corollary to the "no perfect church" argument is "Well, all COCs are different, and I've never heard anything like that in all the congregations that *I* have been in. You must've just had a bad congregation."

Um...yeah... the thousands of COCs that I've experienced, and somehow YOURS is the one that never had this issue...

It's all a function of cognitive dissonance. Handwaves like these are the only way that one can dismiss the issue without critically examining the core of their denomination, and thus their very belief system. Deep inside, they all know it's a house of cards just waiting to tumble. None of it stands up to intense scrutiny.

[agricola]

Oh, Christians know what they want, and they will make sure to twist the Bible just enough to get it! Just don't ask them for consistency on anything.

A corollary to the "no perfect church" argument is "Well, all COCs are different, and I've never heard anything like that in all the congregations that *I* have been in. You must've just had a bad congregation."

Um...yeah... the thousands of COCs that I've experienced, and somehow YOURS is the one that never had this issue...

It's all a function of cognitive dissonance. Handwaves like these are the only way that one can dismiss the issue without critically examining the core of their denomination, and thus their very belief system. Deep inside, they all know it's a house of cards just waiting to tumble. None of it stands up to intense scrutiny.

You know, I read that Flavil Yeakley book (why people leave?) and that is almost EXACTLY what he said - 'I've never seen anything like that, you must have been in a very unusual coc....'

good grief. If you hear the SAME stories from multiple people, from multiple places, how much more do you NEED, Flavil?

[GuitarHero]

I suppose that's slightly better than what we usually hear:

"Someone must have hurt you."

Or, even better: "You're just bitter."

It's hard not to just outright slap people who say that.

[GMan]

The church doesn't have to be perfect, but the people sure had to be.