FEBRUARY 28, 2008

          I'm a Protestant Christian. I don't protest at certain doctrinal positions of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church, although I disagree with them. Unfortunately, I do protest at certain practices of the Protestant Church, partly because I am Protestant, and I wish nothing better than the betterment of people who adhere to a particular theology. Yes-- in other words, I'm all about consistency. 100% consistency is impossible for any church, but we should be mostly consistent. Roman Catholics, for the most part, agree on the role of the Bishop of Rome (i.e. the Pope). The Eastern Orthodox Church agree, for the most part, on their doctrine of iconography. What Protestants are consistent in is really a question in the air. I'd like to say adherence to Biblical authority, but there are many Protestant Churches that can care less about Biblical authority. Oh, but here-- Protestants, for the most part, just split whenever they disagree. Not so honorable, but a reality in fact. Ta ta.

          Two things that I completely abhor in the Protestant Church are (1) Prosperity Gospel, and (2) Selectivity. If you've read my previous posts, you understand how much I hate the Prosperity Gospel, because is it not the Gospel, but yet people believe it as one. What's worse, it's an easily believable Gospel because it's a commercial gospel (note: not capitalist, but commercial. They are two different things). It's commercial because people looked at it, said, "What are things we can remove so it's more marketable?", and voila! the Prosperity Gospel is borne! But the Prosperity Gospel comes because of selectivity. Selectivity is the idea that you can just "pick and choose" what you want. I like to call it "buffet Christianity". The Catholics call it "cafeteria Christianity". No matter-- the same. You come to church, pick and choose what you want, stuff yourselves into a spiritual euphoria, then go home. Sorry, but that's not how Christianity works. However, many of us subconsciously practice it.

        One phrase I particularly am very careful not to use is this: "Jesus is our personal Savior." Jesus died for me. Jesus loves me. This sounds okay, but really, it's not. We don't like a Jesus that died not just for me, but also for Osama bin Laden (whether he knows it or not). We don't like a Jesus that loves not just me, but the openly gay Gene Robinson was well. We don't like a Jesus that welcomes to his ginormous table liberals, gays, murderers, war-hawks, etc. We like Jesus to welcome me, and my friends, and those I like. This has tremendous ramifications. I think it can explain why many Protestant Churches are missionarily chicken. Missions? What's that? If you believe that Jesus died for you, your friends, and those you like, then why bother doing missions? Your job's already done!

          And when Jesus loves me, why would you care about the plight of Iraqis who have lost their livelihoods due to the War in Iraq?  Oh sure, they're God's children, but Saddam Hussein is a terrorist! He threatens our security! We need to get rid of him expediently!

         So the prosperity gospel and selectivity need to be rid of in Protestant theology. If we embrace Christ, we embrace his suffering, his righteous anger at injustice, and his loving care and stewardship of financial, environmental, and other resources. If you think that sounds "liberal", then you obviously still want Jesus to love you and you only.