Throughout my life, in my conversations with others, and eavesdropping on other people’s conversations (yes, I do this quite frequently,) I hear people say things about why they can’t take the church seriously, or why they can’t believe what the church teaches because of all the different kinds of churches, styles of worship, different translations of the Bible, etc. I have heard this same argument phrased many different ways, but the gist of the argument is basically the same. “How do you know who is right, since the message is presented in so many different ways?” What is interesting is that very often, when it comes to other issues that don’t have anything to do with Christianity, they don’t really use that same argument. Let me give you an example. If I am a big fan of Fords, as opposed to Chevrolets, (which I am not, by the way, this is just an illustration) if one were to use the same argument they make against Christianity, they would say, “Chevrolet says they are the best. Ford says they are the best. How can I know which one is right? I can’t decide, so I guess I will just quit driving cars…. cars aren’t real!”
Recently, I heard someone ridiculing the New Testament. His argument was that since the New Testament had been rewritten and translated so many times, it could not be accurate. I have heard some form of that same argument many times. To that, I replied, “Well so what? That has happened to just about every piece of literature that has ever been written. Just because a person may read Shakespeare in a more modern translation, or in a different language does not invalidate Shakespeare’s writing. If the translation is done accurately, it doesn’t matter. They will accept reading a modern translation of other material, then turn right around and argue that the Bible is inaccurate because it has been translated from old documents that no longer exist. The message, or the content of the story is the same.”
If you study the history of the church, it is true that throughout the ages, Christianity has manifested itself in many different ways, different cultural contexts, worship styles, art styles, literary styles, etc. And, different church organizations and denominations stress different theological elements. The way I see it, is that this a beautiful and glorious thing. This helps to more fully validate the core message, not undermine it. Whether you prefer a more traditional form of worship, sitting in a church with a steeple on top, in a wooden pew, singing out of a hymnal, or in a more modern facility with a projector screen for the lyrics and what sounds more like a rock and roll band, really doesn’t matter. That is all just a matter of preference. It does not change the message. Whether you get tripped up over non-essential theological issues, such as premillenialism, postmillennialism, baptismal methods such as sprinkling verses immersion, etc., still does not change the core message.
When we look at the church, just as we look at anything else, we have to look at the substance of the message, not the packaging. When you go to the grocery store to buy something to cook for dinner. You care more about the product than how it is wrapped. I worked in package manufacturing for many years, and often I thought to myself as I was involved in the manufacturing process, how much time, energy and stress we spent in our efforts to produce as perfect a package as we could, when, in actuality, when it is all said and done, all we were really doing is manufacturing glorified garbage. When you go to the drug store to get some Ibuprofen because you have a headache, you don’t bring it home and scrutinize the box that it came in. You rip it out of the box to get to the pills, and you throw the box straight in the trash can. The packaging really doesn’t matter. However, like the packaging work I used to do, with so much emphasis on quality control in every segment of the process, from printing, cutting, and folding and gluing, way too much stress is put on things that really don’t matter. Don’t get me wrong, I realize quality is important. You don’t want shoddy printing. You especially don’t want shoddy cutting, and folding and gluing, because that poor cutting, folding and gluing can affect the machinery that the product manufacturer uses to put the actual product into the package. A poor fold or poor gluing can jam up a production line for the manufacturer, causing down time and lost production, so I realize, because of that, it is important. It is also important that the printing be readable, especially on drug packages. But way too much time is spent on very minor issues, I think.
How does this apply to what I am saying? Well, those people who are always mouthing off about what is wrong with the church, and why they can’t believe the Bible, etc., are doing the same thing we did with packaging. They are getting way too hung up on things that ultimately do not matter. The fact that so many different people groups in so many different cultural contexts have attempted to communicate the core message in so many different ways, (packages) just proves more strongly the value of the message. Stop criticizing the package, and start focusing on the message…. the Good News that God has provided pardon and grace for our sins, a grace we do not deserve. That is the product. All of the packages are going to be thrown away anyway!
Danny's Stump 