Denomination Rumination

Earlier this week I attended the annual convention of a major Pentecostal Christian denomination.  Religion was not the direct reason for my attendance...but it does figure into things to a degree.  I'm not Pentecostal, either, but that wasn't necessarily a major factor in my reactions to the event. Apart from being amazed at the vastness of the convention hall we went to (Orange County Convention Center West), I experienced being inundated by the sheer number and intensity of humanity around me.  I also ran into some notions about "real" Christianity that I've experienced in the past, not just from this denomination either...

The preeminent message of this convention was BELIEVE...in Jesus Christ of course...and you will be saved and live eternally in his presence.  I dig it...this is the essence of Christianity as I see it. But then I had to be inundated by loud, loud, LOUD services that seemed more bent on piercing my eardrums than getting the message across or worshiping God.  This denomination openly distinguishes itself as being a living church...as opposed to all those other "dead" churches out there.  Apparently, extreme loudness is a prerequisite to being "alive" here.  It made me wish for a return to the monastic system when monks took oaths of silence for long stretches of time.  Also, being expected to stand up for very long periods in cramped quarters during the praise worship just made my legs ache badly (and I'm a runner!).  But see, that's "living" and I guess "sitting" and worshiping that way would be "dead".  So the events already were getting under my skin and actually interfering, not helping, me to get into a more spiritual mental framework.  But their beliefs, as well as the beliefs of many denominations and churches are such that they demand for a large mass of believing people to cram physically together in a space in order to enhance the presence of the Lord...talk about worshiping according to a formula.

The main focus of this denomination is missionary work, and although America-birthed, it now has many more members in other countries than it does domestically.  I am on board with religions being allowed and welcome to advertise and promote themselves through missionary work, although truth be told, I don't notice people in Christian-based Western societies showing that much openness to Islam or Eastern faiths expanding their numbers among THEM.

I have a different kind of issue with all that I've heard, though, and it concerns not just this denomination but others as well.  I happen to believe that one of the main problems facing our society in America these days is not workaholics overdoing it trying to materially better themselves, but on the contrary more and more people, especially the young, living in an economically dependent state and doing little or nothing to sustain themselves through work (which is Biblically important, according to the Apostle Paul) and rejecting employment opportunities when they do surface because they don't dovetail with their interests.  But when I hear testimonies, I get the message that somehow if you're a responsible, mature person who goes to work, earns your money, provides a home for yourself and your family, and occasionally likes to enjoy some recreation, then that's idolatry...worshipping the all-mighty dollar...and that you're going nowhere with your life.  I see all these young people growing up and being shunted off to Bible colleges...and then going into voluntary missionary work that depends on sponsorships from others.  I don't suppose that this is necessarily a bad thing in itself...please try to understand...I just resent the judgement I feel marginalizes ME as I responsibly live my own working life...which actually tangibly contributes to the functioning of my own society! But the mindset I detected at this convention is that unless you're doing something that has "Jesus" openly and clearly stamped all over it, then you're just wasting your life, spinning your wheels in the fallen secular world and in doing so denying the Lord.

One more thing: I am tired of denominations rolling out the number figures and computing the number of "Christians" in a given area by reciting their own membership numbers there.  In the early 1990's I ran across a Southern Baptist brochure calling for outreach in my own home state of Florida, where there were reported to be (then) nine million lost souls.  In other words, nine million unbelievers... as well as Catholics, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and any other non-Southern Baptist professing Christians.  Talk about living in a bubble. This denomination in their big convention did something very similar, equating their worldwide membership with the number of people saved through Jesus.   

It sounds like I'm coming down heavily on this particular denomination, but I'm not.  I'm happy that these people feel joy and purpose in their lives.  They stand for virtuous behavior and are against crime and sexual and drug abuse.  God bless them all.  I'd just like someone out there who is a Christian big-shot to accept me the way I am without regarding me as someone who needs to be changed...