Who Do You Follow?
For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? – 1 Corinthians 3:4
Dear friends,
The church at Corinth was plagued with jealousy and quarreling, which manifested itself as divisions within the church. In an apparent effort to differentiate themselves some claimed to follow Paul while others claimed to follow Apollos and even some Peter. In a forceful letter to the church at Corinth, Paul admonished them saying that it is right only to follow Christ.
Recently, you may have read about the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS). The two angles on this report have emphasized either the rise of non-religion or the decline of Christianity. But, as with most of the results you read in the mainstream press, there is more in the survey than you are being told. To get the full picture, you need to go to the survey source, The Institute for the Study of Secularism In Society and Culture (ISSSC). Now, if that title doesn’t raise a red flag of potential bias, nothing does, but let’s move on to the survey.
First, non-religion is truly on the rise. This should not be a surprise for the Bible teaches that people will trade the truth for a lie. But what you aren’t reading in the newspapers is that the reported 15.2 % of non-religious people are not atheist or agnostic. Actually, self-reported agnostics are less than 1% of the population and atheists are fewer still. The majority of the non-religious people, 89% of them, simply claimed no religion or belief at all. Sadly, 25% are former Catholics. These folks are truly lost and offer a great witness opportunity.
Second, denominations are truly in decline. The report tells us “Ninety percent of the decline comes from the non-Catholic segment of the Christian population, largely from the mainline denominations, including Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians/Anglicans, and the United Church of Christ.” To me this is great news! For too long, denominations have been dividing the Church, not uniting it. We should not follow Luther or Wesley or Calvin, but we should follow Christ.
Thirdly, and what you will not read in the papers, is there is a growing religious population in the U.S. In 1990, they represented 5% of the population, in 2001, 8.5%, and in 2008, 11.8%. Are these people Muslim, Hindu, Buddhists, Wicca’s? No, they are those who would identify themselves only as “Christian,” “Evangelical/Born-Again,” or “non-denominational Christians.” And the numbers are larger than still. The report states, “Significantly, 38.6 percent of mainline Protestants now also identify themselves as evangelical or born again.”
If the Apostle Paul were alive on earth today, I believe he would go berserk over the fractionalization of Christ’s Church. However, by God’s grace the trend is moving away from divisions and toward unity under Christ. So if you call yourself a Lutheran, do you follow Luther or Christ? If you call yourself a Presbyterian, do you follow Calvin or Christ? If you call yourself by any denomination, whom do you follow? If you wish to be known as a Christian, then call yourself a Christian and follow only Christ.
In Him,
David
