Quote:
Just because we worship in different buildings and in different ways why must that be fractured? Again, is my children's love fractured because it is different? Of course not, and I love them unconditionally, because they are my children. Just as Christ loves his children.
Well, for starters because the scriptures say that we should be unified. Christ Jesus prays for this unity to the same degree as He is one with the Father, and even goes as far as to say this level of unity is the identifying hallmark of Christianity so that the world will believe that He is from the Father (John 17:21).
St Paul says, when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and that this is good to show who is approved (by God). But that's for a church that is physically coming together at least in one place. Here the divisions are so bad that you don't even do that.
St Paul says there is "one body, one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father" in one place (Eph 4:5). In another, he says THE cup, THE loaf, and says that
because there is one loaf, we are one body, because we partake of that loaf. We no longer have this in Christianity.
We don't have one body. because we don't partake of one loaf. You don't believe what I do about the Eucharist. We likely don't share a common understanding or belief or practice in baptism. We don't have one faith. You may not believe what I do about God and salvation, and we likely don't share a common creed (creed comes from the Latin word for "I believe"). So how can you say we are unified? We aren't unified in a general sense, and we're not unified in a particular sense, either. We certainly don't meet any of the scriptural standards to "come together as a church" - even physically!
Your children both live in your house, they both eat at your dining table with you. This not an apt analogy, this is nothing like what has happened in Christianity.
God loves all men, He makes the sun to shine on the righteous and unrighteous alike. We can't escape His love by our actions, even by sin, so His love isn't a means test for His approval or that our actions are pleasing to Him.
Quote:
I don't find God and Christ in Mass, i find rules, and rituals, and unthinking recessitation (you will think that's ludicrous, which is perfectly normal and fine). The beauty is that we are both Christians and try to live the best life that Christ has given us (that is how we honor Him).
Care less whether other people are Christianing correctly. Care more about spreading the Good News.
I think it is extremely important for Christians to care about whether other Christians are acting in god-pleasing ways. We are told by St Paul in our capacity as Christians to judge other believers, to correct them, and if they reject, to separate from them. Why? Because our unity to each other is the witness to our unity with God. Unity can only come through Christ. Divisions come from men.
The very first description we have of the Church in the NT is a very interesting verse, because it says the Church continued in three specific things - THE teaching of the apostles; THE communion, the breaking of bread; and THE prayers. Not in some teaching, various communions, and whatever prayers suited them.
We can't "spread the good news" effectively as Christendom if our entire message is garbled by ignorance, infighting, and petty disputes.
