In worship, all roads lead to one destination

A couple of years ago I attended a “singspiration.”

Several churches had been invited to an afternoon of hymn singing and special solo-group performances.

After the opening prayer, the hosting pastor asked everyone to shout out the denomination of their home church. I heard several faith groups mentioned. Then he asked us all to try it again, using the name “Christian.”

Labels. Where do they come from?

I remember when I went to a dance in high school how shocked some of my classmates were because 1) I attended a Baptist church and Baptists evidently didn’t dance or play cards (an assumption), and 2) my dad was a minister, and apparently ministers’ kids didn’t dance, either (also an assumption).

In searching the Scriptures, I discovered that, while there’s no specific reference to card playing, dancing is mentioned. Psalm 30:11 reads, “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing” (King James Version). And in 2nd Samuel 6:14, “And David danced before the LORD with all his might” (King James Version). I think it’s safe to conclude that dancing in these two instances was an expression of joy, so who decided it was taboo?

Webster’s defines “Christian – of or relating to Christianity” and “Christianity – the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Christians.” Spot on!

Yet in the Bangor Daily News, there usually are 19 or 20 denominational listings under the Worship Directory, with several churches under each denomination. There are even more in the yellow pages of the phone book. How did we get so far afield from the One who is Christianity personified – Jesus Christ? He wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), but what must he be feeling for the world now?

I overheard a conversation in the video store one day between two college students. They were discussing the Bible, of all things. One commented that he couldn’t believe it was the Word of God because it was written by people, and everyone knows people make mistakes. The other responded that he had read an article in one of the newsmagazines that stated the Bible was full of inconsistencies and contradictions. It was apparent that neither one had actually read the Bible for themselves, preferring to go with something they had read or heard about it, thus absolving themselves of any responsibility to think their own thoughts. But it didn’t stop them from pontificating at length.

We all make assumptions regarding different “religions,” but what is religion? Webster defines it as “the service and worship of God or the supernatural; devotion to a religious faith; a personal set or institutionalized system of religious beliefs, attitudes and practices; a cause, principle or belief held to with faith and ardor.” Pretty much anything goes – that would explain all the listings.

James 1:27 says, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” This would indicate a system of works within the faith, but doesn’t indicate the faith itself. When asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul responded in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” No system of works allowed. Salvation can’t be bought, no matter how good your works are. Rather, the works should be an outpouring as the result of our position in Christ.

So why all the denominations? I suppose it started at the beginning of Christianity. In 1 Corinthians 3:4-6, Paul writes, “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth” (New American Standard Bible). And in Galatians 3:28, he takes it further: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Christianity isn’t a religion; it’s a relationship, a personal one, with Jesus Christ. Following that doctrine, I’m a Christian. Biblically, then, none of us is a Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Unitarian or any other “religion.”

Jesus didn’t say, “Believe in Me, but don’t drink, swear, dance or play cards.” He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6, NASB). It’s grace all the way.

Brenda Norris is assistant Sunday school teacher and choir director at West Lubec Methodist Church. She may be reached via bdnreligion@bangordailynews.net. Voices is a weekly commentary by Maine people who explore issues affecting spirituality and religious life.