Questioning the Church
May 5th 2008 02:30
I went to a different church on Sunday. When I spoke to the Reverend, he said that there was a wide range of views in the church. Some people were very literalist, whereas others had extremely progressive views. I thought that this was a lot healthier than a church where everybody thinks the same way.
I am used to a Pentecostal church, where theological opinions rarely differ. Most people think the same way on issues of faith and Christianity. You might get some slightly different opinions on some issues, but they are few and far between and rarely disagree with anything that the pastor says. Ask a group of 20 Pentecostals a theological question, and at least 19 of them will answer the same way.
So why the difference? Why does one church have such divergent views within its congregation and the other has a bunch of people who hardly ever disagree with each other? I think it’s largely to do with the approach of the church.
In my Pentecostal church, people are not encouraged to disagree with the pastor – at all. When the pastor speaks from the pulpit, he speaks as if his words were the very words of God. To question them, is to question God. This is backed up by statements such as “It’s all here in the bible” and “God has told me” and “Either you believe the bible or you don’t.” Plus my all-time favourite, “My bible says.”
Yes, your bible says. Isn’t it funny that other people’s bible seems to have told them something different? Maybe it’s just your interpretation of the bible that says this. Maybe someone else can interpret the bible a different way.
But it’s rarely acknowledged that people can interpret the bible in different ways. We should be interpreting the bible in the way the pastor does – and in fact in the way that everyone else in the church does. I have had points of debate with the church in the past. Whenever I bring them up, I am told that this is what the bible says. When I mention the fact that it can be interpreted differently, I am firmly reminded of why the bible needs to be interpreted in the way the church interprets it. If I disagree, I’m not believing the bible and I’m not believing God.
In the church I went to on Sunday, the Reverend said something which I found greatly encouraging. He was speaking on his views on something in the gospels. It wasn’t his views that I liked so much, but what he said after it. He said this is the way I see this account in the gospels. You are free to believe this account in whichever way you choose to do so. You would never hear anything like that in my Pentecostal church.
I am the kind of person who needs to question everything. Not just about God, but about the church’s teachings. Sometimes I have wished that this wasn’t the case. I have looked at all the other people who accept everything so readily, and wondered what it would be like to be that way. They sure seem a lot less confused than I am. But all in all, I think it’s pretty good being a questioner.
I am sure my pastor thinks my faith is very weak. Someone who spends so much time questioning the church and the bible must not be very grounded in my beliefs. I have even had it said to me on a number of occasions that as I grow in my faith, I will learn to accept the church’s teaching more. The inference being that those who are strong in their faith just accept and don’t question.
But I am strong in my faith. And I am strong in my faith because I have questioned and tested what has been told to me. I know that what I believe I really believe. Not just because someone has said it from the pulpit, not just because someone has pointed out that the bible should be interpreted in this way, but because I have spent a lot of time thinking about it and coming to my own conclusions.
I often wonder what would happen to the people in my church if a new pastor came who believed different things to the old pastor. Would the whole congregation suddenly change its views on certain matters? Would they believe what the new pastor tells them as readily as they believed the other pastor? Or would they perhaps now be the ones who were confused?
I love to hear different views to my own. I love to have my own beliefs challenged. I believe this helps a person grow spiritually. But I will always need to question the other views presented to me. Asking questions is what makes my faith strong – not a sign of its weakness.
I am used to a Pentecostal church, where theological opinions rarely differ. Most people think the same way on issues of faith and Christianity. You might get some slightly different opinions on some issues, but they are few and far between and rarely disagree with anything that the pastor says. Ask a group of 20 Pentecostals a theological question, and at least 19 of them will answer the same way.
So why the difference? Why does one church have such divergent views within its congregation and the other has a bunch of people who hardly ever disagree with each other? I think it’s largely to do with the approach of the church.
In my Pentecostal church, people are not encouraged to disagree with the pastor – at all. When the pastor speaks from the pulpit, he speaks as if his words were the very words of God. To question them, is to question God. This is backed up by statements such as “It’s all here in the bible” and “God has told me” and “Either you believe the bible or you don’t.” Plus my all-time favourite, “My bible says.”
Yes, your bible says. Isn’t it funny that other people’s bible seems to have told them something different? Maybe it’s just your interpretation of the bible that says this. Maybe someone else can interpret the bible a different way.
But it’s rarely acknowledged that people can interpret the bible in different ways. We should be interpreting the bible in the way the pastor does – and in fact in the way that everyone else in the church does. I have had points of debate with the church in the past. Whenever I bring them up, I am told that this is what the bible says. When I mention the fact that it can be interpreted differently, I am firmly reminded of why the bible needs to be interpreted in the way the church interprets it. If I disagree, I’m not believing the bible and I’m not believing God.
In the church I went to on Sunday, the Reverend said something which I found greatly encouraging. He was speaking on his views on something in the gospels. It wasn’t his views that I liked so much, but what he said after it. He said this is the way I see this account in the gospels. You are free to believe this account in whichever way you choose to do so. You would never hear anything like that in my Pentecostal church.
I am the kind of person who needs to question everything. Not just about God, but about the church’s teachings. Sometimes I have wished that this wasn’t the case. I have looked at all the other people who accept everything so readily, and wondered what it would be like to be that way. They sure seem a lot less confused than I am. But all in all, I think it’s pretty good being a questioner.
I am sure my pastor thinks my faith is very weak. Someone who spends so much time questioning the church and the bible must not be very grounded in my beliefs. I have even had it said to me on a number of occasions that as I grow in my faith, I will learn to accept the church’s teaching more. The inference being that those who are strong in their faith just accept and don’t question.
But I am strong in my faith. And I am strong in my faith because I have questioned and tested what has been told to me. I know that what I believe I really believe. Not just because someone has said it from the pulpit, not just because someone has pointed out that the bible should be interpreted in this way, but because I have spent a lot of time thinking about it and coming to my own conclusions.
I often wonder what would happen to the people in my church if a new pastor came who believed different things to the old pastor. Would the whole congregation suddenly change its views on certain matters? Would they believe what the new pastor tells them as readily as they believed the other pastor? Or would they perhaps now be the ones who were confused?
I love to hear different views to my own. I love to have my own beliefs challenged. I believe this helps a person grow spiritually. But I will always need to question the other views presented to me. Asking questions is what makes my faith strong – not a sign of its weakness.
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Comment by S. L. Bradish