Opus 2023-032: Legos and Lutherans

Why do we have so many different denominations in Christianity?  Let me give you two divergent thoughts.

The first cause could simply be ego.  People want to consider themselves better than others.  They want to be in charge.  They want it done their way.  So if the pastor won’t listen to your wisdom you start talking to your friends, pull out and start your own church.  Recycle as needed.  God can use even this nonsense but I don’t think it is His preferred way to change the world.

I think that we would have these divisions even if ego were not a problem.  The God of the Bible is a real, living God.  He is not a caricature that fits into any mold or pattern.  He created us in His image which means we also tend to break the mold.  That means He has to deal with us in a dynamic, ever versatile way.  This creates different understandings of the same basic truths.  We see truth through our personality and experience.  That does not change the truth but does influence the way we understand it and apply it.

Picture the different ways to drive a car.  You know there are different ways because you have probably followed my wife, or someone like her, driving to the same church.  You start out on the same two lane road with a lot of curves.  You will both get there but not the same way either in style or route.  

Or picture trying to explain how a car engine works to two different people, one with a mechanical inclination and one into feelings.  It would require two entirely different sets of lesson plans and the final understanding will vary.  

Think of it as a case of Lego liberty.  The building blocks are the same.  The results may be very different.  Some things cannot be done.  They are all kind of Platonic attempts to express the ideal.

homo unius libri