It was at Antioch that the followers of Christ were called Christians for the first time (Acts 11,26). Till then they were known as followers, disciples, Brothers and Sisters of Jesus Christ. They preached and worshipped in the synagogues. As the Apostles preached Jesus Christ, communities were formed in various parts of Asia Minor. Even in cosmopolitan cities, they established churches which included all groups of people. Churches were not formed according to ethnic identities. All were one in Christ. (Gal 3,28). They stuck to the essentials of Christian faith, i.e., they shared their God experience at the breaking of the Word of God and the Bread of life (Eucharist) (Acts, 2,42;Acts 20,7;1Cor 11,26; 16,2) and lived in brotherly communion(Acts 2,44; 4, 32). Christianity is all about sharing, compassion, kindness, love, forgiveness, patience, meekness, humility and simplicity of life.
The essentials of Christianity, for that matter of any Religion, has nothing or very little to do with the externals or accidentals to which religious people give so much importance today, i.e., rituals, practices, codes, dress, fast, prayer, preaching (often violent), uniformity, observances of Sabbath etc. These belong to the realm of religiosity and an overstress of it can lead to fundamentalism. Religiosity divides us but religion unites us.
Christianity is not a set of doctrines and dogmas but Christianity is Jesus Christ and it believes in the Fatherhood of God proclaimed by Jesus. Under God’s fatherhood we are all Brothers and Sisters (Cf. Mt.5,44-48) and as such there is no difference based on caste, creed, colour, race or gender among Christians (Gal.3, 28). Brotherliness is the first cult in Christian worship and a heart harried by hatred and revenge can not offer fitting worship (Cf. Mt 5,23-24). Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, forgive your brother from your heart (Mt 5,44). Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul…and your neighbour as you love yourself (Lk 10,27). The essence of Christianity is to be found in the Beatitudes and in the Sermon on the Mount.
What happens when Christianity becomes Churchianity?
Sects multiply: Christianity as lived by most Christians today has been deviated from the ones handed down by the Apostles and early Christians. Churches and denominations have been multiplied. There has been proliferation of Christian sects. Today there are more than 30,000 different groups of Christian sects and denominations. Have they come about as a consequence of Christ-experience or of Ego-experience? The certainty that “I am right and you are wrong” is a dangerous thing in personal relationships as well as in interactions between nations, tribes, religions etc. The belief that “I am right; you are wrong” is one of the ways in which the ego strengthens itself, and this attitude is a mental dysfunction that perpetuates separation and conflicts between human beings and even in the realm of religion. The belief that you are in the sole possession of the truth can corrupt your actions and behaviour to the point of insanity. Wars and battles have been fought over religious beliefs. Even in India many of the religious fights are caused by the fundamentalists of various sects and denominations. The newly founded sects and denominations assume and assert their superiority over other sects and religious groups. A preacher’s thought becomes a belief which has nothing to do with the essence of Christianity and they attach truth to it. Christ never advocated violence. He suffered death in the hands of religious fanatics and sects. You will not find absolute truth if you look for it where it cannot be found, i.e., in doctrines, ideologies, sets of rules and in preachers’ stories. All religions are equally true and equally false, depending on how you use them. You can use them at the service of the ego or at the service of truth.
Competition between sects and denominations: As sects multiply, competitions between them increase and intensify to the size of their collective ego. Pride and jealousy rule the hearts of the leaders of these sects and they in turn instigate their followers to fight and quarrel. Naturally they know more against other sects than about them. Has it got anything to do with Christianity? Added to this many multinational companies sponsor and fund these sects which promote more divisions. One returns from abroad to start a new sect. Bible colleges begin to mushroom. However the quality of Christian life still wobbles. Hierarchies are established, honours and names are conferred, promotions and payments are arranged. Power craze begins with money being attached to the chair that wields authority. Human ego wallows in narcissistic tendencies of pride, power, glamour, glory, fame and name. While the colossal egos of church leaders are being pampered, Christ has altogether disappeared from these churches.
When people long for God and Christ-experience, they are given entertainments, special numbers and foreign preachers. Worshipers are reduced to mere spectators and audiences of entertainments rather than becoming followers and disciples of Jesus. Transformation of the self and internalization of Christian values, ethics and morals of the bible are conveniently left out. ‘Christianity-made-easy’ is a practice in most of our churches. Churches are happy with tithes and church attendance. Inner conversion of Christians (2 Cor 7,1; 2 Cor 13,11) and social transformation (Phil 1,9-11) are sacrificed and thus Mondays’ deed differs from Sundays’ creed. We live a faith dissociated from life.
With competition, there begins the hunt for numbers and conversions. In the meantime they forget the quality of Christian life. Arrogance, jealousy, hatred, parochialism begin to emerge in the hearts of people. With the emergence of sectarianism churches lose universality of the Gospel and gospel message. We build and name churches on ethnic lines. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3,28). While uniformity is kept unity and communion are forgotten.
The Pharisees of Jesus’ time blocked out Truth (Jn 14,16) from the people by restraining their freedom of belief. They not only prevented them from approaching the Truth that was in front of them but instigated them against Jesus (Jn15,25). True Christianity liberates you and makes you open to the ways of truth, whereas sects choke your freedom and closes you up in your newly found stories and beliefs. The latter makes you proud and narcissistic. The moment you consider yourself superior, you are bound to look down upon others as inferiors. Truth does not hurt an honest man. Jesus came to make us free. Sects and churches are so possessive of their flocks that they do not allow their followers to be open to the truths other Christian groups offer. They look with suspicion on any move towards unity or dialogue. They pass laws to restrict the entry of other religions. Truth can not be imprisoned. Human minds will some day or other liberate itself. Churches, if they are of true Christianity, should follow the policy of: “If you have a bird, let it go free. If it is yours it will come back to you. If it doesn’t, it was never yours”.
In our Churches Christianity has lost its prophetic role. When religion mixes with politics and bureaucracy, it automatically loses its moral and ethical ascendancy. We present a compromised Christianity accommodating abortion, extortion, murder, fratricide, violence, bloodshed, drug addiction, electoral mal practices, public and social corruption in our society. When churches fail to speak out, they are quietly promoting them. Prophets spoke against individual and social evils. John the Baptist lost his head because he challenged the immoral life of King Herod. Jesus was sent to the cross for speaking out the evils of religious leaders of the time. Our lives are safe because we live a compromised Christianity and we speak what others like to hear. Gandhiji once said: “I who am a politician, am trying to be religious, but I know there are many religious people who are politicians”.
Finally the gospel leadership proposed by Jesus is a servant leadership, calling the leaders to wash the feet of those whom they shepherd (Jn 13,14). The church leadership today, like the secular leadership, tends to be ministered rather than serving their flock. “…whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Mk 10, 43).
It is time that we live and uphold the principles of Christianity rather than its norms; essence rather than external practices; content rather than rituals. God looks at the heart while man looks at the size and appearance.
At the end of our lives, we are not going to be judged by the race, tribe, caste or church we belonged to, but by: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in(Mt 25, 35-37). “Each one of them is God in disguise”(Mother Theresa). Jesus came to inaugurate a kingdom of love not a church or sect or denomination. “Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath”.
Fr. Alex, Rector, Salesian College
