Parallel Mentalities

Often we hear people say that they want to get out of the environment they are in for a different environment.  And, that is not a bad thing unless they are getting out of something good then that could be a bad thing. Sometimes a person may get out of a bad thing but fail to leave some bad things behind so they bring some of those bad things into a good thing.

 

One of those bad things that may, in fact, be a multitude of their things is their cultural mentality.  Although clichés can become too cliché-ish, some are worthy of noting. For example, you can take the kid out of the wild but you can’t always take the wild out of the kid.  Point being---habits are sometimes hard to break or change when they have been so engrained into one’s lifestyle that a simple change will only affect the visual culture but it does not change the mental culture of the individual.  Some examples may be smoking, cussing, laziness or having a smart-mouth.

 

So, what about church mentalities?  When one looks at Church history the Reformation is often brought up as the beginning of the Protestant movement.  In other words, some were protesting Roman Catholicism by wanting a change. They were protesting the papacy, indulgences and errant Roman Catholic doctrine, so they wanted out.  But what really changed? Many so-called Protestant churches still practice or worship in the same style as the Roman Catholic Church with their ostentatiousness in liturgy and their reverence in prayer to dead saints and with their false and deceptive practice of infant baptism and with their anti-Semitic view of Israel.  All these traits are as Luther believed and taught, yet, many revere him as the Father of the Reformation or Protestant Movement. This church mentality that some have is not unlike the cultural mentality that others possess. We got out of Rome but Rome did not get out of us.

 

Then you have those whose church mentality is that it does not matter where you go to church as long as you go to church.  Still, another cliché. And, even sadder is that doctrine does not matter---as long as you go to church somewhere. Even, the Catholic Church. Some even attend a certain church throughout the year, then on Christmas Eve they attend other churches’ service with doctrinal differences entirely.  But, at least they went to church! Right? Unaware by some, even the Christmas Eve service may be of Roman Catholic origin since Christmas is really the Christ-mass.

 

True Church mentality should revolve around Jesus Christ, not tradition or a denomination.  It should not be with an ecumenical “all roads lead to Rome” cliché or social gospel mentality or city-wide alliances adhering to different key doctrines.  When one comes to the Saviour by grace the false teachings should be left behind just as the cultural mentalities with their bad attitudes and beliefs should be left behind when one changes their environment.  

 

Both need Jesus Christ.