I don't believe any one denomination is "the" church Christ established. I believe that all of them, working together, form "the" Truth of the Gospel of Jesus.
That said, here's what attracts me to the various denominations in which I've spent some time.
Catholicism - the faith tradition of my upbringing and the one in which I feel most comfortable, both to worship and to question.
I believe in the doctrine of Purgatory and I extend universalist principles to it, which is controversial but allowable within Catholicism. In other words, I believe that God will save anyone who turns to Him, even after death, but that not everyone will. So while I do believe Hell exists and is eternal separation from God, I do not believe that all non-Christians go there.
Orthodoxy-Catholicism - I believe the aesthetically most beautiful forms of worship exist within these two traditions. The colors, stained glass, icons, incense, bells, vestments, architecture .... all lend themselves to lifting one's heart and mind to the Divine.
I also believe bodily postures and gestures like the sign of the cross, metanoias, kneeling, genuflecting... also show reverence and awe before God.
Charismatic Christians, both Protestant and Catholic - they incorporate more lively gestures like hands upraised, eyes towards heaven, swaying in the Spirit, all to emotionally charged praise music.
Quaker and Catholic-Orthodox contemplation and meditation. Being still in the presence of God. Placing oneself in a state of awe before our Maker. Waiting to have the Spirit lead us.
Evangelical Christians (primarily Protestants) - love the Word of God, are very familiar with it, and turn to it daily to familiarize themselves with the person of Jesus Christ and with His calling to us.
I'm noticing in this list that the Eucharist is no longer on my radar. It used to be. I was 100% convinced of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Catholic-Orthodox Eucharist. I believed I was receiving the body and blood, soul and divinity of my Savior. But the more I've searched for a church whose worship would support that, the more I became cognizant of the fact that this is actually meant as a microcosm of a bigger reality.
God became man in the incarnation. Jesus becomes the Eucharist through transubstantiation. But that doesn't mean that the Catholic clergy are meant to act as gate-keepers giving or preventing access to Our Lord in Holy Communion. Jesus Himself made Himself available to the least liked, least respected, regardless of their actual belief in Him, regardless of their "worthiness". The cult of the Eucharist is now bothering me.
I've questioned in the past if the Eucharist has not been turned into an idol that has been flying under my radar because it has been equated with Jesus. But even Jesus Himself did not ask His followers to worship Him. So by reverencing the Eucharist, even if we believe it to be Jesus Christ Himself, we are not worshipping God the way Jesus taught us. Jesus taught us to turn to the Father.
Which brings me to Jesus as the model for our worship. He spent daily silent alone time, generally in nature, communing with the Father. Notice that word, "communing". It is not accidental. We refer to the Eucharist as holy "communion" because of what it represents and is intended to bring about: communion with God and with fellow believers. It is a sacrament, which by definition is an outward sign of an inward grace (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church). But how many Catholic Christians actually take that beyond the walls of the sanctuary? Beyond the time allotted for Mass? We are meant to LIVE that way! Not to tap into it once a week and hope it gets us through the rest of the week until our next refill!
So now the question becomes - can I in good conscience continue to participate in the Catholic Thanksgiving Meal (aka the Eucharist, aka Holy Communion)? Well, if understood correctly, it has a lot of potential for good. It has formed a lot of saints that way. So I cannot knock it on the surface. The question becomes, *how* ought I receive the Eucharist? What should I be thinking when I do? What should I be doing afterwards? Beforehand?
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Bottom line: is the Eucharist making me a better follower of Christ? If no, then it needs to stop. If yes, then it can stay. But either way, it is not enough. Mass is not enough. Even daily Mass is not enough, because it is relying on riding on the coattails of experience of others, instead of having my own personal experience of the presence of God.
Mass.
Prayer.
Bible Reading.
Spiritual Direction.
Small Group (Bible study/faith sharing).
I was hoping to find all at one church. Now I'm seeing that may not happen.
What's more, I was assuming that a reverent Mass experience = committed followers of Christ = families with similar values to ours in terms of parenting. I was mistaken. There is a lot of hoop-jumping by devout Catholic parents who mean well but are actually devoted to the Catholic Church and its version/interpretation of Jesus. They have put their trust in the Church Organization, and not in the Holy Spirit.
I once heard a critique of Protestants that went like this: Every Protestant is their own Pope. The point of course was that each Protestant Christian goes directly to the Scriptures and interprets them themselves. But this is telling. Does the Pope interpret Scripture? Or is the Pope supposed to be in contact with the Holy Spirit, Who is to interpret Scripture, and then the Pope speaks these revelations *on behalf of the Holy Spirit*? And if the Holy Spirit can speak to the Pope, the Holy Spirit can speak to each believer.
Truth is not monolithic. It's not relative, exactly, but it is dynamic. It is contextual. It does depend on various factors. Not everything we as Catholics believe to be set in stone necessarily is. I don't believe every single thing the Magisterium of the Church teaches as dogma is actually an aspect of God's unchanging Truth with a capital T.
One of the reasons I chose not to convert to Orthodoxy in spite of being enamored with our local Divine Liturgy is that I believe in continued revelation. I do not believe that the Holy Spirit is done speaking to us. The Catholic church believes this, too, but claims that it is the sole interpreter of the continued revelation of God. I disagree.
God chose to reveal Himself by questioning established religion in the person of Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus remained a religious, practicing Jew. But He did not allow that religion to limit His understanding and application of Scripture. He called us to do likewise. To follow in His footsteps. To look to the Scriptures, perhaps also to our religious traditions, but then discern how to apply each teaching to our unique circumstances.
Indeed, I think we are meant to each be our own Pope, because Jesus is the true head of the Church, which is the body of all Christian believers and not a single denomination. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would lead us to all truth, not a human representative like the Bishop of Rome.
I used to try to find the "right" denomination to belong to. Today I know it doesn't exist, on the one hand, and on the other hand, they can all potentially be "the right one" for where I am in life. But my denominational affiliation does not take the place of a relationship with God/Christ.
The question now is, where is the Lord leading me now?
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