Menace of Denominationalism

Churches have become the most fertile ground for conflicts. In the tipsiness of power the veracity of Church is being washed away. It is no longer the blood of Christ that sustains the Church but the terrorizing and the venomous spirit of denominationalism. Statistics reveal that there are over 200 denominations in India and beyond 40000 denominations all over the world. In this fray, what credentials does the Church have to speak about inter-faith harmony when they cannot even pacify their intra-faith incongruences? Church being built on the anamnesis of Jesus the Christ and qualifying herself as His bride is a disgrace today in the façade of denominationalism. Countering Empires from its inception the church is at the cusp of becoming an Alternative Empire with ferocious Imperialistic repercussions and implications.  Orthodoxy and heresy are no longer issues of faith but are defined in terms of the proximity towards denominations - after all any heresy could be converted to orthodoxy if it has the scaffolding of majoritarianism.  Who in the wildest dream wondered that the murder of that thirty three year old carpenter would become a basis of employment for many? Professionalism over against servanthood has ruined the beauty of Ecclesia and therefore Church disputes can never be resolved socially, politically or legally but only theologically.

Dr. George Zachariah eruditely remarks,

History of Christianity is the unfortunate story of our journey from Ecclesia to Church. As we tend to believe, the etymological roots of the English term ‘Church’ is not Ecclesia. Rather it derives from the Greek words Kuriakon doma (house of the Lord) and Kyriakon (belonging to the Lord/Father/Master). In the New Testament, the Greek word Kuriakon appears only in two places whereas the word Ecclesia appears approximately 115 times and except in three cases the word is wrongly translated as Church….This seems to be a conscious attempt to replace the self-understanding of the gathered faith community from a radical democratic community of equals and disciples into the model of a Kyriarchal and hierarchical model of state and household ruled and controlled by the kings, masters, lords and men.  

Today in the name of faith, denominationalism is being propagated. Fidelity to denominations is given credence over loyalty to Christ. It is infused into the veins of people especially children and the youth by certain vicious prelates thereby giving rise to denominational terrorists. Prominence is given to the learning of biased church histories than the transforming love of the gospels. What is history? History is nothing but the interpretations of the interpretations. Romila Thapar, the Indian historian, writes,

Some have argued that as language is the medium of knowledge that which comes in the form of language constitutes a text; since language is interpreted by the individual, the reading by the individual gives meaning to the text; therefore each time a text is read by a different individual it acquires a fresh meaning. Taken to its logical conclusion, this denies any generally accepted meaning of a text and is implicitly a denial of attempts at historical representation or claims to relative objectivity, since the meaning would change with each reading.    

Thus the Church eulogizing the provinciality of history at the expense of nullifying the wider prospects of ecumenism is inherently fatal and cataclysmic. The community of faith should not act according to the whims and fancies of naïve prelates rather they should consider the self-emptying love of Christ as the yardstick of imperativeness.

I am so disturbed by the prevailing rivalry between the Syrian Orthodox faction and the Indian Orthodox faction. Administrational disputes could be there but how could these Orthodox Churches overlook the basic feature of Orthodox theology. Orthodox theological anthropology considers human beings as the image of God. According to Fr. Dr. K.M. George, the versatile Orthodox theologian,

“No anthropology would merit the name Christian if it eliminated the human right to suffer as integral to full humanity. The only difference is that one has no right to impose this suffering on any human being other than one’s own self.”

Imposing suffering on human beings even in the guise of denominational rivalry is betraying the quintessential tenets of Orthodox theology. Metropolitan Gregorious further comments,

“We best see the royal stature of man in those who have really become free by learning to control their own wills. When man wears the purple of virtue and the crown of justice, he becomes a living image of the king of kings, of God himself. The beauty of God is the beauty of joy, of beatitude, of blessedness. God is love and when love is absent in man, his image disappears.”

Conquering Churches under the rubric of ‘legal sanctions’ and celebrating Holy Eucharist by expelling the faith community is a sacrilegious act and the defilement of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the entire cosmos. Churches become Churches only by the testification of the faith community else they remain mere establishments. Establishments can be conquered but the affirmation of faith community can never be manufactured, it is always evolved. 

The church is in the public sphere and is bound for criticisms by the public. Hence, Church cannot afford to exist as the avaricious body of the self-effacing Christ. Moreover we are humans before we are Christians.  As Shannon L. Alder opines,

“Before you call yourself a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or any other theology, learn to be human first.”

No church denomination is greater than Christ as Christ is the name given to the humanity of the Divine. Denominations are welcomed to celebrate diversities but denominationalism can never be encouraged as it breeds divisiveness.

This Lent, let us pray for the grace to overcome the vices of denominationalism. In these futile disputes the Church fails in fulfilling its mission and ministry. The bruises of Christ are still unhealed as he continues to do the works of Abba when the Churches are busy in shallow conflicts.

I conclude with a poem circulated at a poor people’s rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, titled “Listen Christians”.

Listen Christians

I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger. Thank You.

I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel in the cellar and prayed for my release.

I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.

I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health

I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me. You seem so holy; so close to God.

But I’m still very hungry and lonely and cold.

So where have your prayers gone? What have they done? What does it profit a man to page through his book of prayers when the rest of the world is crying for his help?

Let us pray

Merciful God, redeem us from the vices of denominationalism so that we discover your Divine peace and do justice to the sacrifice of your self-effacing son. For Christ’s sake we pray. Amen

Prayers

Dn. Basil Paul