In the early days of my ministry I was a small town pastor in the hills of North Carolina. I had been asked to come preach at a revival in a little country church out in the woods. The only way to get to the church was through a winding farm road which ended in a gravel lot that served as parking for the congregation. One of the songs that was played by the church pianist was “Give me that old time religion.” Folks clapped their hands and sang in all sorts of keys and at the end a loud “AMEN” was cried! There seemed to be an expression of desire to return to the simplest form of Christianity, or the “good ol’ days” of the early church.
Those “good ol’ days” of the early Christian community were certainly a simpler time, but they had their own problems as well. Tell me, you Christians of today in our community, have you been threatened with death yet for your beliefs? Anybody in Freestone County been thrown to lions (the Lions club doesn’t count!) because they believed that Jesus is their Savior? We may desire a simpler time, but we need to remember that the early church had its own problems, mainly staying alive!
I can understand the desire for many of us to harken back to a day when the church was a united group. There were no such things as denominations once Jesus ascended into Heaven, but almost immediately after his ascension there was conflict. Human beings are naturally conflicting people, we usually prefer our own way of doing things over how someone else might be doing it. But, as Christians, we must fight against that notion because if it is Christ telling us to do something, we better not argue (though all of us will at some point).
So how do we rationalize all the different denominations that we see around our community? We have Baptists of all kinds, Pentecostals, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Non-Denominational, Methodists, Assembly of God, Church of Christ, Catholics, and the list could go on. To the average person this may seem like a bunch of chaos (and in a small way it is) but instead of looking at it like chaos, perhaps we should look at it like a tapestry.
Each church within our community represents a different way of worshipping and experiencing God. The one defining factor of each congregation is that they are trying to serve Jesus Christ. Each congregation is trying to follow the foundation of the original church community. Jesus said himself, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” It is not the “gathering” that makes the church, it is “gathering in the name of Jesus.” Rest assured that any congregation in Freestone County that truly “gathers in the name of Jesus” is just as much a part of the Christian church as any other.
If you are looking to explore, discover, or experience the redemptive power of Jesus Christ; don’t let denominations detour you. Instead, see it as a vast reflection of the diversity of Jesus and the beauty of expression in God’s creation. Find the church in which God speaks to you, and then rejoice in discovering that “old time religion.”
Oh! And to our Christian congregations out there! We need to stop competing with one another on how to increase our attendance. Numbers means nothing in the eyes of God; but lives, souls and hearts transformed in the name of Jesus are what the Master requires of us. Let’s stop competing and start working together to bring about revival in our community!
Now that’s what I would call Old Time Religion!
Pastor Mike McVey
First United Methodist Church, Fairfield
ACS Chaplain – U.S. Coast Guard Base Galveston
(P.S. If you would like to contact or receive Pastor Mike’s weekly newsletter simply email him at pastormike@fumcfairfield.org)
