In a previous post I explored how a Christian in 2009 can determine Truth and the correct interpretation of Scripture by using the criteria of St. Vincent of Lerins.
However, I think it is fair to say that the overwhelming majority of Christians, at least in the United States, don’t use St. Vincent’s criteria. People seem to have a list, either mental or written, of what they are looking for in a church. The content of the list varies, but can contain things like the personality and preaching style of the pastor, the look of the actual church building, the quality of the praise band, the number of events, the number of groups and ministries and the quality of the coffee offered on Sunday mornings.
The “evangelical” churches in America seem to have blended into a single “pop-Christianity” singing the same songs and using the same programs. There is now little difference between most evangelical churches. Denominational distinctiveness is gone. It is also apparent that theology and doctrine play little (if any) role in choosing a church today in America. Style is important not substance.
Unfortunately, Christians who do take theology seriously use a similar strategy for finding a church. They simply list all the doctrines they believe are important and try to find a church that teaches those doctrines. While a theological criterion is more sophisticated than the guitar riffs of the praise band, using a list to find a church is a bad strategy.
Confessional Lutherans upset with the direction of the LCMS try to find a LCMS congregation that meets a certain criteria. If the church uses the liturgy, has weekly Communion, practices closed Communion and is free from a praise band, it usually passes the “test”.
However, Rev. Palke argues that the use of such lists, either for the quality of music or the practice of Closed Communion, is all the same thing. He calls it using the “Protestant Grid”. The danger of such a “grid” is that it puts the person up as the “arbiter of truth”.
Rev. Palke states:
“As I had done prior to becoming Lutheran, I prayed that God would lead me into all truth. But now I had come to realize that my choice of Lutheranism in the past was based on criteria, such as infant baptism, the Real Presence of Christ in Holy Communion, and the truthfulness of the Bible, that I felt were important. Though these were weighty criteria, I now realize that I was doing what many do in searching for a church. They set up what I call “the Protestant grid.” Across the top of the page they list the particular doctrines they wish to consider. Going down the page, they list all the denominations they wish to consider. Then they get their Bibles, use their concordances, and footnotes, and place check marks in the appropriate squares for every denomination that teaches according to that individual's understanding of the doctrine in question. At the end of the exercise, the individual simply tallies up the check marks, and the denomination with the most check marks becomes the “preferred denomination.” If one chooses not to bother with this process, he can always opt for a “nondenominational church.” I have come to see the flaws in this process. The individual becomes the arbiter of truth. While Protestants so frequently lambaste the pope, they fail to see that they are simply replacing the pope with themselves, claiming that “all rights exist in the shrine of their hearts.”
Underlying this issue is the whole matter of biblical interpretation. We know from Scripture itself that “Scripture is not a matter of private interpretation,” yet this goes on all too often on the western side of the street. Orthodoxy, on the other hand, comes as a complete package. There's no picking and choosing. You either accept the teaching, worship, spirituality, iconography, canons, etc. as a complete package (this is one of the essential definitions of the word “catholic”--completeness!) or you reject it. I choose to accept it all. And now I know what possessed the Evangelical Orthodox to become Orthodox: the Holy Spirit! I am not bitter about my stay in the Lutheran Church. On the contrary, I thank God that he brought me to a church located right across the street from the Orthodox fortress. Frankly, I'm much more impressed by these former Campus Crusaders, who had a lot further to go to get to Orthodoxy than Lutherans do. The Lord had already led me to an understanding of infant baptism, the real presence of Christ in the Sacraments, confession, a liturgical form of worship, and acceptance of Orthodox Christology, among other things, during my Lutheran residency. I finally said to myself: “if a para-church group can find the Orthodox Church and enter it, then anyone can!”
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