When a man wants to start his own “Christian Business”, he begins with a marketing plan. “I want to focus on families. I want a large church, a mega-church, with lots of programs focused on families. I don’t want to alienate anyone. So, my mega-church will be ‘non-denominational’. That will let people know they don’t have to do any difficult thinking about anything. They will feel comfortable, knowing that there won’t be any complicated issues to consider. We’ll just focus on Jesus! Jesus and the family!”
Amazingly, that sort of simple-minded analysis is all that many who want to start their own “Christian Business” need.
Usually, such ambitious young men begin by getting a job in an existing church as an Assistant Pastor. They are, frankly, bored to death. The senior pastor has been around long enough to know that there’s really not a lot of hard work in most of the Protestant denominations. So, he’s usually worried about losing his job.
Senior pastors know they need to undermine the ambitious assistant who might replace them too soon. They become skilled at frequently telling their boards, “Yes, young Jimmy is a bright young man. But, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, he’s still a little rough around the edges. I’m continuing to work with him, and working hard, to show him how to do better.”
This sort of mindless blather is, in the minds of most schismatic elders, sufficient to form a picture of the young man as “Really, not quite ready.”, removing him as an immediate threat.
“I need money to start my own church!”, the young man on the make will soon say. Soon, he finds a rich person who won’t miss the hundred thousand dollars for the “seed money” to start a new, vibrant, “Family Church”.
If he can find two or three wealthy people, convince them to use their money “to do something worthwhile”, and get them to sign pledges or mortgages, he’s on his way! A new schism, to further divide Christianity among competing groups, soon takes its place at the table.
When an ambitious man begins another new schism, no one asks: “Is this just one more manifestation of human pride?”
Those who are opposed to The Only Church Jesus Founded are pleased when new schisms confuse more people. Invent your own schism! is, after all, something of which some can be proud.
