THREE THINGS YOUR CHURCH PASTOR WON’T TELL YOU

1. The content of the Bible was voted on, and of the eligible voters, there were fewer voting for it than not voting for it.

The Cardinals of the Council of Trent in 1546 voted on the contents of the Roman Catholic Bible (which closed the Catholic Canon and because pressure from Martin Luther was partly responsible for the vote, pretty much sealed the contents of the Protestant Bible). That vote, for the book that Christians call divinely inspired and the Word of God, passed with 24 Cardinals voting for it, 15 voting against it, AND 16 ABSTAINING. Yep – that’s right – more of the Cardinals either abstained or voted against than agreed to vote for the Bible contents we recognize today.

2. Most Protestant religious services are so similar that denominational differences don’t make a difference.

Most pastors won’t admit, but there is frequently more difference WITHIN the various churches of a denomination than there are ACROSS denominations. If you stumbled into most Protestant churches today, it would be impossible to distinguish from the service, which denomination’s church you’d entered. The same with fellowship and social activities… Churches within a single denomination are more likely to be incredibly different due to different geographic location and churches of different denominations are more likely to be incredibly similar to churches in the same geographic area. Major theological differences between denominations are more likely to be manifested at the highest adjudicatory levels and not so much in the actual houses of worship.

In fact, since Vatican II in the early 1960’s, the Roman Catholic church services have become more and more ecumenical and many devout Catholics have even complained about the similarity to traditional Protestant services.

3. Church attendance is segregated.

The old adage (thank you, Dr. King) is that, in America, the most segregated hour of the week is Sunday morning.

A 2008 “CNN Living” article, by John Blake said:
Only about 5 percent of the nation's churches are racially integrated, and half of them are in the process of becoming all-black or all-white, says Curtiss Paul DeYoung, co-author of "United by Faith," a book that examines interracial churches in the United States.
DeYoung's numbers are backed by other scholars who've done similar research. They say integrated churches are rare because attending one is like tiptoeing through a racial minefield. Just like in society, racial tensions in the church can erupt over everything from sharing power to interracial dating.

Any good psychologist will tell you that the old adage, ‘Familiarty Breeds Contempt’ is wrong. We like to be with those who dress like us, behave like us, and think like us. It’s easier to give in to social convention than to be as radically inclusive as most religions would prescribe.