Pentecostals and their lack of structure.
I originally wrote a chunk of this in a reddit comment, and it inspired a longer post, so I decided to put it up here. Let's focus on one of the BIGGEST problems with pentecost in particular: very little to zilch in terms of coherent structure. Here's what I mean by that. There are plenty of pentecostal churches that don't care if their members become EMTs or cops or firefighters. There are plenty that teach that christians shouldn't choose certain professions.
You can hit 100 pentecostal churches and get 100 slight variations on different standards and practices. Wine with communion? Anywhere from sinful to absolute necessity. Wedding rings? Anywhere from "you're going to hell" to "do what you feel is right".
There is no consistency or structure, because all these churches are ran by people making it up as they go along. They report to no one. Anybody that's failed as a used car salesman can open up a church and slap the pentecostal label on it, and impose whatever ideas and standards he feels like.
The JWs, Mormons, hell even the catholics may have their share of flaws, but at least all of their churches are pretty similar down the line......
It creates some unique issues. A person could have a terrible experience at pentecostal church A, but someone from church B might hear their story and think it's complete bullshit, because THEIR church doesn't do those things and they have the same denomination on their name tag.
It's difficult to keep track of what a pentecostal really is, because people from different parts of the US or the world might have a different view in their mind, based on the experience they had in their particular region.
It's just a big mess, and YET, it's somewhat of a microcosm of christianity as a whole. Christianity is heavily fractured, with huge disparity of beliefs depending on denomination and region. And just like pentecostals, christianity has no direct oversight. Each faction, each denomination does what they feel is best, and they change over time.
The pentecostals I knew growing up made a frequent boast: "We're still preaching it the same way as when we started." And yet, there has been significant changes. They used to make a big deal about video, even putting a sign up outside of the sanctuary forbidding it.
Over and over again, I heard preaching against the internet, against Facebook and Instagram, against video games, you name it. And what do I see today, except dozens and dozens of people with Facebook and Instagram accounts, playing videos recorded from within the sanctuary.
The changes won't stop there, I can guarantee it. Okay, I'll get off the soapbox for today.
It creates some unique issues. A person could have a terrible experience at pentecostal church A, but someone from church B might hear their story and think it's complete bullshit, because THEIR church doesn't do those things and they have the same denomination on their name tag.
It's difficult to keep track of what a pentecostal really is, because people from different parts of the US or the world might have a different view in their mind, based on the experience they had in their particular region.
It's just a big mess, and YET, it's somewhat of a microcosm of christianity as a whole. Christianity is heavily fractured, with huge disparity of beliefs depending on denomination and region. And just like pentecostals, christianity has no direct oversight. Each faction, each denomination does what they feel is best, and they change over time.
The pentecostals I knew growing up made a frequent boast: "We're still preaching it the same way as when we started." And yet, there has been significant changes. They used to make a big deal about video, even putting a sign up outside of the sanctuary forbidding it.
Over and over again, I heard preaching against the internet, against Facebook and Instagram, against video games, you name it. And what do I see today, except dozens and dozens of people with Facebook and Instagram accounts, playing videos recorded from within the sanctuary.
The changes won't stop there, I can guarantee it. Okay, I'll get off the soapbox for today.
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