Conformity or Individualism

The church is always more comfortable with conformity rather than individualism.  The church seems to work best when everyone embraces the same theological position, lives according to the same values, and mimics all the rituals without any questioning spirit.  Individualism breeds a questioning attitude, thinking outside the church box, and freedom from having to be like everyone else.  The conformist who toe the line of the status quo are easier to control while the individualist are often just dismissed as impossible people.

 

It is a strange reality given the fact that Jesus was a revolutionary.  His spirit of non-conformity was a constant challenge to the status quo of the religious community of His day.  It was one of the things which caused Him to be hung on a cross.  Individual thinkers are often crucified.  And, if not crucified, they are severely persecuted until they see things the way those in control want them to see them.  I remember one woman who was a member of another brand other than Methodism who often visited with us on Sunday evening until she was finally told by her pastor that she could not worship in her church on Sunday morning if she continued the practice.  She was exposing herself to false teachings was the reason.

There is always room for thinking.  If someone tells us we need to leave our brain at home on Sunday morning, we need to run away from them as fast as possible.  We were created with the ability to reason things in our mind, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to aid us from within in our search for truth, and we are trusted by the Creator to walk a road which leads to an understanding of who we are and who the Creator created us to be.  The church may not always show appreciation for it, but the truth is, we are all created individually and so are we called to live.