The Real Problem

There was a time back before retirement when I intentionally looked for old religious books.  One of the finds from those years was a copy of a pre-1900 "Book of Discipline."  Anyone familiar with the Methodist Church will know that "The Book of Discipline"  is a guideline and final word for all things Methodist.  This particular copy was small enough that it fit nicely into a shirt pocket.  When retirement came a little over ten years ago the "The Book of Discipline"  had an accompanying volume noted as "The Book of Resolutions."  The two would require not a shirt pocket, but an over the shoulder book bag!     

For this worn out Methodist preacher, the difference speaks volumes about how the church has become so complicated and confused.  In some ways it seems we have become worse than those Pharisees of Jesus' day with all their laws and regulations which got added to the Law of Moses.  Bigger is not always better.  Of course, this is a possibility largely ignored by the policy makers who want to dot "i's and t'" that are not even present.    

Call me an advocate of simple is better.  While I know going back to simple is not an option, the difference in the two books in about a hundred years does seem to point to one of the problems with the denomination of which I am an ordained minister.  In some Methodist circles "The Book of Discipline"  is more of a guide for the church than the Scripture which points to the real problem.