We take great pride in our divisions nowadays.
Long ago and within our selves now, we broke up and each division now really and truly has its own piece of the Truth, but we are also guessing about the rest with equal certainty.
In somehow coming back together again as one Church, under the One Jesus, our mistakes and errors in understanding could be corrected, but we’re not there yet.
Arrogant certainty blinds us Truth, and thus to our own sins, and even worse, to how we reject God and diss His Holy Spirit nowadays, and all while claiming to be washed clean by the Blood of Jesus.
I hope He knows us or it won’t end well.
And even if He does know us, blasphemy against His Holy Spirit isn’t forgiven or forgotten. What sort of purgatory will moves like that earn for us?
Our guilt is worse when we supposedly know better and do it anyway, right?
+1
There is no such place or behavior mechanism cleanser as purgatory. God did not take flesh and dwell among us to redeem our sin encrusted souls. He focused upon our spirit attached to our soul, and by separating that spirit from that behavior mechanism by the swift slice of His Word, He made a secure place where He has Promised to have His Life abiding unto the day He redeems our spirit by giving it a new body and new soul fit for eternal living in His Presence.
I think it’s to late.
This place has drifted so far off the path, even the churches following the masses not leading them have wondered so far, that there is no way back. IMHO-
I do not believe in “prosperity teachings,” another American Christian thing, do XYZ and you’ll be successful. However, I do believe that the classic Christian teachings/values at a macro level contribute to the success of a society. Individually you can do everything right and still get cancer at 50 and die, but at a macro level averages start to compensate for that. Classical/traditional Christian values basically teach the basic tenets that make any society successful (a secular view) even if not Christian.
You have the idea of being productive/hard working, value life, marriage and children, you are taught that corruption is wrong, you are taught to get along and even help each other, lying/cheating/stealing are all wrong... Successful societies have certain values in common, i.e. time sensitivity, the value of labor/productivity, value of life, aversion to corruption, willingness to incorporate technology, willingness to use force. For example, look at the wealthy nations and the poor nations on this earth, then look at who is more and less corrupt (coincidence?): https://www.transparency.org/cpi2018 Of course in America we’d say it’s all because of “racism.” LOL
Societies that prosper have certain values, may they be Christian or not (The Chinese a long time ago were highly advanced and successful, but not Christian). With the loss of our Christian values, we are also losing those values that made us succeed. Consumerism and the drift by Christian churches, globalization, and the rise of the left (secular/atheists) in America are contributing to this phenomena. You cannot long term be successful and not value life, like German society today you will go extinct and be replaced in your own borders. You cannot be successful and be lazy (sloth), or like the Jamaicans you get nothing done. You cannot be corrupt like many Arabs and folks from the Middle East. You cannot be a pacifist or reject technology like the Amish that only survive because of the benevolence of the society hosting them. You cannot lack time sensitivity and have complex industrial activities or conduct warfare which require the synchronization of resources in time and space to work properly. You cannot have a heterogeneous society with values that are in conflict as these societies rip themselves apart with internal strife... As we reject those those values which made us great, we will also begin to slip, which we already are.
America is running off the inertia from her glorious and highly successful past. We are a massive ship that was steaming ahead at a high rate of speed. It takes a long time for such a ship to stop moving even when the engines have stopped running.