I Believe in Moose Tracks

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      Methodism is not a religion. Neither is Roman Catholicism, Baptist, Lutheranism, or Presbyterianism. These are denominations: sort of like the flavors of ice cream. If you have a cone of chocolate ice cream in your hand and you are licking the long melted streams that are running toward your hand, and someone comes up and asks, “What are you eating?,” your answer would not be “chocolate.” You would more accurately reply, “ice cream.” Then, if the person asks you, “What kind of ice cream?,” you could respond by saying “chocolate.”
      This is how it works when a form, a registration, or a person asks your “religious preference”. Your answer might be Buddhist, or Hindu, or Moslem, or Jew, or Christian. And if you answered, “Christian,” then the flavor might be Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, and on and on. The denomination is the flavor. Christianity is the substance.
      Of course all of the other religions listed above have the same system of denominations. None of these religions are unified in their belief. In the Moslem world there are Sunnis and Shiites, (best known from their notoriety in Iraq), along with many other different flavors divided up over this little thing or that little thing. Denominationalism is a pariah that plagues all religions and points out how poorly we human-type people are able to reconcile our differences and interpretations. This denominationalism is a good indicator of how we can become small and trite in our religion. Christianity seems to be one of the best at dividing up and becoming an “us” and “them” set of beliefs.
      Even the Gospels reveal that in the days of Jesus there were Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Samaritans, and many cultural Jews who never really committed to any of these particular flavors.
      So, if someone asks you about your religion, please tell them you are a Christian in your religion and a Methodist as the particular flavor. If I ever invent my own denomination, which I have been prone to want to do from time to time, I am going to call it “Moose Tracks,” since that is my favorite flavor of ice cream. (I also like coffee ice cream, but it would be pretty confusing to tell people that I am a member of the Coffee Church). I digress.
      One of the most despicable movements in the Christian Church is the movement that believes that if you are born in America, then you are automatically a Christian. I might call these “Cultural Christians.” Americans are pretty bad at stating that they are a Christian while never having made a profession of faith or even entering a church. Other good Americans will state that they are Methodist or Baptist, or any other denomination, only because their grandparents were of that particular flavor, or because they were entered into that cradle role when they were born.
      The Christian Church is not the only religion that deals with this sort of cultural identity with a particular religion or denomination. Every religion deals with backsliders, posers, and cultural identifiers who state they are something due to affiliation. If I place a bowl of vanilla pudding in the middle of 25 other bowls of chocolate pudding, any seeing person would be able to tell the difference. That configuration of pudding could stay on the table for a week and besides getting a tough dried layer on top the observing person would recognize that the vanilla pudding is still vanilla pudding. That vanilla pudding may claim that it is chocolate pudding, but without taking on the flavor and color of chocolate pudding, the identity would not be the same. Being chocolate or vanilla pudding is a full commitment. Something is required. Flavor cannot be added just by affiliation.
      Being a bowl of chocolate pudding means something. Being moose tracks ice cream means something. Being a Christian means something. Being a Christian requires all that we are, every fiber of our being, and involves a full-fledged commitment that cannot be taken for granted. A dish of moose tracks ice cream will taste, look, and act like moose tracks ice cream wherever it happens to be. If a bowl of strawberry ice cream is advertised as moose tracks ice cream, even the most casual shopper will tell the difference.
Being a Christian requires something. This identity is not a casual thing that can be turned on or off at a whim. I know people who are a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and they make up their own little belief system that suits them perfectly. Besides the denominational variances, being a Christian is a buying into a system, a way, a truth that cannot be much diddled with. Many may try to take a little bit of Oprah, and a little bit of Hallmark Cards, and a little bit of Osteen, and a little bit of Buddha, and a little bit of Kahil Gibran, and a little bit of political party jargon and mix it all up and throw in some Christian words and call it Christianity. This is more common than I care to admit; however, this is not Christianity.
      Well, I guess I have said quite enough concerning Cultural Christianity. Just remember that your religion is Christian, your particular flavor is your denomination. Just being born may make you a child of God, but it does not make you a Christian.
      Tune in next week when I write about those who keep trying to legislate religion. That is a situation that is particularly distasteful, no matter what flavor we happen to try to add.

Rev. Dan Martin is pastor of First UMC, Hendersonville. He can be reached at moose1953@hotmail.com