Development Builds Upon A Foundation; Departure Replaces It

 


Development builds upon a foundation; departure replaces it.
 
When an institution begins revising the very authority that gave it its identity, it is no longer developing a tradition. It is creating a new one.
 
History teaches that institutions rarely abandon their founding principles all at once. Drift is almost always gradual.
 
The best example is from the Old Testament in the life of King Solomon. Solomon did not wake up one morning and reject the God who had given him wisdom. His decline came one compromise at a time. One accommodation led to another. Small departures accumulated until the king who dedicated the Temple tolerated practices that would once have been unthinkable.
 
That is how drift works. It rarely announces itself. It happens slowly enough that each step seems reasonable. Only years later do people look back and realize how far they have traveled.
 
The same danger confronts every institution, whether it is a church, a university, a business, or even a nation.
 
Churches deserve the same honest examination.
 
 
----Petere Demos, Christian Post Op-ed contributor, “The United Methodist Church hates Methodism”
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/the-united-methodist-church-hates-methodism.html?utm_source=notifpush.com&utm_medium=web-push