June 05, 2007
Infiltration
If new people are added to an established circle of close friends, the group dynamics change. In a similar scenario mainline churches often experience personality changes in their congregation when they have an influx of new members. Strong personalities coming in can take over and, for good or bad, re-make the character of the congregation in a relatively short period of time. I’m wondering how the presence of outsiders might impact religious groups and cults who thrive on exclusion and seclusion. Paul & Company certainly changed the atmosphere in the synagogue. Wouldn’t you just love to see him visit a Mosque?
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Gail;
-----The structure of religious groups runs the gamut from nearly an uncontrolled crowd to a dominated regimen. The control of ideology is one of many purposes behind the ambition to dominate a group. Generally those religious groups which thrive on exclusion and seclusion do so because these are useful tools in maintaining control. The leaders of such groups are highly possessive and any perceived threat may mean death (Jonestown).
----The current leadership of a group will attempt to maintain control over the present ideology by reaction to any expressions of undesirable ideas it detects. And, depending on the dynamics of the group and its leadership, the ideological definitions and guidelines will reference a source like the Koran, the Book of Mormon, or the Bible. The further any break introduced by an intrusion deviates from those definitions, the stronger will be the resistance to it. Though some individuals can be dissuaded from the group, for the group itself to be dissuaded from its irrelevancies, the leadership must be convinced or replaced.
-----The average church is no different, maybe just less dramatic. And, although there is usually some attempt to acknowledge personal freedom within the church, there is always a certain degree of control maintained. This is only Biblical. Paul warns about false teachers and false doctrine and he directs the church leaders to guard against these. But Paul makes a distinction between the ideological definitions made by Scripture, and those that are merely personal interpretations of Scripture. In fact, the latter being the ideological source of control is one of the several problems he warns against. The church’s definitions are to be simply Scriptural only. And that should have been a precious treasure for the church to protect.
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