I was raised in my current religious tribe–”Churches of Christ.” I use the language of tribe because certain practices, customs and traditions defined us. If you were part of the tribe then you knew the language–”member of the church,” “New Testament Christian,” “non-denominational,” and “The Churches of Christ salute you.” We knew there was a tribal council (elders) and no chief, except Jesus Christ. Although our ancestors said, “Christians only, but not the only Christians” our rhetoric and rituals came to define us over and against any other tribe and the chief, Jesus Christ was only with us. I know the tribal analogy has it’s limits but when tribalism dominates our spirit we become sectarian.
Sometimes we hide behind our pet passages of Scripture and our way of doing things as if God is limited by our understanding and practices.
Sometimes we define ourselves only by what we don’t do and our own failure to be consistent leaves us in our guilt and self-loathing. As a result, we approach everything as a matter of salvation and reinforce our tribal sectarian identity. When someone who has different tribal experiences comes to the campfire seeking warmth, we make them walk across the coals to prove their worth and sincerity. Many times, becoming part of our tribe is not worth the effort because the spirit of the chief has been quenched in our tribe.
I love my tribe. I will always be with my tribe. I simply want the spirit of the chief, Jesus Christ to be our tribal identity.
Whatever happened to the buffalo, anyway?