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Small Group Socialization in the Church.

It is the insidious term that no one these days likes to talk about, but a term none the less that has been a part of my vocabulary since childhood. No one likes to openly admit that they are a communist, let alone a socialist, but that doesn't mean that there are real life consequences to these terms. We are a collective species and we like to get alone with each other. Social equality is a concept that every one gets their fair share in the market place and in society. No one likes to be left out, especially the disenfranchised and the poor in our society. When we see social injustice we want to make things right in our society, we want to feed the poor, cloth the homeless, give them a home and a place in our society. No one likes social injustice. Part of it is because, we don't like to feel hungry, we don't like to be poor. We don't like to be homeless, we take the words of compassion very seriously from world and religious leaders, and strive to make this society a just society where the homeless are housed and fed. Capitalism has grown into a monster in the eyes of the disenfranchised and the marginalised, and political leaders are trying to engineer a more just society.

We used to think that education was the solution to poverty, and in some areas in out society it gives us an open door for making a better life for ourselves and others. But there are some very educated people in our society who have lost their health, or social status thus leaving them just as poor as someone with very little education. If you are well, you should want to work. But sometimes circumstances in life leave us with a crushed spirit, and we lack the motivation, to get up out of bed and start working again. The family has tried, and the church has tried to socialize the individual to get them back into the swing of things, but what they didn't see with this socialization is a dehumanization of the human soul. When we think of the Jewish Holocaust, the greatest dehumanization of the soul in our time, the cause of that was a quest for a greater society. We don't see it this way, because the devil is subtle and works in mysterious ways.

When we speak of dehumanization and concepts like socialism, we cannot see through the mystery of what we are actually doing to our selves. We all desire a better world, and idealism can be a very tricky thing especially for someone who is religious, or for anyone for that matter. These social concepts can from the human mind, all that the human mind can create can destroy or build up society, and collectivism must always exclude one or more social group. We cannot be truly free when one person is being oppressed and if the majority says yes we can, there is always the minority which says no we can't. Why because it goes against my conscience, or my religious views. We are currently living in a crisis of conscience for millions around the world. We set up laws to protect conscience, but just go for a walk around your block, and there are street regulations that if broken, could land you in jail. Have you ever heard of someone going for a walk and being arrested?

This is what over regulation does in a society. It makes everyone a criminal, and when everyone is guilty no one is innocent. So society breaks down. Social structures like churches, are meant to protect the innocent, but when our societies innocent are abused in the name of God, something needs to change. There is no place for social engineering in our churches, and that's

just what these small groups and church growth methods are. Like the big bad world, today's church sees itself as innocent and must protect itself from evil. It has been a paradigm shift in the church. No longer is the church a place for lost sinners to find God, no longer is it a hospital for the spiritually sick, it is harbinger for correct doctrine. As though correct doctrine alone will gain you heaven. Even Jesus said, " You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me." John 5:39 NIV.

   

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