In the ICoC, when you know you must confess something but you don't know if your discipler will judge it to be a sin, you say, "I've been having weird thoughts...." This can also be said if you want to minimize the negative impact of what you plan to confess. Oh, don't worry -- if your "weird thoughts" are actually "sinful," the situation will quickly escalate in spite of your attempts to play it cool. ;->
Here, I have a collection of some "weird thoughts." Some people may consider them sinful, but they may in actuality not be. Some are just snide little questions I have had in the past, and some are a direct attempt to show the flaws in ICoC doctrine and practice. Pretend you're the "discipler" and you decide!
1. "Can I see the church's financial statement -- not the one you prepare for the members -- the *real* one?"
2. Is it true that your staff members live in the nicest neighborhoods in town in order to convert the rich? Jesus never did that.
3. Can you show me the scripture(s) in the Bible which indicate that you have the authority to *assign* me a "discipler"?
4. What happens if I decide to give less than 10% of my gross pay every week? What happens if I miss a contribution? What happens if I have "decided in my heart" (2 Cor. 9) to give a grand total of ZERO for Special Contribution? What if I decide to give my "Special Contribution" to the Salvation Army (or another Christian charity) instead of to the ICoC or one of the ICoC's HOPE charities?
5. If in order to be "disciples" we must be "baptized into Jesus' death," how do you account for Twelve Apostles, and anyone else who may have been "converted" to Christ before Christ actually died? How can there be two different types of salvation? The Bible says, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism."
6. If studying "First Principles" is necessary in order to become a Christian, why wasn't it studied like that in the First Century? As in question 5 above, why would the standards for salvation be different now than they were in the First Century? Consider the "three thousand who were added to their number that day," the Philippian jailer, the Ethiopian eunuch, etc. If God is, as it's said, a fair and just God, why would He give different people different requirements for salvation?
7. Since the term "disciple" is never used after Acts 22, why do members of the ICoC insist on playing head games with potential recruits concerning the word "disciple"? Is no one who was converted after Acts 22 to be considered a follower of Jesus?
8. What kind of church gets the majority of its new recruits by convincing people who attend mainstream Christian churches that they are not in actuality Christians/"disciples"/saved??
9. Why not just be a friend to, and even "disciple" (verb) someone who says they're a Christian, without requiring that they attend and give money to the ICoC? If someone is truly benefiting from your friendship and your church's teachings, isn't it reasonable to expect that they will eventually "come around" on their own?
10. How insecure and manipulative are members of a church who must use specific and pointed criticisms of other Christian churches in order to gain the great majority of their new members, as the ICoC does?
11. Kip McKean, the leader of the ICoC, has identified himself as a "prophet." In light of Hebrews 1:1-2, is Kip McKean a false prophet? And if Kip McKean is a false prophet, doesn't it stand to reason that the ICoC is a "false Kingdom"?
I have more weird thoughts that I haven't had time to write down yet... so check back again. And if you want to share a "weird thought" with me, and maybe the world, write and tell me about it.
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