The CGGC Middle School Clique Level of Immaturity

I got some thoughtful feedback on the George Jensen post.

The feedback included several theories to account for how George and the others participating in his Facebook thread could be so open to the inclusion of "originalist" Churches of God congregations in the ERC in the wake of the recent and unprecedented expulsion of Faith, a Church of God originalist church, which was so passionately loyal to the Belief, Mission and Vision Statements of the CGGC.

At the time, there was no reason given for the expulsion that suggested that the good and sincere people of Faith were not orthodox and faithful to the teachings and practices of the Conference or of the CGGC.

One theory suggests that Faith's problem for many was, simply, me, that is, that the hierarchs expelled Faith because they didn't like me...or that, at least, I wasn't one of them.

One comment went so far as to opine that Faith's connection to me was its biggest problem. I wonder what its other problems might have been.

Just to repeat, I love the ERC and the CGGC and I support and most certainly, in word and deed, even to this day, submit to all that the body says it believes and envisions and sets as its mission.

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I completely agree that the problem between the ERC Commission on Church Renewal, for whom George acted as mouthpiece, and Faith centered on me personally...

...but, understand. The problem with me has nothing to do with ERC or CGGC belief or practice.

What was the problem then?

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One of the dysfunctions of shepherd dominated religious institutions is their emphasis on bland and tolerant personal relationships in which it is considered to be a sin against the supposed unity of the body to hold tenaciously to principles of truth instead of living in drab and benign harmony.

I've been noting for years now that there are cliques in the CGGC. The existence of the cliques is a defining characteristic of our body: the hierarchs, the cynics, the skeptics...

The "love one another" commandment has no chance in the CGGC world as it has existed for generations.

Rather, the CGGC body functions with all the maturity of a student body in a Middle School.

We form our cliques as a matter of course. We are not driven by truth or principle. We are driven by relationship.

We drink spiritual milk rather than chew on meat.

We are babies. Immature.

We must grow up.

We must repent.