It is a canard of the left, though I think generally true, that big businesses have the best interests themselves, not of the public at heart. But at the same time those same liberals also believe that big government and big unions do have the best interest of the public, rather than themselves at heart. Hmmm… There seems to be an inconsistency at work here.
I personally take the position that big anything, has its own interest at heart, whether that is bigness as in businesses, unions, government, or even churches. It is one of the reasons why I am a believer that the Christian Church in West, coalescing around the Roman center was doomed to eventual problems and fracture. Like all other big things, it failed its larger public duty, its great commission, and focused instead on what big things focus on as they get big: power, both its accrual and consolidation.
So was the Reformation inevitable? What Church governance model would have been better than kingship, because in the end the Roman Pope is a religious king, elected, but still a king and the Church around him was very centralized in power? How could the Christian Church have avoided this bigness problem? The United States tried, maybe not intentionally, but effectively, at least in the beginning, by the initial balance between the states and the federal government. Slavery (or sin, if you will) broke that balance. Now we have the problem of a big federal government out of control, doing what big things do. Was there a way for the Church to avoid similar problems? How did Jesus Christ expect his one body to remain one body? Did he always expect it to be a virtual body, made up of wheat in a mixed field of tares? Was a large, singular organization doomed from the start?
I thought I would share a few thoughts that keep bouncing around the rim out here on the fringes. Are there any thoughts about my thoughts?