It is my belief that we live in a pragmatic age, where people who are pragmatists take different parts of scripture and use them for their own purposes. I believe that the gospel is not a message that gives us the ability to put someone on the judgment stand and continuously entertain accusations against them. Rather, I believe it is more important to focus on cleaning the inside of the cup (ourselves) than to compare ourselves with others. I think that if we can clean the inside of our cup, we will be able to go deeper and be more successful than if we only focus on what is on the surface.I think it is wrong to make our experience pragmatic, as we can vote on the direction that society is going to take. In God's kingdom, there is no vote. If you belong to His kingdom, you are obligated to work as one person, according to what you believe. I do not think that all of the reformed doctrines are necessarily pragmatic, as they can create a society with two different groups. While democracy is not perfect, it does allow for more freedoms in society than any other form of government. For this reason, I support democracy.I do not believe that the bible teaches that the church should be modeled after a corporation. In a corporation, people are hired based on their work history and reputation. However, the church is not an institution that is concerned with making money. Instead, I believe the church should be modeled after the reign of David. David was surrounded by all the outcasts of society. These were people who could not get along in that society. And yet, these people were chosen by God to be in the Lord's army. They were deeply engrained with a sense of rejection, which gave them one purpose.I do not think that God provided David with a group of men who had a good resume in terms of their loyalty and love for Israel. I do not believe that you can claim to be a non-pragmatist and yet work to institutionalize religion. Using the same pragmatic methods as the world and then thinking that you are going to get loyalty and love out of that process is not going to work. So we see David who had one thing that drove him throughout his life. And this one thing was as close to his love and loyalty for Israel in which he created through dealing with people in distinguishing between who was on his side and who was not. So it wasn't focused on David but on Christ.It seems that pragmatists are constantly criticizing the institutions they have established - for example, the bureaucratic structures they have implemented. They express discontent with what they observe in others that they also engage in. I believe this is due to their lack of focus on the gospel of grace, and instead assuming that anyone in a religious position of power must be correct in their behavior. We have been taught to think like pragmatists, instead of having our minds filled with scripture.The group of professionals were complaining about bloggers who they felt were not adhering to orthodox standards and were not presenting themselves in a professional manner. They specifically mentioned how these bloggers write their own books and include their own forwards, which they felt was unprofessional. However, after listening to their streams for a while, it became apparent that they regularly promote their own books and give each other positive feedback. So, it's unclear what the issue is.I find it problematic that we assume that we have the right to speak on behalf of groups of people we don't know and accuse them of being inauthentic because they engage in the same activities as us. Just because they are not professionals does not mean they should not be afforded the same liberties as us. You are aware of my rule concerning online activity: it can differentiate between what is real and what is fantasy.It may not be immediately apparent, but upon closer inspection it becomes clear that we are all sinners. No matter how experienced or knowledgeable someone is in theology, I can always find examples in their life of things that go against the code of conduct that is necessary for respectability. However, I think that in our society, which is based on pragmatism, it is not about the sin itself but rather about using the scriptures to paint a picture of sinners as being harmful and untrustworthy. This is what pragmatists do; they say that because I do not do what that person is doing, I have the right to judge them. Bill, I believe that this is a never-ending fight.The law does not necessarily guarantee that a person will become morally better. In fact, the law can sometimes provide more opportunity for people to act in a hypocritical manner. I have written extensively about the purpose of the law in punishing sinners because I believe that we often do not see the law's true purpose. I hope to apply this wisdom to the current situation in the church. I have been a member of the church for my entire adult life and would never leave it, but I am concerned about its current direction.