Everything you talk about is true and is a plague throughout all denominations. Ever hear about “the prince of the power of the air?” Another name for him is Satan, the Devil, the father of all lies, the deceiver. He is out to destroy the works of God. One of his tactics is distraction… you know shiny objects dangled here and there. My writing on Facebook and Medium often offer the answers to his devices. One is found in the early church, in the Bible Book of The Acts of the Apostles. The pattern of worship is not any particular liturgy or doctrinal confession. It is the personal relationship with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Advocate, which is the Holy Spirit. I see none of these essential Gospel fundamentals in your essay. I do see a lot of things that are accurate and true. Yet, it is what you did not say that I believe is universally the general problem. Your critique, if I understand it correctly, is against man made constructs. “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…” (2 Timothy 3:5) Those constructs have nothing directly addressing the key to the door you are standing in front of. The key is the personal relationship with the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth.

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3, NIV)

My observation is that rather than being the Answer, Way, Truth, and Light, denominational religions are truly in the way of that actual fellowship and its foundation: the necessity to be twice born. They have “the form of godliness but deny the power thereof.”

“Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” (Luke 21:5-6, NIV)

The devil may be a minor influence, but God is the real mover and shaker. “People will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth.” (Isaiah 2:19, NIV)

Try singing “What a Friend we have in Jesus.”