You cannot be Christian and...
I saw a sticker which read, "You can't be Catholic and pro-abortion."
First off I am not sure anyone is pro-abortion, even those who advocate for choice are not advocating abortions only the freedom to choose.
That aside, it is curious to me the number of dichotomies that are set up in order to create in and out groups among my Christian brothers and sisters.
If history serves me correctly then there was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and uncircumcised. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and embracing of civil rights. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and gay. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and in the army. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and not be a Capitalist. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and a whole slew of things.
The fact of the matter is there is always a flux in understanding what it means to be a Christian. There is always a continuum that all Christians fall into. Rest assured that somewhere someone does not think you are a Christian. What is often forgotten is that what makes one a Christian is not beliefs - it never has been about beliefs.
First off I am not sure anyone is pro-abortion, even those who advocate for choice are not advocating abortions only the freedom to choose.
That aside, it is curious to me the number of dichotomies that are set up in order to create in and out groups among my Christian brothers and sisters.
If history serves me correctly then there was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and uncircumcised. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and embracing of civil rights. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and gay. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and in the army. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and not be a Capitalist. There was a time when people thought you could not be Christian and a whole slew of things.
The fact of the matter is there is always a flux in understanding what it means to be a Christian. There is always a continuum that all Christians fall into. Rest assured that somewhere someone does not think you are a Christian. What is often forgotten is that what makes one a Christian is not beliefs - it never has been about beliefs.
Christianity as a journey - not for me
There is this interesting paradox in the way many of us understand the Christian tradition. We have been taught that to be Christian is to have a set of responses to questions. So to be Christian means to believe a set of criteria and if you do not believe these criteria then you are not Christian.
When though of this way, religion is nothing more than a contract one takes with a immature understanding of God. If we assent or believe in X, Y and/or Z then we will get A, B, and/or C. It is a forward way to live life but it is not a life that I find worthwhile.
Some people talk about religion as a journey. This seems to be a little better and far more common way to talk about religion. I have always had a difficult time with this image as a primary understanding to discuss religion because journeys are generally spoken of as having a destination. Few go on a journey without being prepared or having a destination in mind. Like the contact image above, the journey image works for people but it is an image that I find lacking in too many ways to make it my primary image for understanding Christianity.
Rather, I tend to think of religion as a search. To take a quote from John Caputo on this podcast, "When you are searching for something that you are at a loss for what you are looking for the search more earnest and radical."
We say we know what God is and what God is like. We say we know what we are looking for as if we would know it once/if we saw it. Frankly, I just am not sure if I could spot God as easily as I can spot my car keys tucked in the couch.
I continue to search and search, hoping to one day discover what I have been searching for. But until that day, of if that day never comes, I delight in the search.
When though of this way, religion is nothing more than a contract one takes with a immature understanding of God. If we assent or believe in X, Y and/or Z then we will get A, B, and/or C. It is a forward way to live life but it is not a life that I find worthwhile.
Some people talk about religion as a journey. This seems to be a little better and far more common way to talk about religion. I have always had a difficult time with this image as a primary understanding to discuss religion because journeys are generally spoken of as having a destination. Few go on a journey without being prepared or having a destination in mind. Like the contact image above, the journey image works for people but it is an image that I find lacking in too many ways to make it my primary image for understanding Christianity.
Rather, I tend to think of religion as a search. To take a quote from John Caputo on this podcast, "When you are searching for something that you are at a loss for what you are looking for the search more earnest and radical."
We say we know what God is and what God is like. We say we know what we are looking for as if we would know it once/if we saw it. Frankly, I just am not sure if I could spot God as easily as I can spot my car keys tucked in the couch.I continue to search and search, hoping to one day discover what I have been searching for. But until that day, of if that day never comes, I delight in the search.
The Word of God
Christian spirituality is built on the Word. From creation to incarnation, the Word is the bedrock of our experience with the Divine throughout time. As such it should be no surprise that the Christian life is interested in language. Ironically, the faith tradition that places so much emphasis on the power of the Word, is the same faith tradition that is the victim of Western values and slowly is becoming a tradition of words.
The Word of God is often misunderstood as the words on a page or the words out of the mouth of a teacher. The Word of God is not confined to the physical or the spiritual realms, but rather embraces and also transcends them. The Word of God is that which creates the world and life and love. It is the very breath we take and the very wisdom of the mouths of babes. It is that which binds existence together. And no book can contain the fullness of the Word of God.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.