growing up christian (part dos)

as a preface to the second part of my 'growing up christian' post i'd like to make it clear that i am in no way attempting to be negative or overly critical. i am simply interested in digging up my past in a way that will move me forward to being more Christ-like. if it ever comes of like i'm preaching, it's because i'm pleading with myself to keep going.

i got way off track in my first post and didn't bother to edit it, so i will try to be more focused in this one.

preface done.

so much of what we learn as evangelicals is that there are a specific set of core beliefs that one must affirm in order to be considered "in the fold," so to speak. this list includes the following doctrinal affirmations: God created the world in six days (literal or figurative), we are all sinners from birth, Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man, that he was crucified and was raised from the dead on the third day as an atonement for our sins. this is, of course, not an exhaustive list of evangelical affirmations, but i think you get the idea.

i should be clear that i am not denying any of these at the moment, simply making an observation.

one of the things i began to struggle with in my mid-20s was the concept that it was simply by believing in Jesus that i would be enabled to achieve eternal life. my reading of the scriptures was leading me more towards an understanding that faithfulness counts for more than superstition or intellectual affirmations, but everything i seemed to be hearing was that all God wanted or needed from me was belief in order to save me from my sins.

this is what i encountered when i noticed two men preaching across the street from where i serve at the faith covenant meal in quincy. they were sort of the classic "bullhorn men", with signs proclaiming the impending damnation that awaits those who do not "believe" in Jesus to save them from their sins. it's just that easy, isn't it? all you have to do is write something on poster board to convince people that all they need to do is believe in something so that they won't burn for eternity. that's what Jesus meant for us when he submitted to death for his enemies. i get it now!

Jesus did not come urging folks to establish a religion that might finally get things right, or plead with people to believe in him like they believe in fate or their horoscope. he arrived proclaiming good news to the poor and the release of those who are in captivity, and pleaded with us to join him.

it's so incredibly easy to believe or affirm something. it is much harder to live out what you believe. but that's exactly what he called his disciples to, and that is what he is calling us to now: proclaim good news to the poor. set the captives free.

love does not objectify or callously proclaim damnation via bullhorn and/or sign. love digs in and gets hurt alongside the hurting. that's what Jesus did, and that's what i want to do.

so should we believe? yes. because without believing in the risen Christ there is little that we offer folks who are in captivity. however, it is not a new belief system we are offering, but life. believing something will never set you free. it is in learning from and following Jesus, his life, death and resurrection, that we come to be free. as Jesus himself put it, "everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

if you don't feel free, it may be because you have heard and believed but have not done. take that step beyond belief into faithfulness and then you've got something real to offer people who need something real.

-dave-