My Questions, My Answers

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about some questions I posed to a few of my friends. After they answered, I promised I would answer the questions as well. A while back I talked about doing an entry, or maybe a series, of “what I believe.” I guess this can be entry #1 in that series. Unless I don’t do any more, then it will be a stand-alone deal.

Below you will find the questions I posed to my friends and my corresponding answers.

Honestly, there is probably some bad theology in these answers. I’m sure there are things with which you will agree and disagree. And that’s OK. You may disagree with every word. That’s OK, too.

I invite you to read. To comment. To discuss.

If you want to answer the questions yourself, that’s great. If you don’t want to answer them in this public forum, you can email your answers/comments to me.

1) Tell me a little about your spiritual life (or lack of). Christian, other religion, non-religious, Atheist, etc. Did you attend church as a child? When did you stop?

My spiritual life? Hmm... I'm a Christian, obviously. But honestly, I hate the label. To me, it has come to mean so many things and 85% of them are negative. I think I'll go back to the early church nomenclature. I am a follower of The Way. I grew up in church. Then my family quit going. I started back on my own at 16. During that time my spiritual and political leanings shifted to the right. Not far right, but definitely right of center. That was mostly because that's what I was surrounded by. It's what I was taught. I slacked off in college a little, but stayed pretty faithful in my attendance, if nothing else. A few years after college I went into full-time youth ministry. That was a wonderful chance for me to see the underbelly of the organized church. During this time I began to see another side of the faith. I realized there was an intellectual aspect to faith as well as spiritual. I began to move much more to the center in my thinking. After we returned to Florence, I continued on this intellectual path. I began to look at my faith critically. To look at the Bible critically. And to look at Christians critically. The more I studied, the more I realized that as a follower of Christ, I am called to love. Unconditionally.

I classify myself as a seeker. I am seeking to know God better. Through the Bible. Through prayer. Through conversations with others.

I would say my faith is a big part of who I am, but it does not necessarily define me. I'm not going to beat anyone over the head with it. I probably won't even mention it in conversation. Unless you bring it up.

That being said, I do lead worship (play guitar & sing in the band) at my church.

I am certain of one thing in my faith. Nothing is certain. It is ever evolving. Mostly for the better.

2) What is your first impression, knee-jerk reaction when someone you’ve just me tells you they are a Christian?
My knee jerk reaction to someone telling me they are a Christian is usually a deep sigh. And a lightly muttered, "Oh shit." I don't like a lot of Christians. I cannot stand most any of the more well known "voices of Christianity." Pat Robertson, James Dobson, etc. They are nothing more than gigantic mouths out to serve their own purposes.

I will say that I like most of the people in the church I'm in now. It is a small Methodist church with very few if any "Christian Right" types. The group I tend to be a part of is open-minded, willing to listen and discuss and really examine their faith.

3) What do you see as the purpose of the Christian Church?
The purpose of the church is love. Plain and simple. My vision of what the Church should be comes from one of Jesus' parables. Where he talks about "the least of these." The poor, the hungry, the imprisoned, the outcasts, etc. "What ever you did for the least of these, you did for me."

I consider my self in the post-modern, "emergent" church crowd. They teach a very service oriented faith. Accepting. Loving. The 'Kingdom of God' is not the afterlife. The Kingdom of God is now, and the purpose of the Church is to bring that kingdom to fruition.

Don't read that as trying to convert the world. That's not what I'm talking about. The church should show the world God's love. We are to do the work of God. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, helping the poor, etc. Yes, I believe in the SOCIAL GOSPEL!!! Take that Glenn Beck!

4) How would you describe the Christian Bible? (Rulebook, mythology, truth, etc.)
The Bible is where it gets tricky for me. I believe it was written by men. Men who had an agenda. Men who wrote to a specific people at a specific time for a specific reason. I also believe it to be God inspired. I do not think it is to be taken literally. I do not think it is inerrant. I also believe there are many, many other God-inspired works out there. Some of them written at the same time as the current books of the Bible, some of them written yesterday. God still speaks, figuratively, of course.

I look at the Bible culturally. I like to ask, "Who is this addressed to?" "What did the author want to say to them?" "What does the passage say about the nature of God?" "What does it say about me?"

The answers to those questions change from reading to reading.

5) What should be the Christian Church’s focus?

The way I asked question 3 this is the same question. Question 3 should have said something like, "What role does the church portray?" or something like that. My answer to that is...Many of them try to portray themselves as the Moral Authority of the country. Their actions speak otherwise. I'm looking for the opposite. Our actions show who we are. Then words may not be necessary.

Hopefully most of that was clear. At least as clear as stained glass.