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.
Christians can never worship in isolation
Thinking a bit more about worship lately and came into a conversation with someone who shared that she disagreed with my definition of worship. For her, worship is not limited to a corporate experience and that she can worship by herself in the beauty of nature.
I stated that while that I beautiful I would not call that Christian worship. Devotion? Sure. Worship, no.
Worship is never done in isolation. It is not something that is a part of the Christian experience. Even Jesus worshiped in the community and never alone.
What became apparent to me in my conversation with this woman I respect was that for many people "corporate" or "community" means having people around. So when going into a closet and shutting the door means one is not in a corporate setting - that person is alone.
Here is the kicker, in Christian thought we trust we are not alone. We have the Advocate (Holy Spirit) we are surrounded by the "great cloud of witnesses" we are in communion with God in Christ.
Every time we are alone and we are in a worshipful spirit, we are never alone. Our worship is a constant celebration with a community that is fully present. Christian worship is never done in isolation.
With that in mind, there are times in our lives when we are truly alone. When we are abandoned by all, but these times are not worshipful. Abandonment is something that Peter Rollins takes on full force in his book Insurrection - which I hope to post about soon.
I stated that while that I beautiful I would not call that Christian worship. Devotion? Sure. Worship, no.
What became apparent to me in my conversation with this woman I respect was that for many people "corporate" or "community" means having people around. So when going into a closet and shutting the door means one is not in a corporate setting - that person is alone.
Here is the kicker, in Christian thought we trust we are not alone. We have the Advocate (Holy Spirit) we are surrounded by the "great cloud of witnesses" we are in communion with God in Christ.
Every time we are alone and we are in a worshipful spirit, we are never alone. Our worship is a constant celebration with a community that is fully present. Christian worship is never done in isolation.
With that in mind, there are times in our lives when we are truly alone. When we are abandoned by all, but these times are not worshipful. Abandonment is something that Peter Rollins takes on full force in his book Insurrection - which I hope to post about soon.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.