WTF

The Fragility of Our Sexuality

About a month ago, I posted a link on Facebook to this blog post by John Shore (who’s become one of my favorite Christian bloggers, check him out). It’s a letter from a Christian woman who grew up with the normal American Christian view of premarital sex and abstinence and sexuality, who, once she got married, realized that her sexuality was completely screwed (pun intended). I posted the article because it resonated with me. I felt like it was kind of telling my story. I ended up getting in a small discussion about with with a friend—about how we weren’t completely satisfied with Mr. Shore’s conclusions, but were definitely not satisfied by the way we normally do things as Christians in this culture.

Here’s my story in a nutshell:

I grew up in the church. Went to a Christian school. Frequented youth groups.
I learned that God is against “premarital sex”.
I saved myself for marriage.
I expected married sexuality to be totally awesome and perfect, based on these previous facts.

Well, it’s been a challenge, as you can imagine.

Let me preface all of this by saying that I enjoy sex with my wife. A lot. And I also have no problems with someone keeping their virginity until marriage—in fact, I believe its preferable. I think that the idea that I am (as far as I’m concerned) going to have sex with one person for the rest of my life exciting and incredibly special.

I also should say I’m writing this from the perspective of a straight Christian man. Who lived through all of the Promise Keepers and purity movements and all of that stuff in the 90s, so I can’t really speak from any other perspective.

Back to my story. I mentioned that I learned that God is against “premarital sex.” That’s where the issue starts. For one, I think that the way the Bible is used to “prove” that sex outside the confines of marriage (which is a really shitty way of talking about marriage in my opinion) is not God’s desire for us is shaky at best, and two, I believe that what is really implied in our culture is that God is against all premarital sexuality.

Coming into marriage, my mind, body, and heart were all trained to believe that sexual anything was evil. And I’m not just talking about going around and having sex, or looking at pornography, or checking out every other girl’s hind-quarters. I’m talking about coming to terms with who I am sexually. Understanding what makes me tick. What attracts me. What “turns me on.” What I have to look forward  to, so I know who to look for. 

Newsflash: we are (incredibly) sexual beings. Our sexuality is a gift. Our sexuality is an amazing, beautiful creation of the Most High God.

Looking back on my time as a Christian youth, if I would have had people I looked up to telling me that the way seeing that beautiful girl makes me feel physically and emotionally was not only good but God-ordained, I believe my personal issues with lust and pornography addiction would have been much less pervasive in my life. I believe that if I went into my marriage bed not just telling myself that sex with my wife is special and beautiful, but actually knowing that it would be, because our sexuality was already special and beautiful, many of the sexual issues that still plague us five years in would be much less pervasive.

Instead, I went into marriage thinking that sex was a light switch that flipped between “evil” and “perfect.”

I think its funny that the most-used Christianese word when we talk about sexuality is “brokenness.” Because it’s true. Our sexuality is so fragile.

Our sexuality is not evil.
Our sexual orientation is not evil.
Our sexual desires are not evil.

It’s created by God. And it’s really fragile. We like to use all of these Bible verses to speak against sexuality in general, or same-sex relationships, or to keep oppressing our own sexual desires—all in the name of purity. But if we step back and look at the bigger picture, the various authors of the Scriptures are, in my opinion, not implying specific sexual acts, but revealing an overarching narrative that our sexuality is not something to just throw around. It’s fragile. It’s easily broken.

I believe we have a chance to really change how we Christians come across on the issue of sexuality. I believe we can shift from prude religious assholes to agents of sexual restoration.

God wants to redeem our sexuality. God wants to be an intimate part of how we view ourselves from a sexual perspective. I believe we need to teach our children to invite God into their sexuality from an early age—instead of instilling in them that God is sitting there watching them explore their sexuality, shaking his head and pointing his finger at that red door that says “HELL”.

I believe that we need to tell our children from the moment they understand our words that they are beautiful creations of a loving God, that they were created just they way they are, and that their identity is found in Christ and being His image—not in who they give their bodies to.

And I believe that we need to have honest conversations with our children along the way about sexuality instead of spewing the same trite cultural Christian answers at them. We need to discuss the fragility of our sexuality. It’s too easy (and wrong) to just say “Sex is bad. Don’t do it. Until you are married, of course.”

By Collin | Also posted in Culture, Encouragement, Oh you know..., Struggling, Theology | Comments (3)

Vade Retro Satana

 

 

 

 

A little something that’s been brewing.

By Collin | Also posted in Encouragement, The Classics, Theology | Comments (0)

What I Believe.

It’s no secret that I don’t necessarily fit the traditional American Christian mold. In the numerous debates, discussions, or arguments that I get into about faith, biblical interpretation, eschatology, etc, I often get asked “so what DO you believe?”

Well, here goes nothing:

I believe God is our eternal Father.

I believe God is the great artist and all creation comes from him and only him.

I believe God came incarnate as Jesus Christ, his only son.

I believe God walked the earth in grace and truth.

I believe God was crucified.

I believe God suffered under God’s own judgement for three days.

I believe God did this so we won’t have to.

I believe God resurrected.

 

I.

Believe.

God.

Resurrected.


I believe God is alive.

I believe he speaks to us and operates in and through us through his Holy Spirit.

I believe that through his Holy Spirit we have an advocate. That we have comfort and peace. And that we have power to see God’s Kingdom enter this world and bring abundant life.

I believe God will return to us and will judge the world with his perfect grace, mercy and love. (I also believe God’s judgement may look quite a bit different than our judgement.)

I believe that a new heaven is just waiting to explode in the midst of this world, creating a new earth in perfect harmony with the Kingdom of Heaven.

I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. I also believe that this is different than it being the literal, inerrant words of God (which I do not believe).

I believe that through the ages we’ve gotten a lot of things wrong. That a lot of people have been hurt, oppressed, killed, driven to atheism—by a dysfunctional family that’s still trying to figure it all out.

I believe there are a lot of things we’ve focused on that God wants to, in his perfect grace, shift our hearts and minds away from and toward issues that really matter.

I believe there is a place for everyone in the Kingdom. Everyone.

Every. One.

I believe there are new things and new ways of living that God is slowly revealing through his Spirit. We just need to listen (and be willing to let our old understanding fall by the wayside).

I believe in faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these being love.

 

These are the things that I know to be true.

 

By Collin | Also posted in Encouragement, The Classics, Theology | Comments (0)

An Open Letter To Everyone (Including Me)

Update: I disabled comments on this post. I feel the message is strong and needs to be said, and for the sake of the message, I want to keep arguing and discourse off of this one. If you really want to discuss it, please email me.

Ten years ago, I reached a point in my Christian life where I made a conscious decision to not call myself a Christian anymore. It wasn’t a crisis of faith, in fact my faith was never shaken, only stronger. It was a crisis of faith in my fellow Christians. I had exhausted my patience for judgementalism and fundamentalism. I was sick of Christians preaching love and grace and not showing love and grace whatsoever. By the grace of God I decided to keep my “title” and instead try and “reclaim the name” for the true Gospel of Christ.

Fast forward 10 years. Last night I had a Christian meltdown. All of this Rob Bell/universalism/Calvinism/Heaven-and-Hell talk has taken it’s toll on me. Last night I was more embarrassed to be a Christian that I have been in these past 10 years.

After some careful consideration, discussion, and prayer from my wife and two of my best friends, I’ve decided to write this letter. Like any good Christian, I’ve split my friends into two groups (sarcasm) and I have split this letter into two parts.

First, to my non-Christian friends:

I’m sorry. I can’t say this enough. Speaking on behalf of my incredibly dysfunctional family, Christians, I’m sorry that we’ve come across as the same self-righteous, I’m-right-you’re-wrong, jumping-to-conclusions, ignorant assholes that we always have. If you have Christian friends, I’m sure you’ve read some tweets, some Facebook discussions, or have even seen a news article on your favorite mainstream news website about how “evangelicals have called one of their own a heretic.”

“One of their own.”

It’s a shame, really.

I want to tell you that the true Gospel of Christ is so much bigger and so much better than these petty arguments that are going on right now in the Christian world. These debates don’t really matter in the long run. So please, try and look past the rhetorical argument (screaming match) going on right now and look at the living, breathing Christ standing behind it, because he sure as hell isn’t in it.

Matthew 7:16 says “by their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, and figs from thistles?” And Galatians 5:22-23 says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” So as you look out across the Christian landscape, if you are going to judge us by anything—let it be that.

And I can’t stress enough that you try your hardest to not judge the God of the Bible by the way His followers are acting. Christ is alive and incarnate among us in Grace and Truth.

(And a side note, the earthquake/tsunami in Japan wasn’t Him either.)

Now, to my Christian friends:

We are not doing anything good for the Kingdom of God. Nothing. Our current arguments are nothing but rhetoric and in no way represent the living Christ.

Whatever “team” you are on in this current landscape, chances are that you are just “defending the true gospel.” The Gospel does not need to be defended. If we are walking in Grace and Truth like Jesus did, the true Gospel will speak louder than we ever could.

We must remember that we are one body with many parts. Our head is Christ. The body can’t survive if it cuts one of it’s own organs out. Well, it might survive, but it will walk with a limp at least.

If you are a Bell supporter, stop defending him. He’s a big boy and can take criticism. Defend nothing but the Gospel of Christ. His death and resurrection.

If you are a Bell detractor, please look at the fruit of his work before you start saying things like “false teacher,” “itching ears,” and “heretic.” Because if someone is leading folks toward the living Christ—that’s not false teaching. The false teachers the Scripture talks about would draw people away from Christ, not toward.

Regardless if you agree with Rob Bell or not (this is not about him by the way, this would be the same if any one else—Rick Warren, John Piper, John MacArthur, I don’t know—brought this conversation to light), he is doing work for the Kingdom of God. Matthew Paul Turner said on his blog yesterday that the fact of the matter is because of Bell’s message, many who probably closed the door on God a long time ago have a reason to reopen it. Let’s not give them a reason to slam it shut again. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts, not us. If Bell’s teaching is off, the Holy Spirit of God will convict accordingly.

In John 13 Jesus, speaking to his followers, says that we will be known to the world by our love for one another. We must keep this at the top of our minds as we engage in public discourse. We are looking to the world right now less like two brothers who can’t get along, and more like two brothers who have decided to divorce themselves from their family.

If you believe the Bible is composed of the inerrant, literal words of God, that’s fine. I don’t. Which is also fine. I believe the Bible is authoritative, inspired by God, breathed by the Holy Spirit. I believe it’s the living, breathing Word of God. Literalist or not, we can both agree with that. The Word is Alive. Let’s let it be that and agree to disagree. If the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is at the center of our teaching, preaching, and conversation, everything else is just theology.

One more thing, Christians:

The fruit of the Spirit is

love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

and self control.

Matthew 7:16 says “by their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, and figs from thistles?”

Correct answer: they don’t.

By Collin | Also posted in Culture, Encouragement, Oh you know..., Struggling, The Classics, Theology | Comments (1)

Pastors, Mystics, and My Atheist Friends, part 2

I was never planning on writing a second part to this post, but the attention that the first one garnered has inspired me to follow it up.

It was an interesting post. I was really trying to do nothing more than declare over us that “it’s OK” as long as the Holy Spirit is involved. Turns out a couple of semi-bold statements kind of overshadowed that. One statement in particular was very polarizing. Many of my Christian friends got a little tweaked about it, and many of my non-Christian friends praised it and said it helped them feel better about how they viewed Christianity.

I said that there are things in the Bible that I know I don’t believe. After thinking about it this week, and talking about it with my wife and a couple of my best friends, I’m changing my mind on that one. I actually went back in the post and edited the sentence. The point is still there, let me clarify it: there are plenty of theological concepts and popular/”orthodox” interpretations of scripture that I do not believe or subscribe to. (I am not going to go into them here, I feel like it has the potential to be counterproductive and distracting. Get at me if you really want to know.). This does not change my belief in the power of the living Word of God.

I believe the Bible is Holy. I believe it is sacred. I believe it is the Word of God. I believe it is truth. I believe it is transformative. I believe it is beautiful. And scary. And uplifting. And confusing. And thought-provoking. And angering. And more than anything, I believe it is ALIVE.

I also affirm the Nicene Creed. By these standards, I guess I could consider myself truly Orthodox.

Whew, I’m not a heretic after all.

The point I was originally making is that beyond our belief systems, we need experience. We need to get in touch with our inner mystic.

That word conjures up so much weird cultural baggage. Like all of a sudden I am advocating some far-eastern religion or going all new-age on everyone. What I am meaning is really getting in touch with the Kingdom of God here and now. Really looking for and feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit of God. And not in some trite, overly-emotional charismatic way (not trying to sound condescending), but really just laying our hearts and minds down and letting the Holy Spirit work in us. To call on God to feel His presence, not just to ask for something.

I was walking the dog tonight and reflecting on this. I am going through a someone stressful time with my family right now, trying to sell our condo in a bad market. For over a year now. Running out of space for our family, and needing a lower mortgage payment. It’s been really hard. But I start to think about how I really only truly give my heart and mind to God when I am at my most stressed moments—when I’m freaking out the most. Why do we only call on God when we “need” him. The fact of the matter is that we need the power of His presence ALL the time (Psalm 140:12-13).

Maybe if I was walking in the physical presence of God all of the time I wouldn’t be overly stressed in the first place? Maybe I still would, but I’d like to think that I’d have a better perspective on my problems.

I’ve found myself pouring over the Scriptures, trying to figure them out, wrestling with them, searching for their “true meaning.” This is all good. Wrestling with the Word is a great thing. But out of it’s proper balance, it does us no good. We need times to just soak in what God wants to speak to us through the Living Word. We need to meditate on it. We need to let the Holy Spirit open it up for us in a different way than the last time we read it.

Too much do we look at the Bible as a finite, completed textbook. The Word is alive. The Word existed before the Bible (John 1:1) and will exist after it.

The Word came incarnate. The Word resurrected. The Word still lives. The Word is still speaking. We just need to be listening.

By Collin | Also posted in Culture, Encouragement, The Classics, Theology | Comments (5)

the Evangelical Christian Guide to Superheroes:

by Israel Beachy

EA=Evangelical Approved

ER=Evangelical Rejected

Superman- Superman represents the ultimate Christ figure in pop culture. He came from above to save humanity. He flies, he rescues, he hears prayers and never looks through girls clothes with his x-ray vision. the ‘S’ is for savior. EA

Spider-man- Spidey is a pretty standard protestant. Peter Parker is the archetypal boy-next-door so he probably goes to church every now and then and prays when he needs a raise at the Daily Bugle. But being religious and not talking about it with anyone or wearing christian T-shirts puts you in the lukewarm category. Sorry web-head, better start passing out tracts. ER

Batman- Though dark and brooding, his ends justify his means including bending social ethics. If it’s for the greater good, it can be rationalized whether its invading civilian privacy or beating the crap out of people for information. Dick Cheney would LOVE this guy.  Also, he tends to brutalize fruity guys dressed in purple. EA

X-men- While Wolverine represents as much of a ‘mans man’ Mark Driscoll could ever want to be, he is Canadian which is one point against him. However, the unforgivable sin of promoting evolution and mutation as means for their origins is a bottomless pit even the über-religious Nightcrawler can’t teleport out of. ER

Ironman- Tony Stark’s job is a weapons dealer and he fights bullies in Iraq. If that’s not a just-cause war, I don’t know what is, plus he fights alongside a guy named War Machine. War-mongering and keeping the arms-race running at full steam are his ace in the hole. EA!

Hulk- Evangelicals love the Hulk, and hate his alter-ego Bruce Banner. So when Bruce can’t figure something out with his cold, secular intellect he has to harness the power of his primal rage like the ark of the covenant killing pagan philistines. Factoring in the wussy alter-ego and the fact that he’s green (liberal agenda): Hulk in, Banner out. ER

Punisher- Punisher is the 2nd Amendment spokesman. File this one next to the picture of Jesus holding a rifle. EA with a bullet

Daredevil- C’mon. He promotes satanism with his moniker, fights big business (Kingpin) and practices social justice by being a non-profit lawyer? Glenn Beck would throw a fit. ER

Hellboy- Hellboy on the other hand promotes fear of Hell & eternal punishment with his name alone. Oh, he’s a demon? It’s ok, its for the greater good. Welcome to the flock, Red. EA

By wrestleswithGod | Also posted in Culture, Politics, satire | Comments (0)

Risen.

Easter Sunday.

Resurrection day.

I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve been to many churches, been a part of many denominations. One thing all these churches agree on is the Resurrected Christ. That’s a good thing. But the view of the Resurrected Christ that I’ve taken part in my whole life goes something like this:

The tomb opens. It’s empty. The angels say “don’t be scared.” Then the disciples see Jesus wearing a blue sash with holes in his hands, and a smile on his face that says, somewhat sarcastically, “What were you worried about? Everything’s alright, baby!” And then we all say “Aww yay! Jesus is risen!” And go on with our lives Monday morning, eating leftover candy the Easter Bunny left in his eggs (seriously, am I the only one who doesn’t get that? Bunnies laying eggs?).

I may be exaggerating a little. I am. But you get it. We all know what our American culture has painted the Easter story to be. And believe me, I do think that some of that story is good. I kind of like it in a way. But the Resurrection is so much deeper than this.

This year, I am trying to really look deeper into Jesus’ eyes when I run into Him post-empty tomb. I am really trying to understand the depth and beauty of what taking part in His Resurrection means. And the deeper I go, the more unsettled I get.

Not a bad unsettled, necessarily. It’s more just realizing how big of a deal it is. And how much of the idea I still don’t really get.

It’s the miracle-of-all-miracles. It changed the world forever. It subverted the empirical system at the time, and continues to subvert any system we could ever think of. It didn’t cheat death, it defeated it. Most importantly, the Resurrection ushered in God’s mercy and grace to ALL OF US. Jesus leveled the playing field.

Before being nailed to the cross, Jesus knew more suffering than most of humanity knows. In that suffering, beyond atonement, God showed how much He loves us and identifies with our pain and suffering. And on the cross, Jesus was even worried. He felt forsaken. He seemed sure, yet unsure, that all of this was going to work. Jesus’ fully human side came out in full force during his last few moments on the cross. Jesus was fully with us, in a way that we could understand.

And yet, three days later, the tomb is empty. Jesus was victorious over death. We get to see the one place where we truly find life—in the Resurrected Christ.

In becoming human, giving himself to death, and then in defeating that death, God has shown us not the good news, but the best news: that EVERYONE has hope for victory because of the fact that HE IS RISEN.

Here is a short piece that I did for an event at our church that further illustrates this idea:

By Collin | Also posted in Encouragement, The Classics, Theology | Comments (1)

Yeah, We All Hate Being Misunderstood.

I’m going to preface this post by saying that I do not have these thoughts together. This started as something I brought up in a discussion with a good friend, kind of pulling a devil’s advocate move. A couple of days later, I talked about it with my co-author, Israel, only in a little bit more middle-of-the-road tone. This might be dangerous stuff. I don’t know. Anyhow, these are just thoughts that are jumbling around in my head—some I believe, some I probably don’t.

“Well, is it rooted in the Word?”

“Well, I’m not sure he is using the proper hermeneutic.”

“I don’t think her interpretation is a biblical one.”

I hear and read these phrases a lot. Maybe it’s just the people, blogs, and other reading/discussions I surround myself with. Maybe I’m just looking for it (probably this one). Regardless, it’s definitely a hot-button issue this day and age in Christendom. Usually along the left-right divide. Or the traditional-emerging divide. Or the Collin-and-his-other-Christian-friends divide. My question is why is it an issue?

This idea that I’ve got it pinned, I know what God REALLY meant. The fact that it starts to become “dangerous stuff” or “heretical” when we start to question the cultural norm of scriptural interpretation. This doesn’t sit well with me.

Why is it dangerous? Honestly, all the arguing and debating seems to be more dangerous to me. That seems to be the “unbiblical” part. Galatians 5:15 says “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” We aren’t going to move the Kingdom forward if we are sitting here bickering over who knows it best.

Generally, no matter what “team” you are on, what side you take, 99% of Christians agree that Jesus is the Son of God, and was crucified in our place, and that we take part in the graceful story of God through His resurrection. That we are “saved by grace, through faith.” And that there is no separation anymore between us and the Father. And that the Jesus way of abundant life is THE way of life. That’s the Gospel. And that’s some good news!

So my question is, if that story, that story of resurrection life is central to our view of the scriptures, are we really misinterpreting anything? Yeah we can argue about our views on whatever doctrine, but what does that REALLY matter at all when it comes down to it?

Yeah, I know, that’s the dangerous part. That’s where excusing sin comes in. That’s where we tell ourselves what our “itching ears” want to hear. And that’s where I start to struggle with this whole idea. But one thing I do believe is that the closer we are to Jesus, the closer we dig into His story, the more we follow in His ways, the easier it is for us to hear the conviction of the Holy Spirit. So, say my interpretation of some subject is wrong in God’s eyes. Well, even if that’s where I started, the closer I get to Jesus, the more open I will be to listening to the Holy Spirit’s correction.

But hey, I could be wrong, and I’m OK with that. We are just humans reading a book. Everything else is just Grace.

By Collin | Also posted in Oh you know..., Theology | Comments (0)

Like a ton of bricks.

I don’t know anything about Simone Weil (other than what I just read about her on Wikipedia), but holy crap is this good:

“Christ likes us to prefer truth to himself, because before being Christ, he is truth. If one turns aside from him to go towards the truth, one will not go far before falling into his arms.”

That is all.

By Collin | Also posted in The Classics, Theology | Comments (0)

A Dummy’s Guide to Rediscovering Your Faith-This is a long one

(Disclaimer: we are trying something new with this post. Both of us are weighing in on this subject. Hope it’s not too confusing. Israel’s part is italicised, Collin’s is Bold)

I have been mauling the idea of salvation over and over in my mind in the last two months. This is something that has already turned my world upside down, both in how I perceive scripture and how I perceive other people. I have been putting this off for a long time, namely because I wanted to have a few answers before I brought the idea up, but I’ve frankly tired of having these ideas bouncing around my head followed with nothing but the sound of their own echoes. So, enough with the foreplay:

A Dummy’s guide to rediscovering your faith

Let me clear that I have faith in Christ. I trust there’s a God. I have experienced multiple instances in my life that led me to believe that It’s real and It’s a sentient, feeling, deity. I believe It has revealed Itself through scripture and it seems to line up with my experiences so before you start thinking I’m pointing towards some kind of mystical universalism, I have chosen the life of a Christian (more on ‘the U word’ later, promise). However I have been going through what I’d like to call a reconstruction period in my faith that took a level of razing to start over including lots of questioning, journaling, research, new Bible purchasing, coffee shop discussions, podcast subscribing, chat sessions, more new Bible purchasing and so forth. This is important to me and I’m not willing to let a part of myself die by the wayside because it’s too heavy or difficult to think about. Or maybe I’m not as smart as Joe Agnostic or Jane Nihilist and am still entertained by the pursuing of truth. So be it.

A few questions: What is salvation? If you are a christian, how would you describe the term salvation as it pertains to your personal experience? Would you describe it as an act of redemption, would it be a constant ongoing journey or would it simply be a name-tag you picked up in the church lobby (Hello, my name is atonement)? I am finding that the more I look at what it means to be a sinner saved by grace the more questions about it have regarding the how/why/what’s it really mean without the stigmas we have attached to it in our christian-ese culture (ex: nowhere in the Bible does it say accept the Lord into your heart to be your personal Lord and saviour). I’m not arguing that point necessarily, but I wonder how we got to the point where a phrase like that equals living a life Jesus led by example for us to walk in every day. That kind of jargon is not digested by my mind. In one hole, out the other.

SO. Let me go back about half a year ago when the seeds of these ideas were being planted. I was having a nice chat/conversation with a friend of mine online who is in seminary interning as a chaplain at a hospital and was sharing with me some insight from his line of work. We got to the point of ministering with people that were lonely, sick or dying and he said something akin to “I’m amazed by the number of people I have talked to that have simply never heard the gospel”. This struck me as odd since he was at the time in rural Indiana, one of the more conservative buckles of America’s bible belt. I soon realized what he meant was that the only gospel that our christian culture has worked hard at spreading (notice I did not say sharing) is not good news, which is the literal translation of the word. It’s a conditional statement, an invitation to join in a religious organization for a small one-time payment of your belief, whether you believe or not. Belief in my opinion is not a choice—it’s a statement, an acknowledgement of conviction. He went on describing how he talked to people who had given up hope, who had given in to depression and misery and the literal change of demeanor when they heard that someone actually loved them and died for them. End of statement. No decision cards or contracts to sign pledging their devotion and money, simply the GOOD NEWS. If the Bible is true about God’s holy spirit being amongst us than it’s also true that it’s that same holy spirit that draws peoples minds and beliefs to God, not our conversion methods.

That was a big change in my perception of salvation, that it’s not our job to twist peoples arm using guilt or fear mongering (Hell anyone?), but the Holy Spirit’s. But questions remained. What did that mean about life and death, regarding eternal destination? What if that person dies and I didn’t get a chance to lead him down the Roman’s Road or say the Sinner’s Prayer? I say that cynically but not maliciously. I don’t mean to mock the things that we have all been raised in, but I would like to pose a question that was hard for me to answer because it seemed (at first) be to completely contradictory to everything I grew up believing about Christianity:

What if God already saved us all inclusively instead of exclusively? My salvation wouldn’t be dependent on my belief, but on the sacrifice Christ paid for all time, past and present for all people (this reminds me of a previous writing regarding the prodigal son regarding what we deserve versus what Christ gives us). It wouldn’t seem fair, but is that because we are pious and demand equal pay or because God’s grace isn’t enough? I challenged myself to wrestle with this question for a long time and found myself starting to look at the world differently. Instead of seeing a world of people I needed to convert and souls to win, I started to see people that are in the same boat I am, that need love and don’t know they’re loved.

I know what you’re thinking: this guy is on a one way train to sell-outville. Christian Universalism doesn’t exactly sound like good ”dinner with the relatives” conversation. I wrestle with that too, because peoples opinions are important to me (see Collin’s post #1). I’ve already anticipated the backlash. I have my reservations still and am weighing a lot of it, but right now this is where I’m at.

-wrestleswithGod (Israel)

If your head doesn’t hurt from reading Israel’s thoughts there, then you are a better person than I. I feel like my brain is about to explode.

This is a subject that I have been putting a lot of thought into recently as well. I have been having a lot of discussions, listening to a lot of sermons, and reading a lot of Wikipedia articles (come on, I don’t have a whole lot of time to read. At least it gives you the gist of things, right?). I am not sure that I am as far swayed in one direction than another, but I am just kind of trying to broaden my mindset more. Open up my thought process a little.

Let me, like Israel, say this first: I am a professed follower of Christ. The God of the Bible is the deity that I believe is real, and I believe His Word is true, relevant, and perfect (not necessarily perfectly interpreted, however, but that is a totally different discussion for a different day). I believe that Jesus’ teachings and lifestyle is THE perfect way to live. That’s the top level of what I believe.

I started thinking about Heaven and Hell. In Jesus’ teachings, he never really uses the word “hell” to describe a place that is underground, with a bunch of skinny dudes in red jumpsuits running around with pitchforks. The “hell” he talks about is the place outside the city wall where the trash is burned and the lepers are forced to live. He describes Hell simply as a place where no one wants to be. Now there are definitely scriptures (Matthew 13:40-43, for example) that I believe are speaking of a supernatural place of rest, so I am not convinced of the lack thereof. I am not convinced of Universalist thought. What I am convinced of is that we are missing the point.

My friend Asa and I were discussing this a few weeks ago. He was talking about how we, as Christians trying to “convert” the world to our lifestyle, put way too much emphasis on Heaven and Hell. I couldn’t agree more. Jay Bakker said in a recent message, “if we make life about Heaven and Hell, we make life Hell. And maybe Heaven for us.” When Jesus told us to “go and make disciples of all nations,” was he telling us to go and make people feel bad and wrong about their lives, and scare them into believing in him? Personally, as hard as I have tried my whole 18 years of being a follower of Jesus, I can’t make myself believe this.

I believe Jesus’ point was this: there is a better Way to live. Now THAT is some good news. I believe that God wants what is best for us. Jesus paved the way for it. Regardless of if I believe that if I don’t accept this, I will suffer eternally, or if Christ’s death automatically entitled everyone to an eternal rest with my heavenly Father, I know that God wants us to step into this abundant life. I think that if we spend a little more time loving people, and letting them know that they are loved, and letting them know there is a much, much better way too live than anything they have ever known (Christians: this statement applies to you too), instead of being eager for the damnation of people who don’t subscribe to our ideologies, we might be one step closer to the peace that we all long for. I think Jesus said it best:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10 (NASB)

-Collin

By wrestleswithGod / Collin | Also posted in Theology | Comments (11)