I have been contemplating this often-touted Christian belief that “Jesus is the Answer”. It seems simple enough. Easy to dance to. Rolls effortlessly off the tongue. But, in light of the world’s ongoing struggles and suffering, I have a glaring question. If God actually designated Jesus as the one and only “Savior of the world”, as is the belief of Christians who adhere to a stifling literalism of scripture, and so much of humanity has continually suffered all these thousands of years, is this mess on Jesus? Did Jesus not want to save all of creation? Reminds me of Jonah.
God: “Jonah! Wake up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Jonah: BAHAHAHAHAHAHA…NO!
God: “Fine. Get your trunks on. You’re going for a swim!” (Jonah 1:2)
Or did God mess up trusting this one guy, albeit a really AMAZING guy, with so much responsibility? Who knows, maybe the vetting process wasn’t perfected back then. Or is it remotely possible that God divvied up that job? What if Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad were all sent out in their time, within their culture, to draw followers to the heart of God? If you look into it, it’s almost eerie how similar their lives were. (I’m not disputing that Jesus was the Son of God. That’s not my focus here.)
So, is it on us to not just rotely nod to church authority proclaiming the only truth of ones particular faith? I have shared the words of Jeremy Weber in an earlier post. Listen, I love Jesus with all my heart! He’s the One who saved my sorry, pathetic self from my miserable self long ago and continues to love me despite my pathetic self.
Though I often mess up trying to emulate him, I keep trying because he has become a powerful manifestation of God for me! That said, I still respect the faith of those adherents of other traditions as well.
Consider that our faith could just be a matter of where we were born. If I had been born in another country, I could have been a Buddhist or Muslim. Several years ago, we were in Morocco. Our son hired a cab driver to give us a tour. This lovely man enthusiastically shared things about his Muslim faith that nearly brought me to tears. We noticed before that day that many of the buildings were unadorned, made of mud and earth.
Our cab driver explained that the buildings symbolize their very personhood. Their Muslim faith teaches them that what is on the outside is not essential. It’s what is on the inside that matters.
Because of 9/11, we have learned to hate all Muslims in this country. What I discovered that day was the true essence of the Muslim people. Sure there are exceptions. There are also “exceptions in Christianity. We see it played out every day. If we have learned nothing else in 2020, we must acknowledge our propensity toward violence and hatred that is escalating at an alarming rate.
I will never accept the belief of many Christians, especially church leaders, that if you don’t profess Jesus and only Jesus, you’re doomed to eternal damnation. I am confident that does not come from God.
Thich Nhat Hanh, in his book, Living Buddha, Living Christ, says:
“If you only satisfy yourself with praising a name, even the name of Jesus, it is
not practicing the life of Jesus. We must practice living deeply, loving and acting with charity if we wish to truly honor Jesus. The way is Jesus himself and not just some idea of him.Jesus said, the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors. Who knows but that such love encompasses Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and all eternal truths humans conceive of to explain the mystery of God in every time and culture?”
Anyway…Something seismic is going on within American Christianity that screams foul. Yet, those leaders who claim moral authority seem oblivious to it as they finger-wag to an empty church. Looks like the Emperor still has no clothes on. Research has shown that people have been leaving the church in droves for years. We’re just waiting for the last guy to turn out the lights when he leaves.
Some church leaders seem to be slow-walking their supposed desire to understand what is happening, especially among millennials, while operating within an outdated template. They have been focusing on new ways to rebrand Christianity and bring them back (if they were ever there to begin with): Perhaps a more casual atmosphere, a fun coffee bar, or surround sound music with a light show.
Some may have even considered a more extreme threat of hell. Forgetting that that’s one of the reasons millennials left in the first place. You can’t scare these guys like you did their grandmothers! They don’t even believe in hell. So, that’s an empty threat.
Rev. David M. Felten says:
The challenge is that most people in most churches (and many clergy) have their theological beliefs pre-set to the “oldies station” and are either insulated from or intimidated by what’s going on outside their comfort zone. So, they simply plod along in the isolation of their bubble of orthodoxy without a clue that there are people who practice Christianity and follow Jesus in radically different ways.
How many of these leaders of the Christian faith have thrown up their hands in frustration, choosing to fill empty pews with cutouts that look remarkably like those numb pew sitters I mentioned earlier?!
In a recent article: Anything But Christian: Why Millennials Leave the Church, I appreciate the honesty of one millennial, Emma Cooper:
“We come after college begins, on our breaks. Then, we don’t come back. Why don’t we come back?”
Cooper tells how she was raised in the church and loved everything about it! She never imagined walking away. But she did. She frankly and openly addresses the issues. One is that:
“A separate group of people is speaking for us, explaining why we leave, and what it will take to bring us back. We don’t want coffee. We don’t want multi-colored stage lights. We want Jesus. And we can’t find Him in your churches. No one’s asking us why we left!
If no-Christ has made them people we’d love to be, while Christianity creates people we beg to never be… then why should we be Christians?
What we’re looking for in religion is an experience so real, so gripping, it knocks us breathless. We want our lives to be overturned….We’re not interested in your churches because — as much as we need Him to be — God is not there.
https://emmacopper.medium.com/anything-but-christian-why-millennials-leave-the-church-ccae210dfb06
That is such open and unadulterated commentary on the state of American Christianity that no dogma, doctrine, canon of faith, or fun new latte, will ever penetrate. Perhaps that’s why so many church leaders refuse to acknowledge the truth of their failings to exemplify and teach the love of Christ. They must get stuck on the “exemplify” part. This seems like an obvious failure since Jesus made it clear that those who are charged with the teaching of God’s truth but use their power to lead people astray will end up in the very place they threaten others with. Many of them seem to continue their stubborn resistance to this reality at their own, and their blind followers, peril. During his time right up to today, Jesus had no patience with those who claim such authority to rule over others, to mislead them right into the pit (Matt 15:14).
But…if “Jesus is the answer” how is this happening? Where’s the disconnect?
“What if it’s not a building or an attendance record that is at the core of God’s heart? What if it’s how we love?” Sam Eaton http://www.recklesslyalive.com/50-ways-to-serve/
Has anyone considered the fact that Jesus was a millennial himself – and a radical one at that? There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus LOVES these young people who have bolted from the cold stone buildings and have chosen instead to step into the muck and mire of the suffering and brokenness in their midst, just like he did. They want to make a difference. They want to know and fulfill their life’s purpose.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”. -James 1:27
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17)
I believe Jesus was precisely the one God prepared and sent to infuse the lost with a love they had forgotten. Just as I believe that he is still the One so many of us love! People would not still be dying for him if that were not true.
“We dare to believe that the love manifest in Jesus reflects the authentic nature or character of the Ultimate Reality, which makes Jesus a great teacher, an inspirational philosopher, and someone whose words and example should be followed indeed.” ~ Brian D. McLaren
The stories of those who followed the non-violent precepts of Jesus and died for them are still etched in our memories: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Archbishop Oscar Romero, just to name a few. Like Jesus, all of them were well aware of the hatred that would likely cost them their lives, but they continued on despite the threats. Until they too were silenced.
And now, this is our time of reckoning; a time for each of us to take a stand, to pronounce our faith in Jesus and then to act on that faith. Not in anger or hatred, but in love. This country is on shaky ground, but it is not a time to cower in fear.
“When people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.” Martin Luther King
“Seeing the suffering is only the beginning of change….to move not just our hearts into a deeper understanding but also our bodies into the work of greater change. Perhaps out of this comes, truly, every form of love.” Kristin Lin, Editor of the On Being Project
Thich Nhat Hanh offers another critical question that must be answered, “…what we say of Jesus, what we believe of Christ, determines how we live our lives. To set our minds on divine things is to care about how everyone answers the question, “Who do you say that I am?” Because the answer is the heart of the matter.
The answer to his question, “Who do you say I am?”….is the key to our own lives. It calls our bluff about all the things we say our lives are about. All the things we say, but do not do. When historical people like the Buddha and Jesus, like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. live out the call of who they believe God to be, the world knows it. If you and I live out the call of who we believe God to be, the world will also know us. Who we say Jesus is inspirits our lives.
Episcopal Bishop John Spong said, “I do not believe that God is a Christian or a Buddhist. Yet both Christianity and Buddhism have pointed hundreds of millions of people toward the mystery of God. Seeking faith is not about dogma and the mind alone, though it is about that. It is about the heart. It is about living as God inspires us to live.
So, I will leave you to consider this:
If you consider yourself a Christian then at the core of your being, WHO ARE YOU? What would others say about you? Jesus was radical…He radically loved, he radically touched lepers, he radically condemned the powerful for causing the suffering of those they considered “less than”. Jesus did NOT hate and he did NOT empower others to do so. So then, what about you? Are you living God’s call to BE Christ to a suffering world?
PASSION, PURPOSE & POOPYHEADS 