I've realized in the last couple of years I've become really uncomfortable with some of the language that is used within the Christian circles. Some of this is probably due to the different light that I saw things in at school and some of it I hope is due to the growth in my own faith journey.
The other Sunday I walked away from church and I found myself frustrated with myself because I couldn't be okay with some of the language and the attitudes I found in the Christian circle. I wanted to be okay with it because it was easier, but it just wasn't happening. Sometimes I feel like there is such arrogance within Christianity, we call ourselves the best and the only religion with this attitude that I am ashamed of. Then we add this whole "you must be saved" language which only adds to the sheer arrogance. All of this just kind of simmered in my thoughts for the past week or so and then I found some stuff today that helped me to sort through all of those feelings.
I've been finishing the book The Lost Message of Jesus by Steve Chalke and he addresses the very subject that I find myself so uncomfortable with. Chalke says that:
"Jesus didn't come to tell people how to become Christians. He didn't even spend his time telling people how they could join the church. Rather, he came to show them how to be human. He encouraged people to follow him, to become his disciples, to get re-connected to God and other people. Salvation isn't about having the right labels, it's about becoming truly and fully human. Its about living the way that God has created us to live, in harmony with him, each other and with the rest of creation." (155)
I really like this. That is the Jesus that I find myself falling in love with more and more every day. Its interesting how Chalke refers to the way that Jesus wants to show us how to be human. Iranius once said that "the glory of God is in the man fully alive." If you think through the whole message of the gospels, you can see how much Jesus longed to help us discover ourselves and what it meant to be human. Through love, courage, tenderness, reaching out, and actually touching people even when the world said not to.
What would the world think if this was the Jesus that we portrayed to them? That we showed them the love of Christ by being able to give them a vision of who they could be. That with Christ in their life they would find more satisfaction and an abundant life. It allows you to meet people where they are at, it allows people to see life as a journey - with some always moving closer to Christ.
I want to be done with the dogma and silly rules. I just want to lead people to an understanding of who they are in Christ and his unending love for them.
