Het geloof van Onze Vaders

Ik schrijf gewoonlijk uit de thema's die rond mijn hersenen voor een tijdje wervelen. Dit keer is geen uitzondering.

Voor enkele periode in mijn leven ben ik ongeveer benieuwd geweest waar ik in dit ding genoemd de „Geschiedenis van de Kerk.“ val Ben I een afvallig? Ik ben genoemd dat. Ben I progressief? Conservatief? Feministe? Liberaal? Anabaptist? Open-Theist? Ik ben genoemd elk van deze en genoemd elk van deze in diverse stadia langs de manier.

Het grootste deel van deze classificaties hebben gediend om me te omvatten of uit te sluiten van één of andere groep mensen die of of niet-afhangend van de context de voorkeur hadden. Deze woorden verwijzen typisch naar specifieke meningen die ik van tijd tot tijd heb gearticuleerd. Droevig, ben ik niet vaak gekend voor wat ik doe.

Wanneer ik met het gevoel van het zijn theologische bastaard-benieuwd is worstel welke congregatie me ooit openlijk in hun communautair-I am goedkeuren zou wordt geslagen die door hoe scheef ons perspectief is geworden. de meeste kerkmensen ik rond behoefte ben om over kerkachtergronden te spreken: „Welke benaming u?“ binnen groeide schijnt de vraag te zijn die opperst regeert.

Gebeurde wat er ook aan „u zal kennen een boom door zijn fruit“?

Ik denk het belangrijk is om te articuleren wat ik over Jesus, de incarnatie, God, Drievuldigheid, baptism, communion, het lichaam van Christus, Rechtvaardigheid/rechtvaardiging/oprechtheid, en het koninkrijk van God geloof. Ik denk dit belangrijk is omdat in het spreken van het uit, ik de ethiek gladstrijk dat ik om als maatregel van het fruit van mijn leven hoop te houden. I hope to read the scriptures, the culture, my experience, and the voices of my community with the intent of letting them shape me into a follower of Jesus. In reading all these things, I try to hold Jesus and his message about the kingdom of God at the center.

Too often, these things have been left up to only a few people in the church–most of them white men, with the exception of Augustine who was African (thus the title of the post’s lack of reference to mothers). This is another reason I think theology is important. It is important for us in our rising global context to continue to articulate our faith in shifting situations and with the inclusion of a diversity of voices (on this point I am keenly aware of my status as a white man in usamerica).

So, I hang on to the importance of theology.

At the same time, I am sick of doctrines determining communities of faith. What will it take for us to congregate based on geography instead of on socio-cultural, economic, ethnic, and doctrinal sub-groups? Maybe, once we have sucked the earth dry of oil and our cars are rusting in our driveways and we have to walk everywhere, we will be forced into rethinking our understanding of who our sisters and brothers are in “local” communities.

What if our faith was “articulated” in our actions, our artistic expressions; the fruit of the Spirit playing out in our relationships, economics, ecological impact, and our politics?

What if I don’t label people I don’t agree with theologically, and instead try to come alongside them to work with them in embodying the kingdom of God? What if they don’t believe in the kingdom of God that I articulate? Can I still love them and encourage the areas I see them participating (even unknowingly) in the kingdom life?

As I write this post I think about my own father and mother. These two folks have a very different picture of a lot of the doctrines that I hold as central to the Christian faith. We disagree, yet I see them loving people, living sacrificially, serving with humility, and finding their own ways of articulating their faith. While I don’t always like their articulation, I love the Jesus that shows through their lives.

What if our faith is less our words and more our actions? After all, I don’t think Jesus ever mentioned “wrong” doctrines as keeping anyone out of the life of God’s Kingdom (for that matter, right doctrines don’t seem to get anyone in–though they may help a little along the way).

A couple of days ago I was at an “emergent-ish” conference. I was disappointed when applause followed a clarification about the school I attend. A speaker made note that my school was certainly not affiliated with a more conservative evangelical church of the same name. I appreciated the clarification, as there is always a lot of confusion concerning this topic. But I was appalled that there was a sort of pride in the audience’s response to this declaration. Where was the humility and kindness that we had been articulating throughout the conference?

As we stumble toward different articulations and embodiments of God’s kingdom, I hope that we can maintain integrity between our words and actions. Without this integrity we are simply putting a different face on the same old song and dance that we say we are sick of. What will it mean for us to hold the same openness and humility toward those in the communities we have emerged from as we hold for those who sound a little more like the communities we want to become? Can we have the humility to see everyone, no matter the theological articulation, as siblings?

Aren’t we all, more or less, just messed up daughters and sons of the same God? When Jesus talks about the kingdom as here among us, I don’t think he means among the ones who “get it right theologically.” I think he means, it’s here for, in, around, and through us all. None of us is completely “in” the kingdom. We all need grace to come alive to the rebirth and redemption that God is working on behalf of the entire world. If this sounds a little too “universalist” for some, please don’t judge me by my articulation…

Peace.

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