4th century Christianity

As we begin a study of the Apostles Creed, I thought about how it took four centuries to figure out Jesus's message. Of course I'm being cynical in that I think his message was much simpler but through politics and theology his message became complicated so that most Christians don't really understand the Triune God or the humanity vs divinity of Jesus.

It is so easy to be heretical. I, though, have had to work at it because I have spent most of my life reading more theology than most Christians. I think the breakthrough for me was hearing Bishop Spong say "Jesus did not die for my sins."

Yesterday I attended a funeral where many of the people were young and in the high-tech entertainment industry at Universal Studios and Magic Mountain. The pastor did an amazing job of talking about the person's life and the meaning of Jesus without a lot of theological language that those people would not understand. This came at a good time for me as it helps remind me about how I can fit in the Christian community while while having what most people would consider heretical beliefs or even consider me to not be a Christian.

Cultural Christian

I am feeling comfortable in my skin in regards to my religious faith. I am attracted more and more to Zen practice. I am more and more comfortable with not worrying about God, religious formalities, or the meaning of life.

I am getting closer and closer to being able to verbalize what I feel inside. Some of those include:

Understanding what it means to be in the present moment. This is the only moment we have and we can practice whether we are on the cushion or not.

I can continue with my Christian faith as that is where so many friends and family are. It is clear that there were many expressions of responding to the life of Jesus during and after his life. After more and more consolidation, Orthodoxy eventually became the only acceptable expression of what the life of Jesus meant. I know that Jesus did not die for my sins but he did want to bring people new life through his teaching and example. I also know God does not need or want our praise. In fact, it does not matter if God exists because God has given himself entirely over to humans and in fact the entire Earth. Therefore we should live a life that respects other humans and the Earth. If we believe in God that is all that is necessary. In fact much of Christian practice of praising God and imploring God seems so primitive.

Prayer is powerful but not for the reasons usually given. Of course, we can project our prayers to some unseen God but what is important is the difference it makes in our life and the lives of others.

I titled this Cultural Christian because I understand that is a phrase from Thich Nhat Hanh. Just like the Dali Lama encourages people to remain in their faith, I feel I can remain in the Christian faith until they throw me out. (Joking mostly) I am currently a well-respected worship leader and bible study facilitator at our church. I think people would be shocked reading this but there is no need. I have compassion for them and they seem to benefit from my sharing. There is no reason to upset the apple cart. This appears to be where I am called to be right now.