I'm sure some would accuse me of "riding the fence"...and maybe I am...but I can see truth in all of the opposites above. Time after time in the New Testament we see people trying to get Jesus to label himself. The Pharisees and Sadducees, his disciples, and the government of the day could not or would not grasp just who He was. Even his own family would not accept Him at times! Jesus consistently refused to allow them to place boundaries on who He IS.
Shane Clairborne, in The Irresistible Revolution, made reference to the fact that we like to "high-lite" sections of the Scriptures and that these truths are the ones we'll accept while we'll just ignore the others. These truths are what we'll accept as being "Christian". Anyone not following these truths is wrong and therefore not "Christian". I know I've been guilty of this mentality and feel that everyone has at one time or another.
I think I'm gonna throw away all my high-liters and start fresh learning what it means to be a Christian. By Christian I mean one who follows and worships Christ...not one who follows and worships the religion of Christianity, because there is a difference between the two. There are absolutes (boundaries) in truth, but there are also man-made boundaries that I want to escape. I recently realized that I had started down the path of choosing "this way" or "that way"...I just want His way!
I struggle with what it means to "follow Christ", but Johnny Cash spent a lifetime of wrestling and toiling with what it means to be a Christian. He once made the statement, "I'm still a Christian, as I have been all my life. Beyond that I get complicated." Here's a man who knew he loved Jesus for who He is and what He does, but wasn't sure what to do with the rest of it all. I can relate!
So, if you just gotta have a category to put me in...need to define who I am or what doctrine I follow...it's gonna be a little tricky. Let's start with...
I'M A CHRISTIAN, A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST, A DISCIPLE...
BEYOND THAT I GET COMPLICATED
4 comments:
You gave me lots of meat to chew on today Clint! Thanks! I love the point of being a Christ follower and not a Christianity follower.
Thanks for the compliment, Jamie! You said, "meat to chew on." I'm glad you said it like that. I'm definitely trying to move past the milk and get to the solid food (I Cor. 3:2).
I'm sure you have a list of books to read, but you should add a Generous Or+hodoxy to it.
Thanks for writing this.
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