the last few months i have found myself on quite an interesting ride. i find myself challenging almost everything that i know...almost being the operative word there. my faith is as strong as ever, and is in fact what is calling me to challenge nearly all of my political opinions. it is calling me to challenge what i know about church institutions and traditions. it is calling me to learn and understand how the human experience within a cultural context has shaped scripture, doctrine, and traditions.
of course it would be impossible to discuss this journey without acknowledging my own human experience as it has been shaped by my social experience, family experience, religious experience, etc. so let's start there.
for anyone who has known me since before college, it is an understatement to say that i was raised in a conservative christian household. it is also safe to say that i embraced the notion that i was, because of my belonging to the evangelical religious right, on God's side. it was my belief that true christians could be identified by a few markers:
republican party affiliation
vocal opposition to abortion, homosexuality, extensive social programs, taxes, evolution
fundamental opposition to alcohol in all forms and quantities
opposition to any policy that embraced the idea that climate change was actually taking place
entering college, i embraced this group of ideals and became an incredibly judgmental person. i was quick to point out other's flaws, and slow to acknowledge my own.
(quick disclaimer: in no way am i saying that because i labeled myself a conservative evangelical i automatically became a self-righteous jerk. nor am i saying that everyone in this "group" acts like i did simply because of their affiliation with this segment of christianity. these were my own shortcomings, and i am simply pointing them out as i explain how the ramifications of these actions jump-started the journey i find myself on today. okay, glad i got that out of the way!)
then about halfway through freshman year, the first major event that would jump-start my journey rocked me. a good friend of mine from college approached me one night looking to talk, and opened up to me that he was in fact a homosexual. my first instinct was to try and "convert him to straight" by flooding him with bible verses. wow, i was dumb! he was kind enough to hear me out, but admitted that he wasn't looking to be "converted". i spent a lot of time in prayer and meditation after this encounter, and came to realize that all he needed was for me to listen and remain his friend. so that's what i sought to do. i never imagined this would get me in so much trouble....
soon after, another of my friends (who happened to be my first friend's roommate) approached me holding several pieces of paper in his hands. turns out he had spoken to his mother about the weeks events, and about how his christian friend (me) had the audacity to remain friend's with a homosexual. she wrote to him explaining that clearly i didn't have a true faith or relationship with jesus if i was still friends with a homosexual after he had come out. i couldn't believe that a fellow christian would "call me out" like this, especially since jesus came into this world and sought out and loved the people who were downtrodden, cast out, and rejected. he came for the hurting people of the world, for the social pariahs, for the prostitutes, tax collectors, and crooks. all of us are in that list somewhere. my friend was clearly hurting, was struggling with self-confidence, and was knowingly stepping into the realm of the outcast as a modern day leper.
there were many more instances throughout my college experience that i simply don't have room for here, but trust me when i say the more i sought to love everyone i encountered, the more i was abandoned by people who were just like i used to be...self-righteous, pious, narrow fundamentalist evangelicals.
fast forward to a year ago. as i started working at world vision i was excited to finally be around christians who actually embraced a theology of love and peace,and espoused a social-justice doctrine that sought to help the widows, orphans, and other "least of these" people in the world. i was ecstatic. and then, tony campolo came to chapel...
...and shattered whatever remnants of allegiance i had left towards the "religious right". tony came and spoke about what he called "red-letter christianity", a theology that focused on what jesus himself actually said and viewed the entirety of scripture through the lens of the reality of jesus' message and sacrifice. wow. i was sold. here was a man telling me that yes, i could be a christian and be in favor of an environmental policy that seeks to protect and preserve God's creation. yes, i could be a christian and be in favor of higher taxes that would support social programs intended to help the least of our society. yes, it was okay to serve the homeless without asking "can't you help yourself?" or "why are you homeless?" and instead embrace the method of the good samaritan who helped and loved without asking questions first. yes, i could serve the poor and suffering and not require that they first accept the gospel as their own truth, but that i could instead spread the gospel as effectively or more effectively with my actions and not my words. clearly, tony had an impact on me.
since then i've been reading books and blogs by tony, jim wallis (founder of sojourners), brian mclaren, and others and i am finding a burden lifting off my shoulders. it's like a breath of fresh air to know that others in the christian community share my thoughts and beliefs and aren't afraid to say it!
this is getting ridiculously long now, so i'll cut it off for tonight. but trust me when i say there is much more to come. please, please, please take a gander at some of the links i've posted on this blog. allow your mind to be open, and challenge everything you read from all authors by testing it against scripture. hopefully you will find something interesting, and maybe you'll learn something new! but have fun, and feel free to comment as you wish. (just keep it civil...)
peace.
