A friend recently shared a quote with me that went something like, “To refer to Desmond Tutu and Oral Roberts, Celtic monks and fundamentalist lobbyists, the Desert fathers and Tim La Haye, Jerry Falwell and Dante, St. Francis and the TV prosperity gospel proponents, or Mother Theresa and Tammy Faye Baker all as Christians stretches the word so thin its meaning vanishes. The term ‘carbon-based life form’ is as informative.”
There are those who hold to the Christian faith in a form that they believe remains “pure.” For them it is the True Faith. They may believe that others who do not align themselves with the fundamentals of this True Faith are not “real Christians.” For the most part the members of this group read the Bible as the literal, inerrant word of God. A reading along those lines leads to a church where I would not be a pastor because of my gender (1 Corinthians 14: 34) and where hell is a certain reality for those who do not accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. The lines are clear. Those who believe are saved. All others are not.
There are also Christians for whom the lines are less clear, as the opening quote alludes. These folks do not read the Bible as the literal, inerrant word of God. Some of them would say the Bible is the work of human authors inspired by God’s Spirit. Others would say it is a faith history of the Hebrew people and the early followers of Jesus that God can use to guide us in the Way Jesus lived. There are probably many more variations, each with a different place their adherents draw their lines.
Jesus and a particular way of reading the Bible are what folks in the varying camps of the first group have in common. On the surface it might look as though there is little beyond Jesus that those in the second camp have in common. Because I fall into that group, I’ve given that some consideration. Here are my thoughts about what binds us together. Feel free to agree, disagree, add or subtract.
(First) — we read the Bible. We probably hear it read in church. We may read it on our own. Some of us turn to it for inspiration, guidance, illumination, or edification. To one degree or another it is important to us. Part of why it is important to us is (Second) — it tells us about Jesus. In Jesus we feel we are shown how God calls us to be and to live. Some of us focus on what happened to Jesus as the main message about him in the Bible. His death and resurrection hold center stage in our faith. (What the resurrection was we understand in different ways.)
Others of us focus on how Jesus lived. For us what he taught through his life and teachings is the main message about him in the Bible. That keeps us focused on what Jesus called the Kingdom of God.
(Third) We all believe God’s Spirit is active in this world.
I looked at a recent church listing in this newspaper. There were over fifty different communities of faith listed. Most of them are some sort of Christian. I’ve found myself wondering if what separates us is a difference in focus on an ever-narrowing scale. Not a difference in whether or not we focus on Jesus, but a difference in how our faith in Jesus focuses our lives.
It seems there are those of us who through our reading of the Bible turn our attention toward individuals. We focus on individual salvation — our own and others. Salvation of people is paramount in our faith. Then there are those of us who, through our equally faithful reading of the Bible, turn our attention toward God’s world. We focus on systems and structures that help or hinder the common good of all God’s people — Christian or not.
All of us call ourselves Christian. What a hodge-podge we are! Those for whom Jesus — Son of God — makes no sense look at us and it’s easy to see why they shake their heads. We are so disparate we can hardly be called one group. A term as broad as “carbon based life forms” is almost necessary if we are to be lumped together in any meaningful or honest way.
Cortez Christians have a remarkable history that works to bridge those divides. Planning is already under way for the twenty-seventh series of ecumenical Holy Week services. The people (not the clergy!) bring together members of many churches to read the Bible and pray. Sitting in one of the host churches, those who attend may hear a speaker whose message comes from a perspective different than their home congregation, but there is respect. Women as well as men lead, and those from congregations where this would never happen show respect.
At least during those early morning worship services, Cortez’s Christians witness to being more than mere carbon based life forms in the same room. They are followers of Jesus who in those five quiet mornings, through their love and respect for everyone who walks through the doors, make present Christ’s love for the world.
Leigh Waggoner is priest at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. She can be reached at 565-7865, or [email protected].
