Why am I a Christian? Over the years, a number of people have asked me this question. After all, I hold positions not typically associated with most American Christians. I am pro-choice, support marriage equality for lesbian and gay people, view stem cell research as promising and hopeful, and accept other scientific insights about life including evolution, natural selection, and global warming. In those things, I am not very different from most Christians I know within the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. I also maintain a heartfelt commitment to interfaith spirituality and have, over the years, sat in meditation with Buddhists, danced at Native American ceremonies, and chanted in the Hindu service, darshan. Learning from a variety of wisdom traditions is not something common among Christian clergy.
At the same time, I am saddened, offended, and at times, outraged, at the behavior I witness by other Christians. The church of my youth has refined and mastered absurd theological positions that are nothing less than sexist, homophobic, and frequently deny the sacred worth of individuals while promoting injustice and classism. I see much the same behavior in other Christian denominations that focus more on their institutional survival and political influence than on the teachings of Jesus.
Because I do not believe that “my God” is better than anyone else’s “God,” why do I remain a Christian when the Christian church at large is associated with hypocrisy and abuse of many kinds? The answer is very simple: it is the vision of what the world can be based on the teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition that causes me to remain a Christian. During the season of Advent, the four weeks preceding Christmas, I am reminded of that vision.
The Advent season began with many Christians hearing this vision in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
It will come to pass that the mountain of God’s house will be established as the highest mountain. All nations will flow to it and many people will say, “Come, let us climb the mountain of God … that we may be taught God’s ways and walk in God’s paths…” They will beat their swords in plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift the sword against nation, nor will they learn of war anymore. (see Isaiah 2:1-5)
The vision is simple: everyone is invited to go to the holy place and to learn about the Most High’s way of life. The lesson is revolutionary: weapons are to be made into farm tools because there is no more war. Instead of war and division, the way of the Most High is for people to live at peace with themselves and with one another.
The reason I am a Christian is because I affirm that a foundational aspect of the Christian tradition is that all people can (and someday will) live at peace with each other. While many Christians focus on streets of gold, pearly gates, or pie in the sky when I die, what is important to me is the way people live today. The vision described in Isaiah is not for some remote time in the future, but is about how we can live together now. As Jesus said in Luke 17, the realm of God is here and now in your midst! The vision described in Isaiah is not for some time in the future but it is about how we can live together in the present.
I recognize that there is great beauty and wisdom in other religions. I also recognize that the Christian church of today has put a great distance between itself and the vision of the new world order which Jesus taught as the characteristic way of life who learn the ways of God. But I cannot focus on how others fail to live out this vision of a world. Instead, I can focus myself on what is really important: an understanding of how things can be.
During this time of preparation for Christmas, I invite you to come to a deeper understanding of this simple vision depicted in the Judeo-Christian scripture:
The wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. The lion will eat hay like a cow. The baby will play safely near the cobra’s nest. Nothing will hurt or destroy on my holy mountain. (Isaiah 65)In the end, it the vision of how we can live in the here and now that enables me to affirm my faith as a Christian.
You are invited to share a comment about why you have chosen your own beliefs.
Thank you Lou! We need to hear these things clearly and you provide a thoughtful, open and even passionate view of the way religion influences our lives these days. We need your reminders that we are basically spiritual people continually struggling with our humanity.