Believing and Following - A Diversion

I'll get back to the story of how we became Episcopalian in a bit, but a quick aside:

A lot of people, particularly American Christians of all stripes, want to make belief in Jesus the most important decision we make on our faith journey. I'm not sure I can make that mesh with what Jesus himself seems to expect from his followers in the gospel accounts. There's actually very little talk about belief at all. Sure, there's John 3:16, but could we please come to a consensus in the Christian community that there's way more going on in the gospels than one small portion of Jesus' conversation with a Pharisee?

My point is that Jesus seems a lot more concerned with whether his friends are following him or not. I don't think that's any small difference. He rarely (if ever, again Nicodemus was never a public supporter of Jesus until after the crucifixion) asks his disciples to hold the correct belief in him. He does eventually ask them who they think he is, but that's after they've been with him awhile. He simply asks them to follow. And it seems that in the following, they figure out who he is.

Why, then, do we spend so much effort making sure people believe the right things? The rich young ruler went away because his possessions made following Jesus difficult, not believing in him. Can we ask people to follow Jesus for awhile before we even start to sweat what they believe? What is it that makes following difficult? Will it drive seekers away if we ask them to actually follow his example rather than convincing them that a bowed head, a repeated prayer, and indoctrination in the "right" teaching has anything at all to do with salvation and redemption? Is it more important to love and to seek peace than it is to tell people that if they don't accept certain teachings about scripture, then they're in serious trouble? With who? Jesus said, "I am the way..." Doesn't that mean he can save whomever he pleases? What if that's completely beyond our control or influence? Does it matter if we're purpose-driven or part of the holy catholic and apostolic church or whatever if we can't even worship with those we disagree with? Maybe there really is no longer Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, liberal nor conservative, gay nor straight, Protestant nor Catholic... Then what?

What would happen if the church followed first, and worried about belief later?

Trinity Parish: The practical answer to Why?

When Sarah and I began attending Trinity Episcopal Church in Lincoln, IL, I think we both hoped that we'd found a place to rest awhile. We found that, for sure, but we also discovered that there was more at Trinity than met the eye.

We had just left a bigger, more "successful", culturally relevant church with a nice, professional worship team and a nice, professional preacher and a nice, professional website. None of that is bad, and to be honest, I actually have very few if any hard feelings about our time there. It was simply clear as we left that we needed to avoid attending another similar church in Lincoln.

I knew very little about Trinity, and even less about Episcopalianism, but I had visited a couple of times with my college roommate a few years before. Well, my main reason for choosing Trinity at the time was that I wanted a slightly more liberal church that still took ancient practices seriously. Again, it's not like the church we'd left behind was super-conservative or anything, I just felt the need to be in a place where the gospel was more than just a sales pitch. Little did I realize how ridiculous quaint labels like liberal and conservative were going to become, religiously-speaking.

Fr. Cravens, the rector (rector? damn near killed 'er!) at Trinity, presented the first challenge to my simple-mindedness. He received his M. Div. from Union Seminary in New York, widely considered to be a very liberal divinity school, yet he is a fairly buttoned-down career military man who holds some pretty traditional opinions concerning the nature of Christ. Considering that the first bishop he served under was John Shelby Spong, that's saying something. Fr. Jim has become a close friend, so I'll save more on him for later writings.

The absolute, most practical reason we stayed at Trinity is the people, without a doubt. Being surrounded by a loving community during Sarah's pregnancy was an incredible blessing. Beyond that, watching a congregation composed of rich and poor, college professors and factory workers, old and young, join together in common prayer and fellowship was an amazing thing to witness. Bill, the senior warden, whose knees give out when he stands too long and is too stubborn/faithful to use that as an excuse to sit during hymns, still has a smile for us when we visit. Steve and Susie run the Blue Dog Inn, and someday soon Steve will probably grab Caleb from us and not give him back for a good stretch of time. Betty, who took us out for lunch the very first week we visited, sent us a card after Caleb was born. And Ellie, the painfully shy lady who lives alone in the high-rise but has a tremendous sewing gift, will be sending us a baby blanket soon. I haven't even mentioned Clyde and Shari, or Chris and Emily, or Jorge and Nancy. I haven't told you about Vicki, Ellen, Butch, Ava, Theo, Little Joe, or the Gray family. None of this is to say that I haven't felt loved or cared for in the other churches of which I've been part. Not at all. It's just that finding such a wonderful family at Trinity made the decision to join the Episcopal Church that much easier. More on that next post.

Who is Jesus?

I think I'll just start with a few pieces on our journey to Anglicanism, or at least make an attempt to explain why we're here, and not where we've been before. The website for the Episcopal Church provided me with a decent enough starting place with a brief survey entitled, "Who is Jesus Christ to you?"

So, here are their questions, and my responses:

Who is Jesus to you? How is Jesus important in your life? In today's world? For today's church?

Jesus is the incarnate Word, the fullness of God and of humanity. On a personal level, he is lord of my life, and I believe him to be savior to all. He is the bridegroom to the church's bride, the perfect lover for the perfect mess. In Christ there is hope of forgiveness, the promise of resurrection, and the fulfillment of humanity's longing for restoration with God and each other.

Has a certain text or artistic work (besides the Bible) shaped your understanding of Jesus?

Aslan the lion has always been a more vivid image of Christ to me than the Jesus of the gospels, though with time I have come to cherish those older portraits as well. Kazantzakis' Last Temptation and, disparately, Kevin Smith's Dogma have also added depth and nuance to my understanding of Jesus as the living Christ, though I remain unashamedly Chalcedon-compliant in my christology.

Has a certain experience shaped your understanding of Jesus?

Various mystical encounters through prayer and meditation, even from an early age, have grounded my understanding of who Jesus is, but an encounter with an illiterate, homeless Bible teacher last summer put flesh on the skeleton-Christ my imagination (and the Spirit) had erected in my mind.

Just to prove that it won't be just abstract thoughts posted here, I'd like to share the trailers for three movies I absolutely can't wait to see this fall:

The Prestige

Children of Men

The Fountain

I'll write more about why these three films in particular have me in such anticipation, but for now, click those links!

I've decided to start this separate space up so I can wax eloquently on matters that just don't seem to fit in with my original Xanga blog, which I plan to keep using as an outlet to keep in touch with my scattered friends. I plan on using this space for essays/reflections/rants on theology, philosophy, art, politics, or whatever else I deem is worthy of a slightly more serious discourse. I hope that my Xanga friends will check in here from time to time, but I also hope to maybe gain a wider readership as well.

I expect that a large portion of these scribblings will be concerned with the Anglican expression of Christianity, particularly from the perspective of the Episcopal Church, of which my wife and I are now confirmed members. My background and education in evangelicalism will doubtless come into play also, as I sort out my faith journey in terms of both where I've been and where I am now. As for where I'm going, I suppose this blog will help chart that course.

I certainly don't plan for this to be only a dour, introspective record of my various navel-gazing enterprises. Faith is only relevant for me insofar as it enhances my ability to live in communion with God and with others. Beyond that, I expect my walk with Christ to produce fruits of joy and fellowship with everyone I interact with, regardless of their particular religious affiliation (or lack thereof). Hopefully, this journal chronicles that as well, so that I can offer something enjoyable and beneficial to my readers.

To everyone slightly interested in where this goes from here, thank you.