I'm cross-posting this from LiveJournal... I haven't done that in awhile, I think I might start doing it again.
This started off as a tiny little facebook status change, and grew far too big for the contents of the box. When I moved it over to notepad, suddenly I realized that this was going to be a touch longer than I had originally anticipated.
Many Christians see "faith" as something you receive from simply seeking out a single person (Jesus) and all will fall into place from there on out (trust in Jesus, give your life to Jesus, and if anything is wrong, you must not have enough Jesus, you aren't right with Jesus). It is one of the most basic concepts in mainstream Christianity, one that few people would dare argue.
Well I've never been one to avoid a good dare, what can I say...
Faith itself is actually a journey of knowledge, learning, and self-discovery. The path to God through faith is not strictly about seeking any one person from any one tradition (be it Christian or not), but rather seeking the God that this person (or people) have indicated during their times in human history; through their words, actions, writings, and life. As Fred Plumer puts it in his recent article: Ultimately the question we must ask ourselves is not “what does God want me to do” or even “what does Jesus want me to do,” but rather, “what do I need to do in order to experience the Realm of God that Jesus pointed to.”
In other words, Jesus is of the most benefit to others when people regard him as more of a signpost on a path, rather than the path itself.
Fred Plumer also puts it best when he states, after discussing the Gospel of Thomas briefly: "Thomas, like Jesus, assured us that this was not the easy path. That is probably why so many people keep looking for a savior."
Salvation has always been a tricky concept for the progressive movement, since many progressive Christians believe in an inclusive faith where all are welcome and all are equal. We all share a common human condition of being children of God, regardless of who we are or what we believe. Mainstream Christianity practices the concept of exclusion more often than not, where people are considered either "in" or "out" based on certain criteria (this is sometimes termed the "dualistic faith model").
Mainstreamers have trouble understanding how a progressive outlook can possibly be inclusive and unilateral rather than dualistic, and the answer really lies in the subject matter above: This concept of "needing" Jesus as the path, rather than the sign post. The concept of needing a Savior.. rather than a teacher. These concepts are not as prevalent in more progressive frames of mind because a signpost is just a signpost... it could be chopped down and you would still have the path, though it would be a lot more difficult to find, perhaps more difficult to travel. Perhaps more people would miss out on taking that particular path. But, there are still numerous other ways to go, including using no path at all. And no matter which way you choose to get there, they are all equally difficult; not easy.
There is no "magic" solution... The fact is? Humanity saves itself. The greatest gift God gave to man was our gift of being eternal seekers for the rest of our days and our abilities to learn and grow in knowledge and wisdom. The beauty in life? The journey... seeking out the "solution" (a Savior, for example) as the solve-all tell-tale trait of a life well lived, essentially rips that journey from us in so many ways and diminishes the sheer fundamental natures of human existence.
Grasping for the end before the means (the solve-all solution rather than the lengthy, on-going, eternal-seeker journey that is the true nature of lief) creates a situation where many of us halt living our lives. We revert to not even being able to decide things for ourselves, but must instead rely on group-mentality or the will of others (or the will of other resources) in order to figure out "How do I make the choices which are best for me?" But following the sign-posts of life allows us to live. To really live. It allows us to never forget that we are on a journey and that we are all in this together; that there is no universal solve-all principle that brings us straight to the end without question, straight to every answer and every solution. Life is hard, and we should be attempting to assist each other in a journey we're all in together; though at the end of the day, the only one who can truly help each one of us.. is ourself.
People miss out on this message far too often.
This started off as a tiny little facebook status change, and grew far too big for the contents of the box. When I moved it over to notepad, suddenly I realized that this was going to be a touch longer than I had originally anticipated.
Many Christians see "faith" as something you receive from simply seeking out a single person (Jesus) and all will fall into place from there on out (trust in Jesus, give your life to Jesus, and if anything is wrong, you must not have enough Jesus, you aren't right with Jesus). It is one of the most basic concepts in mainstream Christianity, one that few people would dare argue.
Well I've never been one to avoid a good dare, what can I say...
Faith itself is actually a journey of knowledge, learning, and self-discovery. The path to God through faith is not strictly about seeking any one person from any one tradition (be it Christian or not), but rather seeking the God that this person (or people) have indicated during their times in human history; through their words, actions, writings, and life. As Fred Plumer puts it in his recent article: Ultimately the question we must ask ourselves is not “what does God want me to do” or even “what does Jesus want me to do,” but rather, “what do I need to do in order to experience the Realm of God that Jesus pointed to.”
In other words, Jesus is of the most benefit to others when people regard him as more of a signpost on a path, rather than the path itself.
Fred Plumer also puts it best when he states, after discussing the Gospel of Thomas briefly: "Thomas, like Jesus, assured us that this was not the easy path. That is probably why so many people keep looking for a savior."
Salvation has always been a tricky concept for the progressive movement, since many progressive Christians believe in an inclusive faith where all are welcome and all are equal. We all share a common human condition of being children of God, regardless of who we are or what we believe. Mainstream Christianity practices the concept of exclusion more often than not, where people are considered either "in" or "out" based on certain criteria (this is sometimes termed the "dualistic faith model").
Mainstreamers have trouble understanding how a progressive outlook can possibly be inclusive and unilateral rather than dualistic, and the answer really lies in the subject matter above: This concept of "needing" Jesus as the path, rather than the sign post. The concept of needing a Savior.. rather than a teacher. These concepts are not as prevalent in more progressive frames of mind because a signpost is just a signpost... it could be chopped down and you would still have the path, though it would be a lot more difficult to find, perhaps more difficult to travel. Perhaps more people would miss out on taking that particular path. But, there are still numerous other ways to go, including using no path at all. And no matter which way you choose to get there, they are all equally difficult; not easy.
There is no "magic" solution... The fact is? Humanity saves itself. The greatest gift God gave to man was our gift of being eternal seekers for the rest of our days and our abilities to learn and grow in knowledge and wisdom. The beauty in life? The journey... seeking out the "solution" (a Savior, for example) as the solve-all tell-tale trait of a life well lived, essentially rips that journey from us in so many ways and diminishes the sheer fundamental natures of human existence.
Grasping for the end before the means (the solve-all solution rather than the lengthy, on-going, eternal-seeker journey that is the true nature of lief) creates a situation where many of us halt living our lives. We revert to not even being able to decide things for ourselves, but must instead rely on group-mentality or the will of others (or the will of other resources) in order to figure out "How do I make the choices which are best for me?" But following the sign-posts of life allows us to live. To really live. It allows us to never forget that we are on a journey and that we are all in this together; that there is no universal solve-all principle that brings us straight to the end without question, straight to every answer and every solution. Life is hard, and we should be attempting to assist each other in a journey we're all in together; though at the end of the day, the only one who can truly help each one of us.. is ourself.
People miss out on this message far too often.
