A worry about Christianity
Jun. 27th, 2003 09:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmerFirst, I think I should point out that I, as a former Christian, have a great deal of love and respect for what I think Christianity *is*, which is different from what I think many Christians follow.
Second, I also want to point out that it is not my intent to speak about Christians as a group, but about an idea that I see that I feel that some Christians have.
Okay... this is partially inspired by a visit to Jack Chick's tract website, because someone mentioned that he had some humorous things to say about wicca, and I just had to find out.
The problem is one of words, really, which is something I had noted a long time ago, and tried to fix.
If you go to the bible, what you can get out of the concept of salvation is that it rests on, at most, three ideas... acceptance of Jesus, belief in his word, and baptism. Some churches feel that only one or two of those three are necessary, and there might be some that have an extra condition or so, but these are the ones that have the most gospel citations, so they're the 'main ones'.
Now, me, I say that 'belief' in something is much stronger than 'being willing to state something'. For me, a belief is not really a belief unless it would affect your behavior.
I believe there's a floor beneath my feet; therefore, I'm willing to step on the floor without fear.
That's belief.
The thing is, that's not deeply undestood by many (most?) people. To them, belief is "I'm willing to state that I believe that."
I believe that invisible pink unicorns are responsible for my hip injury.
Anyone out there think I *really* believe that? Anyone who does, well... the local chapter of your state's mental health association can probably point you to someone who can help.
I'm willing to say that... but I don't believe it. (Herm. This isn't a great example, because I'm only willing to say it because it's unimportant, and I don't think anyone will believe it. still...)
If Christians all thought that belief meant something the way I mean it (and, let me point out, Paul suggests that this *is* what is required!), I think there'd be a lot less room for nastiness from Christianity.
But... without that kind of belief, without belief having to change the way you live your life (or at least 'the reason you live your life the way you do'), then all of these things become a single instance.
You say "I accept Jesus as my savior". You say "I believe that he died for my sins". Maybe you get splashed, sprinkled, or immersed in water. Bang; for the rest of your life, you're 'saved', no matter what else you do. And, the feeling is, as long as you're willing to say "Oh, I believe that Jesus is my savior, and he died for my sins", you're still just fine, according to the plan.
See, the problem is (IMTO - "In my theological opinion"), some of the early thinkers realized that people are weak, and fallible. You can't tell how hard a person is trying to avoid sinning by what they do. For all you know, it takes them ten times as much effort to avoid Sin X as it takes for you to avoid the same sin. That person might believe as much, or more, than you do... but might be much more vulnerable to sin. *BUT*... if that person is truly trying, and truly believes, well, it is by God's grace that we are saved.
(Wow... you can really *tell* that I was raised as a Christian, can't you? :-) )
So, you see, you shouldn't judge whether a person is saved or not, because you can't tell what's going on 'under the surface'. You *can* throw them out of your church (Paul says, and I fully understand this); but you do *not* pretend that you know. the idea is, if Mr. Fornicator is still in your church, he'll make people think that fornication is okay... so you have to be able to throw him out, to say "no, it's not okay". But you don't know if he's actually following Christ to the best of his abilities or not, so don't go thinking you know how God is judging him.
The trouble is, if Christianity is about a one-time conversion event, then everything that is good in Christianity gets transformed into bringing about that one-time thing. It loses almost all of it's other greatness.
Again: This is not how I feel about Christianity, nor about any large block of Christians (though it's obvious that I feel some Christians do feel this way).
It's a worry, a danger... and one that I saw when I was trying to re-create the church in my writing.
Second, I also want to point out that it is not my intent to speak about Christians as a group, but about an idea that I see that I feel that some Christians have.
Okay... this is partially inspired by a visit to Jack Chick's tract website, because someone mentioned that he had some humorous things to say about wicca, and I just had to find out.
The problem is one of words, really, which is something I had noted a long time ago, and tried to fix.
If you go to the bible, what you can get out of the concept of salvation is that it rests on, at most, three ideas... acceptance of Jesus, belief in his word, and baptism. Some churches feel that only one or two of those three are necessary, and there might be some that have an extra condition or so, but these are the ones that have the most gospel citations, so they're the 'main ones'.
Now, me, I say that 'belief' in something is much stronger than 'being willing to state something'. For me, a belief is not really a belief unless it would affect your behavior.
I believe there's a floor beneath my feet; therefore, I'm willing to step on the floor without fear.
That's belief.
The thing is, that's not deeply undestood by many (most?) people. To them, belief is "I'm willing to state that I believe that."
I believe that invisible pink unicorns are responsible for my hip injury.
Anyone out there think I *really* believe that? Anyone who does, well... the local chapter of your state's mental health association can probably point you to someone who can help.
I'm willing to say that... but I don't believe it. (Herm. This isn't a great example, because I'm only willing to say it because it's unimportant, and I don't think anyone will believe it. still...)
If Christians all thought that belief meant something the way I mean it (and, let me point out, Paul suggests that this *is* what is required!), I think there'd be a lot less room for nastiness from Christianity.
But... without that kind of belief, without belief having to change the way you live your life (or at least 'the reason you live your life the way you do'), then all of these things become a single instance.
You say "I accept Jesus as my savior". You say "I believe that he died for my sins". Maybe you get splashed, sprinkled, or immersed in water. Bang; for the rest of your life, you're 'saved', no matter what else you do. And, the feeling is, as long as you're willing to say "Oh, I believe that Jesus is my savior, and he died for my sins", you're still just fine, according to the plan.
See, the problem is (IMTO - "In my theological opinion"), some of the early thinkers realized that people are weak, and fallible. You can't tell how hard a person is trying to avoid sinning by what they do. For all you know, it takes them ten times as much effort to avoid Sin X as it takes for you to avoid the same sin. That person might believe as much, or more, than you do... but might be much more vulnerable to sin. *BUT*... if that person is truly trying, and truly believes, well, it is by God's grace that we are saved.
(Wow... you can really *tell* that I was raised as a Christian, can't you? :-) )
So, you see, you shouldn't judge whether a person is saved or not, because you can't tell what's going on 'under the surface'. You *can* throw them out of your church (Paul says, and I fully understand this); but you do *not* pretend that you know. the idea is, if Mr. Fornicator is still in your church, he'll make people think that fornication is okay... so you have to be able to throw him out, to say "no, it's not okay". But you don't know if he's actually following Christ to the best of his abilities or not, so don't go thinking you know how God is judging him.
The trouble is, if Christianity is about a one-time conversion event, then everything that is good in Christianity gets transformed into bringing about that one-time thing. It loses almost all of it's other greatness.
Again: This is not how I feel about Christianity, nor about any large block of Christians (though it's obvious that I feel some Christians do feel this way).
It's a worry, a danger... and one that I saw when I was trying to re-create the church in my writing.
