Who is a Christian?

This question has been with me for some time now. Not from a place of self-righteous judgment: "I deem you Christian and you un-Christian." But rather from a place of doubt and confusion: What does it mean to be a Christian? What really constitutes Christian faith? Is Christian faith substantive or simply a delusion? If one is a Christian what do they do and what do they believe? And are their actions and beliefs prescribed by Christian faith, implying that in there absence Christian faith is null and void?

Is there anything that I can point to in my life (my actions, my beliefs, my community, my relationships) that gives me assurance of my Christian faith? Is there something I can hold up and say here this is my Christianity?

There have often been two responses to this crisis of identity: dogmatic sectarianism or uncritical assimilation. In the former identity is held up over relevance, and in the latter relevance does away with a distinct identity.

Myself and others who "grew up Evangelical" find ourselves today in this crisis. As we venture into uncharted territory attempting to move beyond our inherited "us vs. them" tradition, we go through a loss of identity. At our low points we despise our tradition and rebel against it, constructing an identity that is simply anti. On the other hand we move out and assimilate and identify with the "other", but we find that we do not quite fit in "out there" either. We also try and formulate new doctrines, or new ethical imperatives, some more successful then others. But at the end of the day we often continue to struggle for any assurance of identity or relevance to the outside world.

So how do we build an identity and develop relevance? This blog is long enough, so I will simply offer this quote by Jurgen Moltmann from his book The Crucified God. Here he is attempting to develop Christian identity from the viewpoint of the cross and the God who was crucified upon it.

"Christian identity can be understood only as an act of identification with the crucified Christ, to the extent to which one has accepted the proclamation that in him God has identified himself with the godless and those abandoned by God, to whom one belongs oneself" (19).

Heart Wrenching

I recently finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It is a breathtaking and heart wrenching novel that invites the reader into the lives of two women living in Afghanistan. It powerfully captures the beautiful desires of these women and the horrific circumstances that bestow tragedy after tragedy upon them. Despite living in the horrific shadow of war and the abuse of a patriarchal society these women actively bring redemption into each other's life.

This book exposes the futility of violence, the undeniable evil of patriarchy (in whatever form it may take; our Western forms are just as destructive), and the incredible power of love and hope. I hope that you take the time to be captivated by this story.

Here we go again

The Fall semester has begun. Last week I was in Church History I (Early Church through the Reformation) Monday through Friday 9-4PM. It was a long week, but our professor was quite good and Church history is always fascinating.

One of the new thoughts that came my way was a discussion on the Reformers understanding of predestination. Why was it so important to them and what necessitated that belief? Their actions had caused the Catholic Church to excommunicate them, thus they were damned to hell. They needed some heavy duty salvific assurance to stand up to the one and only church: hence, it is only God who determines who is saved (i.e. predestination). Now I am definitely not trying to instigate a discussion on predestination nor am I implying that the Reformers simply made up doctrines to react to the Catholic Church. Rather I continue to find it intriguing to look at the contexts and circumstances that give shape to who we are, what we believe and what we do. Life is always contextual and that is the beauty of it.

This week I will start the rest of my Fall classes: Corinthians, Theology I, and Human Growth and Development. Following this Fall, I will have 7 hours in the Spring and then 4 hours next Summer and I will be done with my Masters! It feels good to be on the downhill slope.