Make it Make Sense

Make it make sense. Even just a little.

Christianity is a weird thing. I say this as a Christian pastor and having been a Christian my whole life.

Officially, Christianity is pretty simple really. Christians claim to follow Jesus. That means we are to listen to what he has to say and to follow what he has told disciples (followers) to do and to be and to embody. At its core, this is not unique. Pretty much every religion has adherents do the same thing. It really doesn’t matter if we talking about Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc. If you are going to claim to be an adherent of a faith, then you pay attention to what that faith calls on you to be and do. Pretty simple.

Except it’s not. In any religion, there’s a whole range of what a faith actually is about and what it means. Christianity is no different. There’s a huge range, maybe even a chasm, of belief between those on the American prosperity gospel end of the theological spectrum and those who practice the faith in Central American with a focus on liberation theology. That’s just one example. There’s probably hundreds, if not thousands.

I bring this up, because to assume that there is one unified belief system in Christianity is patently false. Yes, we are supposed to be united in a belief in Christ, but observation suggests that’s not the case. How could it be when you have Christians that have an exclusive belief about Christianity to the point that anyone outside of their tradition in Christianity is condemned to eternal punishment. On the other end of that spectrum you have those that believe in universal salvation for all. Both claiming Jesus as their justification.

In the US right now, another divide is those that see Christianity through the lens of Christian Nationalism and those that see Christian Nationalism as not only incompatible with the faith, but a form of blasphemy or taking the Lord’s name in vain, which means using God for your own purpose.

How do we reconcile these differences and still claim the same faith tradition? I don’t know. And I don’t know that we can. And I don’t know that we should. Especially when beliefs seem to be so polar opposite from each other. And not just polar opposite, but in direct conflict with each other. Are these divides indicating that there are different religions and faiths completely? Again, I don’t know. What is the line that dictates when you should just name the reality that these are different religions all together?

This isn’t some exercise in grandiose thought. And it’s not something new. When the early church was just getting started, the debate was exactly about this. Was the early church just a sect of Judiasm, or was it a separate religion? It took decades for that to be settled, and we know the end result. Are we at a similar point where we need to have this debate – are these the same religion? If so, how? If not, what makes them different?

Not talking about this makes no sense. We are ignoring this question and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s a hope that people will come to their senses. I think it’s a mistake.

Christians claim to follow Jesus. But what Jesus? There seems to be a whole multiverse versions of Jesus. Prosperity Gospel Jesus, social justice Jesus, Jesus the unhoused and poor, Jesus the rabbi, Jesus the healer, Jesus the wise man, Jesus the prophet, Jesus the Savior, Jesus the liberator, Jesus the conqueror, Jesus the nationalist, etc.

What do we do when we Christians can’t even agree on some basic things about what it means to follow Jesus? I don’t claim to have this down. I’m trying. I don’t claim to know the answers either. But I have to raise the questions.

It seems like we are really good with coming up with an innumerable and inexhaustible supply of exception clauses to pretty much everything that Jesus called on followers to do and be. And I do mean everything.

He called on followers to follow the way of peace. And then we are quick to point out exceptions and defend when it’s ok to commit or support violence.

At what point do the exceptions become the rule? When the exceptions outnumber the norms? Doesn’t that just strip everything about Jesus down to some just some wandering wise man who didn’t upset the applecart and was killed off because he was a nice guy? What’s the point of faith at all if that’s the case? Why bother with it?

Maybe we just think that Jesus was full of crap. I don’t know how else to explain how someone can claim to follow someone and then do the exact opposite of everything that he calls on followers to do. I don’t know how else to explain how followers can come up with endless exceptions to what Jesus calls on followers to do.

Maybe Christians should just come out and say they are ditching Jesus if they aren’t going to follow him. That’s the statement that we should really be making. If we aren’t following Jesus, are we not following him because we think he is full of crap and doesn’t know what he’s talking about? Or is that a cover for our own fear of not being in control? Or are just doing what colonizers have done for centuries – conquer something, claim it as our own, strip it of anything valuable, and then discard it when we have exhausted it, all while blaming those we took it from for it’s collapse. Maybe there are many Christians who are just practicing colonization of a religion.

Christians make exceptions for what seems like everything, leading to such a wide variety of what faithfulness looks like and sounds like. Maybe that’s a false statement though. Is the full range being faithful? Maybe faithful to something, but certainly not to following Jesus. Faithful to power and control over others maybe.

In the US, one of the most common exceptions has to do with wealth and debt forgiveness and possessions. Jesus spoke about these things a whole lot. Don’t take my word for it, Google it. As you read the verses, does the little voice inside you start to raise “yeah, but…”? Why? Why is your exception legitimate? I know we don’t like it when things apply to us. We come up with any number of reasonings as to why we are innocent, good, and reasonable. Jesus must clearly be talking about that person over there, and not me.

Money and wealth and all that goes with those things have a special place in this country. Just raise the discussion about debt relief and you get all sorts of hackles and attacks on why you are being unfair, or unpatriotic, or anti-capitalist. Here’s a news flash, Jesus wasn’t a capitalist. Capitalism didn’t exist when he walked the earth. Wealth came by exploitation of the poor. That’s still the case, especially when we are talking about billionaires. You don’t get that kind of money by working at it like the average person. And it’s not just from making good business decisions either. Stop defending people who don’t give a damn about you and would think nothing of stabbing you in the back to take the few pennies that you have.

Here’s some of the other exceptions that I have heard arguments for – how strangers and foreigners are treated, how the marginalized of society are treated, how we deal with poverty, care for the poor, stewardship of creation, obtaining and using worldly and political power, work, labor, how laborers are treated, governmental power and how it is used, health care and healing, hunger and food, the judicial system and imprisonment, interpersonal relationships of all sorts, charging interest, how we are to treat enemies, how women are treated, violence, cruelty, dehumanizing behavior, abuse of religious authority, exceptions for love, mercy, grace, peace, forgiveness, etc.

That list is off the top of my head. Based on that, it appears that we have exceptions for pretty much everything that Jesus called on followers to embody.

Which leaves us with what exactly? It seems as though we aren’t really interested in following him. We’d much rather use him for our own purposes, use him to justify our beliefs about the world, use him to impose our beliefs on others, and more. That’s a sin. It seems that we care more about remaining in control of our own lives, rather than surrendering the illusion of control and following.

Maybe that’s why we have some of the problems we have in our churches and in society. Then again, I am not arguing that any of this is new to this generation or a specific culture. Humanity has a terrible track record when it comes to this.

So where does that leave us? I don’t know. And I’m not foolish to think that I can change anyone else, or even convince anyone about this. I don’t think that’s my job, or what Jesus called on followers to do anyway. He didn’t say if any want to follow me, come, pick up a theological line of argument and use it against someone to convince them why they are wrong and you are right.

I’m aware that I make exceptions too and that I’m doing the exact thing that I’m complaining about. I like to think that I’m trying to learn about my blind spots on this. I like to think, like everyone else, that I’m a good, reasonable person and that my reasoning aligns with following Jesus. I highly doubt I’ve got right though. And I don’t even know what I’m getting wrong most of the time.

Which again, leaves us where? I think we spend a lot of time try to point out others’ faults and sins, their hypocrisy and struggles. I think part of the reason is that it distracts us from our own. Maybe this is one of the biggest aspects of religion in America – our attempts to make others less than ourselves so that we get to tell ourselves that we are clearly closer to God than those other people.

Here’s what I’m left with. People, including myself, are going to rationalize their beliefs, find what they can to support whatever they believe. My job as a follower of Jesus is really simple – to see the humanity in other person and to see it in myself. Said in a more theological way – it is to see the image of God in others and myself. And to live accordingly. To embody that. That’s not the most satisfying answer. But it’s probably the most realistic.

It’s not going to make sense. None of it. And I’m not convinced it was ever supposed to make sense. Jesus didn’t call on followers to understand and make it all make sense. He called on followers to follow. To love, to welcome, to care, to see the humanity. That’s it. It doesn’t make sense. But it does embody faith. Faith isn’t about everything making sense and having an answer for everything. You don’t need faith if it all makes sense. It’s about trust. It’s about being vulnerable. It’s about accepting the reality that none of us are in control. It’s about seeing how we are connected to one another and the rest of creation.