So I was talking to some fellow ministry pals about communion. They were wondering whether we should have communion in a given situation in which there were bound to be lots of folks who didn’t profess Christ as Lord. I thought we should. Everyone else thought we shouldn’t. We ended up not having it, which was fine. We still remembered Jesus. And while I think they were probably largely correct in some ways, the conversation stirred up some stuff in me. Namely, that our faith can not help but seem weird, bizarre, odd.
Now, I wasn’t pushing for communion because I wanted to be insensitive to seekers or because I’m all about loud, bold proclamations of the faith. In fact, I’m much more fond of the daily life lived in humility and compassion than the best preaching from a soapbox in the midst of downtown shoppers.
The reason it bothered me, I think, is because I was so struck by the ridiculousness of trying to make our faith appear not ridiculous.
That’s right. It’s ridiculous. It’s foolish. It’s devoting your life to unseen things that may or may not be true based on a book compiled by some guys in the 3rd century. It is, at its best, laying down your life, sacrificing wealth and comfort, being humble even when you’re the best _______ in the room, all for an invisible God (totally unreasonable). It is turning the other cheek. It is blessing your enemy. It is talking out loud when there seems to be no one else in the room because you believe the same previously mentioned invisible God wants to hear from you.
Of course, there are reasons we believe what we believe. Good ones. That is not what I’m questioning. But if we try to make our faith seem totally reasonable, then we will lose all that is great about it. Math is reasonable. Faith is not supposed to be. It is not math. It’s art.
The 20th century church, largely as a result of the 18th century Age of Enlightenment, tried to make our faith in Christ “provable.” Historical arguments and my favorite, apologetics, have swept through the church ever since. And look how the church has thrived!!! (sarcasm implicit)
We choose to follow a 1st century rabbi who got Himself killed, not because it’s reasonable, but because it is powerful. Not because it is the most logical way we have found, but because it is the best way, the most loving way, the most compassionate way that we have found. We don’t see him, but we believe.
I’m starting to think that the more “reasonable” we try to make it, the more ridiculous we look and act. When we embrace our faith journey as something “other,” as something spiritual, then we are more honest with ourselves and the world around us. I think the world might like that. If we were honest for once.
And I think Jesus is OK with us giving up on 18th century ideals of what’s important.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
Christianity only makes sense if you beleive that the earth that we live in IS HELL. Could it be much worse? If we all promoted a life like Christ (and not like Christians) our earth would be heaven. Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are and never have been Christians. We have created the rituals (that seem to make us look more rediculous) to try and prove the existance of God. Our fault comes when we try to convert people to Christianity instead of converting people to the way of Christ.
Your conversation reminded me of a funeral I attended ten years. A toddler was tragically killed in an accident and the young family was Roman Catholic. Hundreds of people attended the service with the majority being Methodist. It was an odd experience to be participating in Christian worship where two thirds of the people where excluded from sharing in the Mass.
I recall that I felt a little angry about the whole thing. In hindsight I wonder if it just rubbed my sense that we all live in a democracy and we that we all have rights the wrong way- I know it sounds rediculous. Maybe the Roman Catholics have something to teach us about embracing our weird oddity.
“We choose to follow a 1st century rabbi who got Himself killed, not because it’s reasonable, but because it is powerful. Not because it is the most logical way we have found, but because it is the best way, the most loving way, the most compassionate way that we have found. We don’t see him, but we believe. ”
I’d add because we belief that it’s the only way!