On what it means to be a Christian
“Religion” as a system combining particular beliefs and practices is a category that had to be invented by Christians in the late Roman/early medieval period. The thing one has to understand is that almost no “religion” in our sense was a closed system in ancient times. No one thought that anybody else’s beliefs were necessarily false because their own were true. And there were very, very few practices which any society absolutely refused to countenance.
It was Jews who demanded that their people abjure any dogma or practice which contravened their covenant with God. Christians followed in this mode. To be a Christian, therefore, meant - explicitly - to NOT be one of those others, to NOT share their beliefs, NOT worship their gods, NOT participate in their practices. But then how are we going to talk about this thing we say is different for different groups, even though much of it is the same (prayer, worship, taboos, encouraging morality . . .)? And so, we began to talk about religions, in the plural; but all such talk assumes a Christian (or Jewish) outlook.
In the early missionary endeavors to the rustics, then the barbarians, “conversion” meant largely STOP doing that, START doing this. Long conversations about the interior movements of the soul, about “praying through” or “being saved” were not possible unless most of the society had already been largely Christianized. People simply couldn’t grasp what you were talking about. As the author of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” put it, “In order for me to tell you how a motorcycle works, first you have to understand how a motorcycle works.” You have to be largely Christianized already to be able to fret about how your soul is doing, to want to seek assurance of salvation - or even to have an idea how that is experienced.
In Western society today, many people still live in a largely Christian milieu, whether everybody in their circle identifies or participates as a Christian or not. But increasingly, many people are beginning to fall back into a pre-Christian way of thinking. Thus, we need to be able to talk on different levels for different sorts of converts. For those who are equipped with the vocabulary and cultural background to talk our spiritual lingo, we can of course continue to differentiate between the “Almost Christian” (as Wesley called him) and the one who knows whom he belongs to and is conscious of a responsive relationship with God in Christ. But for others, we’re going to have to spell it out in simpler terms: if you render certain things (beliefs, practices) exclusively to Christ, then you are a Christian. Don’t worry too much about the things everybody else is talking about. Those are yours, too, and you may come to experience them. But your faith is sincere, and God will reward it. Don’t let anyone tell you, you’re not doing it right.
This also means that we need to say to those who have all the Feels, but who are mixing their Christianity with a whole lot of stuff that really isn’t compatible with it: you can’t do that. This is what our progressive colleagues did; they thought they could keep their relationship with Christ while widening their beliefs and practices to go along with a culture headed on another trajectory. But you cannot serve both Christ and Belial. That is the way of pre-Christian, non-Judaic religion.
Where do you draw the line? Is there just one line, “the” line? Are there not many lines? Are there not some gray areas where it’s not easy to say if your feet are in bounds or not? And some people are more sensitive to this line than that one. How do we avoid fighting over - everything? Somewhere between “Judge not, that ye be not judged” and “Know ye not, we shall judge angels?” must be the truth, but that doesn’t mean I know what it is in every case. I try to be generous in my evaluation of others; after all, I’m still working out my own salvation (with fear and trembling). I try to speak only for myself, and when I must occupy the seat of authority I do so in as limited a fashion as I can. Still, if I am reluctant to lay down the law to others, I know that there is law out there, and none of us can escape it. It is up to each of us to try to conform ourselves to the divine pattern, even as we trust in Christ to supply all our deficiencies in doing so.
It was Jews who demanded that their people abjure any dogma or practice which contravened their covenant with God. Christians followed in this mode. To be a Christian, therefore, meant - explicitly - to NOT be one of those others, to NOT share their beliefs, NOT worship their gods, NOT participate in their practices. But then how are we going to talk about this thing we say is different for different groups, even though much of it is the same (prayer, worship, taboos, encouraging morality . . .)? And so, we began to talk about religions, in the plural; but all such talk assumes a Christian (or Jewish) outlook.
In the early missionary endeavors to the rustics, then the barbarians, “conversion” meant largely STOP doing that, START doing this. Long conversations about the interior movements of the soul, about “praying through” or “being saved” were not possible unless most of the society had already been largely Christianized. People simply couldn’t grasp what you were talking about. As the author of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” put it, “In order for me to tell you how a motorcycle works, first you have to understand how a motorcycle works.” You have to be largely Christianized already to be able to fret about how your soul is doing, to want to seek assurance of salvation - or even to have an idea how that is experienced.
In Western society today, many people still live in a largely Christian milieu, whether everybody in their circle identifies or participates as a Christian or not. But increasingly, many people are beginning to fall back into a pre-Christian way of thinking. Thus, we need to be able to talk on different levels for different sorts of converts. For those who are equipped with the vocabulary and cultural background to talk our spiritual lingo, we can of course continue to differentiate between the “Almost Christian” (as Wesley called him) and the one who knows whom he belongs to and is conscious of a responsive relationship with God in Christ. But for others, we’re going to have to spell it out in simpler terms: if you render certain things (beliefs, practices) exclusively to Christ, then you are a Christian. Don’t worry too much about the things everybody else is talking about. Those are yours, too, and you may come to experience them. But your faith is sincere, and God will reward it. Don’t let anyone tell you, you’re not doing it right.
This also means that we need to say to those who have all the Feels, but who are mixing their Christianity with a whole lot of stuff that really isn’t compatible with it: you can’t do that. This is what our progressive colleagues did; they thought they could keep their relationship with Christ while widening their beliefs and practices to go along with a culture headed on another trajectory. But you cannot serve both Christ and Belial. That is the way of pre-Christian, non-Judaic religion.
Where do you draw the line? Is there just one line, “the” line? Are there not many lines? Are there not some gray areas where it’s not easy to say if your feet are in bounds or not? And some people are more sensitive to this line than that one. How do we avoid fighting over - everything? Somewhere between “Judge not, that ye be not judged” and “Know ye not, we shall judge angels?” must be the truth, but that doesn’t mean I know what it is in every case. I try to be generous in my evaluation of others; after all, I’m still working out my own salvation (with fear and trembling). I try to speak only for myself, and when I must occupy the seat of authority I do so in as limited a fashion as I can. Still, if I am reluctant to lay down the law to others, I know that there is law out there, and none of us can escape it. It is up to each of us to try to conform ourselves to the divine pattern, even as we trust in Christ to supply all our deficiencies in doing so.