i have been reflecting on the current trend in christian churches which seems to revolve around control and therefore by default 'power'. 'if we believe enough, god will do it'. my concern is that this presumes we know what is best for us and says to god you are now a fairy granting wishes.
the second concern is hearing people i know sharing wedding vows with language that enables the man and disables the woman. submission willing or not is a handing over of power and i wonder if the men making these vows are as gracious to god as their future wives are expected to be to them.
the third is the aligning of church and state and the craving for christians to impose their belief systems and morality on all.
my understanding of faith comes not from works and answered prayers but something much more subtle, difficult and confronting - relationship. works do not get us into heaven and yet i do things i hope are pleasing to god because of my love and the creators for me.
i submit to god's will and often my wifes as i trust they will often know, better than i, what is good for me. i have learnt to be very careful about what i pray for.
i choose not to impose my beliefs and morality on anyone but i will share with you why i choose to live the way i live and why that is been helpful or harmful for me. as a result people may feel i have been imposing but i hope that this is not generally the case.
i am concerned that the christian church is striving for very simplistic relationships that remove conflict and impose commonality. i am concerned because my faith is an expression of my relationship with god. as a by product that is influenced by those around me. i learn more of god with every conversation, action and reflection. when i was very young god was huge, ginormous unimaginable, though for some strange reason he had a beard - thanks Zeus!? wheni was in my late teens god had shrunk as had church with everything quantifiable. then god spoke... then god spoke... then god spoke again... then finally i listened. the great i am became big incomprehensible and a subject of my awe once again. i remember very clearly at this time being given a passage, a first and last time it has ever happened, john 16:12
I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. my barefoot walk of faith has not been a simplistic journey and i believe it has been the richer for it. i have learnt to listen and the creator has chosen to speak in a huge variety of ways. all of which have dragged me out of my comfort zones without it being more than i could handle.
the second concern is hearing people i know sharing wedding vows with language that enables the man and disables the woman. submission willing or not is a handing over of power and i wonder if the men making these vows are as gracious to god as their future wives are expected to be to them.
the third is the aligning of church and state and the craving for christians to impose their belief systems and morality on all.
my understanding of faith comes not from works and answered prayers but something much more subtle, difficult and confronting - relationship. works do not get us into heaven and yet i do things i hope are pleasing to god because of my love and the creators for me.
i submit to god's will and often my wifes as i trust they will often know, better than i, what is good for me. i have learnt to be very careful about what i pray for.
i choose not to impose my beliefs and morality on anyone but i will share with you why i choose to live the way i live and why that is been helpful or harmful for me. as a result people may feel i have been imposing but i hope that this is not generally the case.
i am concerned that the christian church is striving for very simplistic relationships that remove conflict and impose commonality. i am concerned because my faith is an expression of my relationship with god. as a by product that is influenced by those around me. i learn more of god with every conversation, action and reflection. when i was very young god was huge, ginormous unimaginable, though for some strange reason he had a beard - thanks Zeus!? wheni was in my late teens god had shrunk as had church with everything quantifiable. then god spoke... then god spoke... then god spoke again... then finally i listened. the great i am became big incomprehensible and a subject of my awe once again. i remember very clearly at this time being given a passage, a first and last time it has ever happened, john 16:12
I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. my barefoot walk of faith has not been a simplistic journey and i believe it has been the richer for it. i have learnt to listen and the creator has chosen to speak in a huge variety of ways. all of which have dragged me out of my comfort zones without it being more than i could handle.
i 'act and do', not because i must but because i choose to. god is not controlling me rather inviting me to respond. it just so happens my realationship with god sees me responding in a variety of positive 'christian like' ways. i believe heaven awaits me and have enough faith to be challenged and questioned, with a willingness to move when i feel appropriate.
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of that which we cannot see. hebrews 11:1
faith, which for me means christianity, cannot in my view be about control but something opposite, not out of control, but a willing submission and response to relationship. relationships rarely flourish when controlled and manipulated.
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of that which we cannot see. hebrews 11:1
faith, which for me means christianity, cannot in my view be about control but something opposite, not out of control, but a willing submission and response to relationship. relationships rarely flourish when controlled and manipulated.
so i wonder...
- can you be a Christian if you have all the answers.
- how many time Jesus found himself lacking the answers and reliant on faith.
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