When I was thinking about this post I initially thought I could list what being a Christian isn't, but that seemed very negative, and God isn't into negatives. So instead, I'm saying what, for me, being a christian is.
Very little is black and white in my faith. Three things, I think, are:
Jesus died for me;
Jesus is the son of God;
God is.
I suppose I could add that I believe God is the creator of all things, that Jesus rose from the dead, and that he was born of a virgin. And I guess, if I thought about it, I could go on and list lots of other things that I believe, but the important words, the ones that sum up my faith, are in those first three phrases. God. Jesus. Me.
Because Jesus died for me, I am able to have a relationship with God. A personal, living relationship. And it's nothing to do with me and what I've done or haven't done in my life. And it's nothing to do with anyone else either. It was instigated by God. All I have to do is choose to accept and believe.
And that conscious decision-making, to turn away from self and to God, is an act of faith.
And a lot of faith is just about holding on. Oftentimes in spite of, not because of. Holding on in spite of the arguments, the logic, the unbelief; holding on in spite of the pain, the doubt, the seeming absence of God.
Is it worth it? Yes. Not for the promise of what is to come but for what is now. Unconditional love. Grace. Forgiveness.
Sometimes the hardest thing is to accept a gift. It's much easier to accept a reward if you've done something to deserve it. But there's nothing I have to do: Jesus has done it all.
10 comments:
Whoopsy, posted it twice!! I am pleased to see that you have offered a personal, Christian view of your faith. It's pretty simple for me, too - salvation is through God, for no payment other than faith. For that simple truth I am grateful. However, it's difficult to define a 'Christian' in a general way, because I wouldn't classify all Christians as having precisely the same beliefs (that's like saying that all Welsh people eat laverbread, or all Muslims are radicals). I think we all arrive at a faith of our own shaping.
AFAIK, 'Virgin' is a mistranslation made several centuries ago and carried forth since. The original Greek reads 'young woman'.
Just my 2c; YMMV.
Liz, that's it, in a nutshell. I read a couple of books that have led me to adopt this very simple belief system, The Robe, The Zen Teachings of Christ, and Ishmael were some of them. I hesitate to even call myself Christian b/c of the centuries of corruption. But I do believe that having the faith of a child (obviously with the actions and decisions of adults) will clarify much and give peace. Thanks Liz, I loved your simple sentence in Crushed's blog, too.
I think for my, faith is the belief that ultimately, humanity will win and will win through unconditional love.
What Christ preached was the simplest, yet most pertinent truth the world has seen.
Thats what I have faith in.
Nothing to disagree with there for me. The rest is almost superfluous. Maybe I might say God is love.
Stu, I just re-read this and had to go back to your email to remind myself what YMMV meant. I am not up with these new-fangled things.
Helen, thanks.
cbi, Christ was a wonderful teacher but he is the truth.
jmb, yes, God is love. And what love.
Inresting that Crushed came in here and completely failed to miss the point of what Christian faith is and just started talking about his version of it. There is no version. What He said is what He said. We just come to terms with it in different ways but have no authority to extend or alter what He said.
Wow, Liz! You have said it all so perfectly.
Lovely post. Like the part about "holding on".
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