Some years ago I set out to write a “brief” statement of my faith that I would share with my children. At that time they were adults in their 30’s and who, probably, had a fairly well-formed idea of “religion”, faith and all that “stuff”.
Over the years I have resolved to have conversations with them about faith and what I believe, but the time has never seemed right. Over those years I flirted with that topic, have implied some, have lived out some, but never really gotten into it. Maybe I was a little fearful, wanting to “say it right” but concerned that it might come out incomplete, or incoherent, or sounding like I’m proselytizing!
That “brief” statement became a 2,400 word, disjointed document that I chose not to share, parts or all of it, with anyone, until now. So, with some apprehension, I will ferret out parts of my overly long statement of faith.
In the absence of a cogent and well-thought-through title, “Here I Stand”, while a bit hypocritical, (and I do apologize to Martin Luther) does sum up what I wanted to convey about what I believe and where I come out as I consider some of the issues we face today, issues that will be with us for a long time.
So, where do I start? First, I must tell you that I am an “evangelical” Christian, in the broadest sense of that word. The word is a tough one because it has been so misused and distorted in the media and in society in general. Webster’s Collegiate New World Dictionary defines an evangelical as: “(living) according to the Gospels or the teaching of the New Testament,” and “faith through belief in Christ.” That sums up pretty well who I try to be, and often fail time after time.
I am a “sinner” (another misunderstood word), in thought, word and deed. But on the other hand, I am a “saint” (here is another one), in the “true sense” of the word. Martin Luther tells me that the test of a true saint is one who is baptized, dedicated, confirmed, and believes that Christ is savior and one who consciously tries to live out that belief. Luther would tell me that belief in Christ is all I need. Therefore, my role is to try to imitate Christ as best I can, failures not withstanding.
Christ as God. Tough concept. Jesus is God incarnate. Incarnate is a strange, old-fashioned, and often misunderstood, word. In my vocabulary it simply means that God became a man in every respect in order to understand more fully the life of humans. He came in that form to show, by word and example, what God would have us do and how he wishes us to relate to one another. In short, Jesus the Christ is God!
I may come back to this theme later, but that’s my starting point, except for this: I am convinced that there is much in the Bible that is sometimes difficult to process and too many teachers and preachers have made it difficult for new believers to fully grasp. At the core of my belief is one simple and singular event that makes a Christian – belief that Jesus is God incarnate, he became human, was executed, dead and buried, and returned to life — the Resurrection! There is proof of this based on reliable witness testimony. Everything else (parting of the Red Sea, Jonah and the whale, Daniel in the lion’s den, etc, etc.) is God-inspired story– stories that teach, stories that instruct, stories that have changed the world, stories that may actually be of historic fact. Those stories do not change my basic belief, they enhance it and they give it meaning.
Maybe you have struggled with this topic of faith, maybe you can glean something out of my ramblings. I hope so. I believe in scattering seeds, and I shall return, sometime. May God bless our journeys.
For What It’s Worth.
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