I sometimes dwell on who I believe myself to be. The current question: Am I first and foremost a Christian or am I first and foremost a man?
I've begun to think that who I am primarily is a man, and that being a Christian is secondary, in a categorial way. My Christianity informs my humanity, not the other way around.
I've got a heck of a lot in common with my fellow man, and I want to keep it that way.
It may not make much sense, but of late, I've begun to feel a tremendous desire for fraternity with those in the world around me, for living life unfiltered, as a fellow traveler in this crazy world, though a traveler who happens to be a believer in Jesus Christ.
For some reason, I find tremendous relief in this.
I'm just a man, not someone who has the answers for the rest of the world.
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Very interesting question, Dan. A couple thoughts come to mind in reading it.
One is, Saint Irenaeus said the glory of God is a human being fully alive.
The other is, weren't we created as human beings (something God considered to be very good)? And didn't He design us to be in relationship with Him & His creation including fraternity with other humans, fully participating in life (i.e. fully alive)?
And didn't God send His son to redeem that which had been lost or broken through sin (Adam's and my own) i.e. that aliveness, that relationship with Him & that connectedness with others?
If so, isn't Christianity really about restoring us to our full God-intended humanity, that which we were specifically created to be?
Not that that means a Christian or a human being fully alive will have all the answers, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect it to make him a more relateable fellow traveler, one who should look to love his neighbor more at least.
So, I guess, I come down on the side of being first and foremost a human, a man. And, thanks to God's sacrifice on our behalf, I have the opportunity to become increasingly, a man.
On the other hand, if Christ is the Word, from which humanity was spoken into existence and we are all made in God's image, then do we not have some imprint of Christ in our knitting, making something of our very essence "Christian"?
The fall, of course, divorces us from this intention and Christ redeems us to it.
So, maybe it's Christian first, after all.
In the final analysis, this might be a chicken or egg conundrum.
As I think about this some more, I suppose a better way to put it is that I'm a man first, and a believer second. The "man" aspect is a fundamental fact of who I am, while the "believer" side of things is a choice that impacts who I am as a man.
I guess where I'm coming from is that I want to fully engage myself in the world around me, and by that I mean my fellow man. Not in some sense of doing this as a believer, but rather because I'm a man, just like them, and this is first and foremost who I am. I toil by the sweat of my brow just like the next guy, and I sure like a nice cold beer at the end of the day, just like the next guy. There's a camaraderie of "being in this together" that I think I missed in my youth, with a distorted sense of what it meant to be "Christian."
What it boils down to of late for me is that I don't want to be friends with anyone simply because I'm a believer and they're not. The missional focus of a lot of Christianity is something I can't wrap my head around anymore. People are the most interesting part of living, and I want to fully engage with them, as a fellow traveler, without any distortion that can come from a bizarre interpretation of what it means to be "in the world and not of it."
Last night, at our season ending party, I shared a cigar and some great Scotch with the guy who retired, along with a few other friends. It was a celebration, a party, a wonderful part of living on this earth. We laughed, told jokes, ran to find shelter because of a downpouring rain, with a beer and lit cigar in hand, living in the joy of what it means to be human and to share moments of our lives with others around us.
Why does this matter to me? I guess at this point in my life, as I find myself returning to church, I struggle constantly with what it means to be back in church, and what it means to be a Christian.
There are knee jerk reactions I find myself having now that I'm back in church, a result of what I think was a distorted view from years ago. Having been away, and now coming back, I realize that some of those ruts of old thinking are easy to fall back into.
Relating with the world as a "Christian" is not something I want to do, and I mean that with everything I am. I don't like the label Christian, honestly, because I think it's been distorted so badly over the years, and so many bad things have been done in the name of being a Christian.
We heard a quote of Gandhi today in church. This is what he said:
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
That fits in exactly with what I've been thinking of late.
I want to be friends with those around me, because I'm a man like them. I want my friendships with them to be genuine, and deeply felt. I want some of my closest friendships to be with non-believers, just because they happen to be men and women that I get along with and love dearly.
I believe that being a believer will allow me to love them more fully, and more completely, but it is not the reason for my love.
Of late, my feeling is that I'm glad to be a sojourner with the people around me, because we're all men, trying to make sense of the world around us. I like the feeling that "we're in this together," as fellow men, without the distinction of Christian and non-Christian.
I don't want to view my world as my mission either, though that hopefully will be an outcropping. I don't want to view my colleagues as trophies for Christendom, though I do desire immensely that they find freedom through Christ. But I only think that will happen if they answer the call of Christ, and as far as my possible role in that, I believe the only way I can impact them is by loving them. But my motivation is I will love them because I genuinely love them as fellow travelers. Hopefully the love of Christ can shine through, but I'm not going to do anything with my friends conspiratorially to try to show them the love of Christ, or by inviting them to church, in the hopes that they'll be saved because of hearing a sermon preached by the man in front.
I want to work, to play, to share meals and drinks, to laugh, joke, and live with my fellow man, because they are fellow travelers with me. And if God is doing some work in me, hopefully the love of Christ will shine through, in the context of a deeply felt relationship, which has nothing to do with bringing them to the love of Christ, but rather is there because of the fact that I love them.
I don't believe that's how I viewed the world ten years or so ago.
Hmm...I'm thinking right now of that passage, "They'll know you are Christians by your love."
Maybe our generation's job in part is to redeem the term Christian.
I'm just going to babble here because I agree with both you and Paul. So forgive the circuitous rush of text.
The term "Christian" has been badly abused, and I believe you're right - it is always our job to be redeeming it.
Dan, if you haven't seen it, you might want to check out the movie The Big Kahuna. There's a big speech at the end from Danny DeVito to "the Christian" in the movie that says exactly what you're saying.
Being Christian is being fully human - as Paul said. Perhaps it is less an either-or than a both-and situation. But that doesn't mean we carry around a wallet full of tracts and only hang with the sanctified. (We're all similarly baggaged.) I think what you're saying here in your comment is what Christ was about. He loved people. Genuinely. Sincerely. And he kept loving them even when they walked away from him (cf Rich Young Ruler).
God became man that men by His grace might become God, says Athanasius. He unites Himself to us that we might be united to Him, that we might share in His life (though not His being - we don't actually become God).
His purpose was to love, and to call us to love with Him - completely free of any interior motivation (Not "Well, if I love them, then they'll want to follow me ..."). Of course, love is redemptive. The love of Christ changes people. But that's not why we love. But that love does become the very kerygma over which so many spend their lives guilt-ridden because they have not won their quota of sinners to Christ.
Attributed to St Francis (btw, Paul, love your Irenaeus quote : )) is the following over-used quote - but nails it:
"Preach the gospel always. If necessary, use words."
That line sticks in the craw of some - but the work (not the words) of Mother Teresa are far more attractive than anything I've ever heard from a pulpit. (Not saying there's not a time to speak ...)
Anyway, I'm avoiding work. Later, y'all.
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