When I first began to consider what I wanted to blog about regarding my birthday I thought that clarifying what I do believe would be great. I assumed that it would come really easily to me as well. I have spent the past five years actively engaged in that process and the past two years actively blogging about what I believe. However, when it came time to sit down and actually put it on paper I drew a blank. In fact, for the first couple of hours all I did was go back and forth to Facebook. I believed that this activity would be rather simple because I have identified two clear precepts of what I know hold to be the only real beliefs that I have philosophically or theologically: (1) I simply don’t put much value in belief and (2) what I do value is the relational tension that exists in the existential understanding of identity.
(1) I don’t value belief as much as I used to. The industrialized, modern theology of evangelicalism, while being something that I have regained a great appreciation for, is simply far too problematic for me to continue to hold to. There are three primary flaws with holding to absolutism. The first is that it is just wrong. It defies all logic and appreciation for the intentions of culture of ancient times. Second, it contradicts the overall message of scripture and value of spirituality. Far too often the absolutism of modern Christianity is significantly more exclusive than inclusive. Finally, despite the mercy of God and the transformed hearts of so many, it is only becoming more clear how damaging absolutism can be. In other words, while the grace of God continues to work, Christianity (as a belief-centered religion) is only becoming less valid.
(2) My faith is continually moving toward a tension centered paradigm. I likely have always been an existentialist and I have come to really value the philosophical contribution of postmodernism, but the core of what I hold to be truth is that truth can only be discovered within the tension that exists between ideas and people. This tension is not always one of contention, but one marked by struggle. Perhaps this is where one of my beliefs can be identified.
I believe that humanity is a story of people on the journey of having deep intimacy with God and others while discovering their true identity and purpose within those relationships. Because this is a journey of discovery and the Jewish people had a natural appreciation of this struggle, God was able to be most easily discovered there. Because Judaism was rooted on such solid existential realities and because God was most easily discovered within Judaism, Judaism was the most natural fit for greater revelation. Judaism was flawed and only became more so over time meaning that the message of God through Jesus was going to be a reclaiming as well as an expansion of the original story of the “people of God.” That stated, the identity of Jesus is as much of a mystery to me as the identity of God. While some will read that as a proclamation that Jesus wasn’t God or that there is no person of God, that is not so. It does mean that I am not completely sure what it means that God is a person and that Jesus is part of that relationship of the Trinity.
I believe that scripture is both the absolute word of God as well as the desperate collective attempts of people trying to understand the world around them. I believe that there is a need for the highest standards of moral perfection, but that we have absolutely no idea what that standard should be. For example, I believe that scripture is clear about homosexuality, but that no one has quite figured out what that clear message is. I believe that salvation comes solely through a personal relationship with Christ, but that I don’t know what salvation means. I believe in the deontology of religion, radical hermeneutics, and the beautiful weakness of God. I don't believe, by necessity, in hell or that we should think so much about heaven. I believe that faith and politics should never be mistaken for each other, but I also believe in social justice and reform. I believe that violence of any kind is always wrong. That includes war and abortion, but I also know that when we are faced with evil and injustice we must act. I don’t believe in such a thing as being called into the ministry, but I do believe that my destiny lies in ministry.
Additionally, I believe that the greatest things are:
• Spending the day with Shannon at Target
• Making love
• Wrestling with my kids and the sound of them belly laughing
• Coffee shops with a good book on a rainy day
• A harder than hell workout followed by a message that actually hurts
• Hiking in the mountains
• The Patty Griffin station on Pandora
• A decent chicken fried steak
• Sitting on the porch with a good friend solving the problems of the world with a good cigar and Crown and Coke
• New socks
And that is what I believe at 37.
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