“Heretic: A dissenter from established religious dogma.” — Merriam-Webster
This blog is not about flashy photos and witty one liners. It’s for anyone who is questioning their beliefs, feels like things are not lining up, or even non-christians who “don’t think they can believe in all of the stuff Christians do.” Know that you are not alone. Also, in hopes of being concise, I can’t possibly explain every theological reference in here, but everything is a quick Google search away from a solid article.
A heretic is simply a non conformer, freethinker. I disagree with plenty of experiences on the World Race. I am a high harmony guy and I finally got to a place through a series of events that made me realize I need to face my disagreements. I also want to do this with respect, trying to model what it looks like to have healthy disagreements.
Let me put this into context — theologically, I’m fairly liberal, not to the extent of saying Jesus was just a philosopher (while I am a big advocate of studying the historical Jesus, I don’t necessarily get pumped about the Jesus Seminar), but enough to be a heretic in some circles. I can’t help but question things and seek out the truth. For example, the theological implications and validity of the doctrine of original sin or atonement theories of first century Christians wouldn’t keep most people up at night. I stayed up to 3 am last week reading “A Better Atonement” by Tony Jones.
Most open-minded conservatives draw a line that looks like this, “If it’s not a salvation issue, then it’s not that big of a deal.”
I’m not a fan. This is setting up for logical fallacies, and a false pretense of open-mindedness.
What if I want to question salvation? What if I want to look at Rob Bell’s Love Wins and realize that I don’t believe in “hell” in an eschatological sense? That would cause huge salvation issues for many Christians. Conversely, it would open the door to love people unconditionally. It would allow me to not worry about how many souls have we saved today, and instead show people the unconditional love and grace that I receive from God.
At this point, some people may get freaked out about such wild blasphemy. I will remind you, that many of the thoughts, beliefs, and interpretations of scripture taught in many churches stem from doctrine created hundreds of years after Jesus’ death. I believe it’s our responsibility to know where our beliefs come from (did you know “Original Sin” is not technically biblical? Augustine used scripture to support the idea, and it became Christian through doctrine, but that was around 400 CE).
Full disclosure: I haven’t read “Love Wins”, but Rob Bell is definitely on my list of theologians to interrogate.
I use to say “I don’t feel like I should love people with the intention of changing them, or with an agenda.” Yesterday my friend pointed out that true, radical love should change people. I now think I love people hoping that they will change for the better — but what if that means they grow better in their own religion? Change should come from an encounter with radical love, but the results and desires of an infinite being(God) shouldn’t look like something that our puny brains can comprehend with a black and white formula. (e.g. Heathen + Jesus Prayer = 1 saved soul)
I will be the first to admit ambivalence around some pivotal theological issues, but that’s less scary to me than not questioning this stuff at all. People dedicate their entire lives to pursuing these questions, I don’t expect to have the answers after 3 years.
To clarify, I don’t oppose Adventures in Missions or the World Race. I feel the contrary — a deep respect and appreciation. They are very open-minded and accepting of differing views. There are some people even more liberal in beliefs than myself on staff! And with that, a lot of the undertones, ministries, and beliefs definitely align with mainstream modern evangelical church. Those are the beliefs I question and might disagree with.
Some people think we should pray for Muslims to accept Jesus and that’s a way to love them, I think I would just take them out to coffee and it would have nothing to do with them being Muslim.
The agenda of changing someone for the better with love is a noble cause, but I wish more people would cautiously look at their understanding of “better”. If the story of Genesis shows our human condition, then it is when we eat from the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” and start to judge what is good and evil on our own accord, that we can no longer experience the “tree of life.”
Two years from now, I may be preaching and evangelizing on a street corner in South Africa. I highly doubt it, but that’s the whole point — I’m questioning things and I don’t know where I will end up. I want to give it all a fair chance.
What have you not questioned? Some status quo’s are developed from a root of fear, not love. Is there any status quo in your life that may cause more harm than good? Do you have the courage to question those things?
Be open in spirit and mind,
Mike
If Jesus had a “Follow Me” button, I would tell you to click it. But he doesn’t, so you should click mine on the side menu.
