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There’s an interesting conversation developing around the Internet today about what the word “Christian” means. On Salon.com, there’s an article called “Where are the normal Christians?“ A similar sentiment (“When did ‘Christian become a synonym for ‘Conservative Evangelical?‘”) is referenced at the New Republic. And in a comment thread on Facebook, I read these words from Lisa Brown. I instantly thought they deserved more attention than they would get on that particular forum. So, with Lisa’s permission (and a deep bow to Sojourner Truth), here is Lisa’s statement of poetic outrage about who gets called “Christian” today:
It gets really tedious to see the perception again and again that anyone who is a Christian is a jelly-brained amoeba.
I am Episcopalian. I believe in Darwinism and scientific theory. I believe the dinosaurs were one of the successive phases of the evolution of our world. I believe that creation as told in the bible is symbolic, reflecting the general evolution of life from primordial muck to self-aware human beings over distinct phases (those phases not being measured in days – seven days being a symbolic expression).
I am an Episcopalian because it is a very democratically governed denomination that seeks the input and approval of its laity rather than simply issuing edicts from a central authority.
I am Episcopalian because the denomination allows and accepts a diversity of belief. It’s a big umbrella under which we all fit.
I am Episcopalian because nothing I hear at church makes me feel hypocritical – I can use birth control and if divorced I would still be accepted with full grace. If I were in a homosexual relationship I would be accepted with full grace – and my partner would be welcome.
I also believe that all those truly good, spiritual and faithful people who adhere to other beliefs are eminently entitled to worship as they see fit because I believe God has many faces and that the truth of God is too big for any one of us to comprehend in it’s entirety. I believe in yoga as a spiritual practice. I believe in the holy wisdom of the Dalai Lama. I believe in the goodness and truth in Harry Potter. I believe that people who abuse children, fly planes into buildings and murder health care providers in the name of God have taken a wrong turn on their faith journey and need to turn the bus around.
And here’s the kicker: I’M NOT ALONE. There are a whole crew of thoughtful Episcopalians (and no doubt other Christian and non-Christian denominations) who are not interested in judging and faulting our neighbors, or in converting them to our particular definition of faith, but rather in making the world a better place. Help solve social injustice. Feed house and clothe the needy. Educate (not indoctrinate) and provide economic opportunity for those who have limited access to it. Preserve nature, protect the environment. All the good stuff.
If you walk in my church tomorrow, can you find some one who might be snobbish or mean or judgmental? Sure. But that’s not the doctrine we preach or who we aspire to be. And I just want to pound my head against a brick wall when I see the stereotype of a bigoted, hateful church-going hypocrite held out as the definition of a Christian. I’m not saying they don’t exist – there are plenty of people who frighteningly and sadly live up to (and probably exceed) the stereotype. But there are a lot of us who don’t.
Lisa Brown is the Director of Children’s Ministry and Communications Coordinator at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Lebanon Pennsylvania.
To her words, I add: “Amen!”
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4 Responses to Ain’t I A Christian?
Good to meet you! I’m Nurya…
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Amen. There you go. It’s worth passing around. I’ll post it on the morrow.
I feel the frustration, I do, but I also struggle with this sort of apology for Christian Faith.
The reason is that it seems in part to speak primarily to a particular ideological bent of the Left and progresivism and is therefore saying that Christianity can be progressive but this means that there seems to be standing not on the ground of faith but a particular cultural ideology.
I am becoming uncomfortable with conservative or progressive Christianity, or the Christian Left or the Christian Right. both are misguided We as Christians in America need to deeply question the narative of Christianity that is American. There are good reasons that numerous and a growing number don’t beleive us that Christianity is a thing worthy of their consideration or respect. The Episcopal Church has been among other denominations that historically have had (and still do to some degree) the power and the wealth. Lets admit at least that Christians in America have for to long created and supported the Civil Religion of American Exceptionalism, and it is about time we condemn our collaboration with a system that at best has had mixed results, that American Christianity is too bound up in the long string of injustices of the American people and their Government. The situation did not begin, nor was it invented by the Religious Right. If you don’t believe me read Marin E. Marty’s Righteous Empire. Which I think should be required reading for all Christians in the U.s.
We need to find a way to articulate on Christian grounds who we are not on the ground of other ideological positions and theories of human nature. Right left or center.
Larry,
Thanks for commenting and especially for such a thoughtful comment. I didn’t read Lisa’s words as a apology for Christian faith as much as I read them as a statement of frustration that the popular understanding of Christianity too often does not encompass the entire breadth of the Christian spectrum. Your discomfort with Christianity with qualifiers (“progressive” or “conservative” etc.) is one that I also feel. There is no doubt in my mind that Christians in this country have created and supported the civil religion of American exceptionalism, and there is equally no doubt that this is not our calling as disciples of Christ.
Again, thanks for your words.
Larry, I too thank you for your insightful response. Nurya’s is correct that my statement wasn’t about right or left but a response of frustration at what I perceive as incorrect assumptions about me and many of the self-professed Christians I know. That being said, most denominations individually and Christianity in America as a whole (I hate to say American Chrisianity because there is such a spectrum that I find the extreme edges almost completely incompatible) have shared some of the responsibility and complicity in perpetuating some of society’s ills. But I would still argue and hold out that many of those who bravely step forth and demanded social justice or change are motivated by their Christian faith.
Look, no one individual or one denomination is perfect nor created the complex web of social/global inequity in which we live. But, maybe I’m naive, but I resoundingly believe that many of us – even if we unwittingly or knowingly helped create the mess – are committed and called to try to untangle the knot. And I still do prefer to be defined proactively by what we are trying to do and who we are rather than what we are not. Jusst yesterday I considered a reading that included the many names of God. I think of Him saying ‘I AM’ rather than I am not. Yes, personally I (and we as a Church) need to consider what we are not in order to right past and present wrongs, and ever move toward a better place. But I’d still rather focus on the positive of what I am and what the Church is than the negative.
I certainly will take into consideration your reading recommendations – this little exchange of ideas is all part of a larger and critical conversation we all need to be having.