I am a Christian. I respect other traditions, and have benefited from their wisdom, but my jersey says “Team Jesus.”
I truly believe that if I asked Saint Paul for a reference letter it would say something along the lines of, “Jim has some rough edges and a few things he needs to work on, but he is definitely one of us.” And, as Paul said, I wish for everyone to have a walk similar to mine. One marked by fellowship with Christ and love for others.
That said, I should confess that I have been looking for other ways to describe myself without using the word “Christian.” President Trump says “Religion is back” and Christianity is strong, but I’m not so sure. I am sure that he and I use those words to describe different things.
I believe that Christianity, patriotism, and his administration’s agenda are three separate things. He seems to think the words are interchangeable.
Along with mine and the president’s differences, too many of my Christian siblings have attached things to their walk that have nothing to do with authentic Christianity. Things like, who you vote for, who you need to be afraid of, and a good bit of “My beliefs beat your beliefs.” (Read, “I’m sorry but, you other guys are going to Hell.”)
So, since those folks seem to be holding the podium right now, and I find it awkward to immediately go into what I’m not when I say I’m Christian, I’m looking for another word or two to use. Maybe you can help. Here’s my rambling list of things I believe, and things I am trying to do and be.
I believe there is a universal and perennial wisdom, a Logos to use John’s word, that was taught and lived out by Jesus of Nazareth, but it is not contained by him. I believe one good name for this is Christ. Sacred is another good word, and really good one is Love, but words fall short for what I am talking about.
I believe that when we are awakened to our connection to Christ, we see that we are all connected, all One, and we love our neighbor as our self (not like we love our self, but as our self, part of us)
I believe everything and all things are loved and sacred. Nothing is simply a commodity to be used selfishly. So, I seek to see and listen to all people and things as clearly as I can. This is one way I seek the truth that makes us free.
I believe that practices consistent to these beliefs are: prayer, acts of mercy, promoting justice, graciousness, generosity, respect, kindness, and forgiveness.
There’s more, but for now, I’ll close by saying it’s a way of life, a commitment, and a hope to be transformed into Love’s likeness.
I believe that is a Christian list. What may bother some folks though is that it’s not an exclusively Christian list. Others could say that they believe those things. Friends, that in itself is part of what makes it Christian. Jesus wasn’t exclusive.
So, help me out. What’s a good word or words to use to describe this walk? And no, I won’t accept “Heretic.”
I guess for the foreseeable future, I’ll call myself “Christian,” and see if folks want to talk about what I mean by that.
The Forest Dweller 
Hello Reverend Jim,
This is Elijah Butler, you baptized me when I was a newborn, and I grew up in the loving church environment at Hibben that you cultivated over your years there before I was born and while I was too young to remember much of you. But I do remember my lessons every Sunday in Sunday School, and in Mrs.Cathy’s preschool class. I remember why I choose to be kind, why I desire to help others, why I see no point in putting a label on myself.
After Mrs.Cathy left Hibben, I never found myself wanting to go back. At a young age I couldn’t articulate to my parents why Church put me on edge, even though I loved learning about Jesus. I went very rarely after that if ever, but I thought about Jesus every single day. Being able to vote in the last election and paying attention to the cruel things this administration was openly telling people they had planned while using Christianity as their shield made me incredibly sad. Some of the worst people I know now have Bible verses in their bios on social media. In fact, I have unfortunately come to my own sad conclusion that I would steer clear of these people under the assumption that like everything else on Instagram, the Bible verse is just for show.
One of my earliest memories is a hard battle with conceptualizing death. I was laying in my bed and I felt an overwhelming darkness surrounding me. I was terrified. I cried to my mom every night for months because that darkness would surround me every night. I was terrified of dying, or losing family, because I was too young to know why they had to eventually go. Over the last several years, I have had good and bad times, but I came out on top. I no longer fear death, or get surrounded by darkness, because like you I believe that Jesus could have simply been a man who’s love was so overwhelming, a man that was so kind, caring, forgiving, and UNDERSTANDING (!!), that people spread his word as soon as they heard it. I know now that Life would be meaningless without Death. Because the Sun would be meaningless if you never knew the rain. The happiness would be meaningless if you never felt just as sad. Death is absolutely not the end.
There are so many things that you can not properly appreciate without having to know how good you once had it. Rather than fearing death, I think all the time now about what might be in store for me. And I am okay with the fact that if that overwhelming darkness happens to be what death is truly like, I will have made the best of every day.
This is the first blog post of yours I have ever seen, but I will likely go back through them in my free time. Thank you for sharing, Reverend Jim. If you ever want to brainstorm what we should call ourselves now that Christian doesn’t seem to quite come off how we want, I would be happy to.
Elijah (EJ) Butler
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Wow EJ, a lot of life experience, thought, and wisdom packed into a comment on a blog post. Sounds like little Elijah has grown into a pretty deep man.
First of all, thanks for reading.
Secondly, I agree with everything you said. Wrestling with mortality, the gift of hard times helping us see our blessings, and the disappointment of seeing scripture used as a weapon.
Again, thanks for reading, and I may just take you up on that brainstorming offer, if for no other reason just to get to know grown up Elijah (EJ)
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