The Church - for better or worse...

The church cops an awful lot of criticism and too often it comes from those on the inside. We have certain ideas of what the church should be and become disappointed when it doesn't measure up. Check out 'Is the Church That Bad' for a great discussion of why some of our expectations of what the church could/should be are misplaced, and why we should therefore be constructive and not just criticise.

Room to Breathe

Recently I have been involved in a conversation about conflicting theologies within Christianity. The issue that began the debate was around eschatology (end times), but what I want to concentrate on is not who was right, but the observation of the tendency of some to put others down for standing up for a view that was different from their own. Now I don't mind a good debate, but I'm kidding myself if I think we will end the debate with everyone agreeing with me, so maybe I need to cut them some slack? Such absolute statements were made as, "There is no biblical basis for that view!" which was followed by name calling of those associated with a certain stance. How can we be so arrogant that we cannot see that the views of other Christians are often simply from a different understanding of the text...and while I'm not saying we can interpret any passage as we like, we can at least honour the fact that those who have studied the Bible and come up with other views are good people wrestling with an all-of-life faith, just as we are. Maybe post-modernity can help us move from our arrogant position that we can know everything, to recapture the mystery of God and allow for some room to breathe when others hold varying views as we all wrestle to understand the glimpses of truth we are shown. I would not go anywhere near the other end of the spectrum and claim that all truth is unknowable, and there are certainly some things that I believe lie at the heart of what it means to be Christian, such as the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus, but for many other areas of our faith, let any claim to know truth come with the humility that our understanding is limited ('I know in part, but then I will know fully' - 1 Cor 13:12), and let us bring our views to the table in love. Afterall, Truth is best understood in a person (Jn 14:6)...and this Truth is also Love!