Deeply De-Christian

I was tagged by someone who Jamie Redknapp might call a top, top Irish theo-blogger -- Zoomtard -- on a blogging meme which posed the following task:

List 5 doctrines that are taught within the Christian church that you believe to be deeply de-Christian.

I most likely haven’t followed all of the rules, but here is my humble interpretation and response to the challenge:

1. The Holy Spirit is taught about mainly in silences, which is deeply de-Christian. As God’s empowering presence in our world he (or she, perhaps?) is ignored to our shame. Luke (author of roughly a quarter of our New Testament) had much to say about the Holy Spirit, the beloved disciple John had much to say about the Holy Spirit, Paul had much to say about the Holy Spirit, and that most ignored Christian teacher, Jesus, had much to say about the Holy Spirit. Why don’t we?

2. The idea of “once saved always saved”. Were it so, the NT surely wouldn’t have as much to say about persevering, enduring, and remaining faithful to the end as it so clearly does, nor would it talk of being cut off from the vine or being blotted out of the Book of Life.

3. The notion of a Platonic salvation, where the chief end of man is to be a disembodied soul floating on the clouds of eternal bliss. Christians should not be in the business of abandoning a sinking ship (and calling others to do likewise), but rather aiding, through the power of the Spirit, in the renewal of what was once called “very good” by someone who knew what he was talking about.

4. The doctrine that God accepts us as we are. Before you form a village posse intent on lynching me, consider this passage, quoted from the Book of Proverbs in the epistles of Peter and James - “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. Did Jesus die for the proud? Absolutely. But the grace born out of that sacrifice flows to those who are humble enough to receive it. How humble? Humble enough to know we need it, I suggest. How often do our Sunday services bid us to humble ourselves before we worship God in song and in the proclamation of his word? Sometimes I think we’ve created for ourselves an unholy god who is far removed from the One experienced as being so majestic and awesome by our ancestors in the faith.

5. I think the word “faith” has been, for all intents and purposes, butchered. Do we really have any idea what it means anymore? Judging by the way it is predominantly taught, you could be forgiven for thinking it has to do with mere mental assent. “Faith in Jesus” becomes the equivalent of getting 100 per cent in a Christology 101 multiple choice exam. Or else it is talked about as being a once off decision, as opposed to a way of life. We are called not to think by faith, but to live by faith. Perhaps if we let that sink into our hearts we will begin to understand the interrelationship between faith and good deeds in fresh ways, because here is one place where I think the church’s doctrine has failed miserably.

Here’s the tricky part: tagging 5 people who will want to keep the ball rolling.

I’ll go for Paul Clarke, Ellisha King, Luke Johnson, Elaine Wilbur (whose post can be displayed here if she feels it’s too irrelevant for her own blog, which I think it just might be) and Dr Arden Autry (who doesn’t yet have a blog, but whose depth of insight demands that he should).