What's the Least I Can Believe?

Barb has suggested that we might consider for our next book-study text, “What’s the Least You Can Believe and Still Be A Christian?” by Martin Thielen.

This Sunday, Jan. 30, let’s meet at 9:30 or 9:45 (depending on whether the musicians are rehearsing with a new keyboard!) to talk about whether you’d like me to order copies of the book.

A good discussion starter might be, “What do you have trouble believing?”

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Here’s what Barb found on the Internet:

When I first met Danny, he said, "Preacher, you need to know that I'm an atheist. I don't believe the Bible. I don't like organized religion. And I can't stand self-righteous, judgmental Christians."

I liked him right away!

In spite of Danny's avowed atheism and my devout Christian beliefs, we became close friends. Over the next year Danny and I engaged in numerous conversations about faith. During that time Danny softened his stance on atheism. One day he announced with a laugh, "I've decided to upgrade from an atheist to an agnostic." Several months later Danny said, "I've had an epiphany. I realize that I don't reject Christianity. Instead, I reject the way that intolerant Christians package Christianity." A few weeks after that conversation, Danny said, "Martin, you've just about convinced me on this religion stuff. So I want to know--what's the least I can believe and still be a Christian?"

"What's the least I can believe and still be a Christian?" What a great question! Danny's provocative question prompted me to write a new book, using his question as the title. Part one of the book presents 10 things Christians don't need to believe. In short, Christians don't need to believe in closed-minded faith. For example, Christians don't need to believe that:

• God causes cancer, car wrecks and other catastrophes
• Good Christians don't doubt
• True Christians can't believe in evolution
• Woman can't be preachers and must submit to men
• God cares about saving souls but not saving trees
• Bad people will be "left behind" and then fry in hell
• Jews won't make it to heaven
• Everything in the Bible should be taken literally
• God loves straight people but not gay people
• It's OK for Christians to be judgmental and obnoxious

On the other hand, there are things Christians do need to believe, which is the focus of part two of my book. They need to believe in Jesus -- his life, teachings, example, death and resurrection. A great benefit of these beliefs is that they provide promising answers to life's most profound questions including:
• Who is Jesus?
• What matters most?
• Am I accepted?
• Where is God?
• What brings fulfillment?
• What about suffering?
• Is there hope?
• Is the church still relevant?
• Who is the Holy Spirit?
• What is God's dream for the world?

Like Danny, many people in the 21st century hunger for an open-minded expression of Christian faith. That's especially true for young people. For example, in a recent episode of the popular television show Glee, several high school students explain why they are turned off by religion. From their perspective, the church is down on gays, women and science. When you add to that the arrogant and judgmental attitudes found in many religious-right churches, it's easy to see why people are repelled by religion. If the only faith options are fundamentalism or no religion, many people will opt for no religion. Thankfully, a better alternative exists -- vibrant, open-minded, grace-filled, gender-equal, life-giving, centrist, moderate/mainline faith. Promoting that kind of faith is my greatest passion in ministry. For example, I received the following e-mail a few weeks ago from a woman named Shelly:

...I was raised in a religious-right fundamentalist church. Suffice it to say that my experiences were such that by the time I finished college, I was totally estranged from religion. Twenty years later, I realized that I was neglecting an important part of my life, and I began searching for a church home. I attended a few churches and was so discouraged. I wondered whether it was possible to find a church where my children would not hear hate and intolerance preached. Then one day my family and I visited your congregation, and were filled with joy to find a church that embraces grace instead of judgment. So here we are, a year later, and I actually look forward to Sunday services each week. I feel God's presence in my life for the first time in many years, and I want to thank you for your part in this process...

In a nutshell, that e-mail explains why I wrote What's the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian? I want people like Shelly to know that a viable alternative exists to arrogant, judgmental, closed-minded religion. I also wrote the book for moderate and mainline churches. We in the moderate/mainline tradition have a compelling faith story to tell. However, we need practical resources to better share that story. So I devised a seven-week congregational initiative based on the book that moderate and mainline churches can use to better tell their story.

O Holy Night

All are welcome at our Christmas Eve candlelight service of scriptures, carols and communion, 6 p.m. at the church.

To those who cannot be here, we pray you receive Christmas blessings wherever you are!

Book study on hold

Because so many people are traveling and there's so much else going on, the book-study group will not meet on Dec. 19, Dec. 26 or Jan. 2. We'll resume on Jan. 9 and will talk about what comes after "A Geography of God," because there are only two chapters left.

If you're a musician (and ESPECIALLY if you love to sing but mistakenly think you aren't 'good enough'), talk to Karyn Reid about upcoming practices.

Don't forget the children's program on Sunday at 5 p.m. Barb will be reading "The Night Before Christmas," Suzy will be reading the story of Christ's birth, and we'll probably sing some fun songs.

Geography of God, Ch. 18

Lindvall says that the Christian identity is "child of God," yet we often identify ourselves with our jobs, with our illnesses, with our possessions, etc. How is that harmful to us?

The idea that poverty is ennobling may have come in part from Jesus' requirement that the rich young ruler rid himself of possessions to inherit eternal life, and from his statement that we cannot serve both God and money. Do we believe that all possessions are an obstacle to salvation? If so ... then what? And if not, why not?

How can we learn to use our possessions for God's purposes rather than letting them be impediments in our relationship with God?

Being defined by what we do is not inherently bad, but it's telling that "what we do" often means "how we make money." How else could that definition work?

How does Sabbath-keeping help us to keep our lives in balance?

What else struck you about this chapter?

'The endurance of rural congregations'

RCC members and friends may be interested in this blog post about a small church similar to ours. (Click on the underlined text.)

Caroling!

Don't forget caroling next Sunday evening, Dec. 12. Meet at 7 p.m. at the church, and bring everyone who likes to sing Christmas carols. Dress warmly! Afterward, we'll go back to the church for coffee or cocoa and cookies.

If you can't come, but know of someone who would like a visit from the carolers, please let Suzy know.

Geography of God, Ch. 17

Lindvall's metaphor of deserts in which wild animals lurk may not be quite so apt for those of us who are comfortable in deserts and mountains as for those who live their entire lives in cities (which may seem to use like far more fearsome wilderness), but his point is good. We go through circumstances in life that test our faith, even defy it, and we meet people who challenge our ability to believe. What are some of the challenges you have faced, and what was your relationship to God as you passed through them?

In the library at MVPC, there's a banner that says, "A Christian is a person who makes it easier for others to believe in God." Although I don't think any of us would consider that the whole definition of Christianity, is it even true? Do all good Christians make belief easier for others?

Theodicy is Christianity's attempt to explain "why bad things happen to good people," or more accurately, why bad things happen if God is good. Have you worked out, in your own relationship with God, an explanation?

Lindvall quotes the existentialist philosopher Kirkegaard as saying that every Christian has points in his journey where he feels utterly empty, desert times when his soul is hungry and thirsty for Spirit. Eugene Peterson has translated the beatitude, "Blessed are the poor in spirit ..." as something like, "Blessed are those who are at the end of their ropes, for they are finally ready to turn to God." Do you think the deserts are necessary as opportunities to develop deeper faith, or perhaps to develop a deeper understanding of God? Or is Lindvall (and C.S. Lewis) right in saying that their usefulness fails to justify their existence?

And if that is true — if, for example, deeper faith or a deeper yearning for God is not a sufficient reason for hardship to exist — does that say that our relationship with God is not worth some prices we might be called upon to pay? (I am taking exception with the word "justify"; I agree that their usefulness does not explain their existence.)

What do you think of the statement of Terry Wait, that Christianity doesn't reduce suffering, just makes bearing it more possible?

How does this relate to the incarnation?

Hebrews 4:15 is a scripture that is often used at the funerals of people who have taken their own lives or who have made other choices (e.g. drug use) that have led to their deaths. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin." Is that helpful to hear? Does it lead the listener to believe in salvation, or does it just sound like the speaker really does not sympathize?