Hello my friends,

As I said last week, I will be sending you two of my most read newsletters for this week and next as I work to finish up my manuscript and celebrate my birthday on January 12th with my family.

The following newsletter was sent out January 22nd, 2023 and I wrote it in response to many questions that subscribers had written to me at the time. Questions many of us are still asking today. I hope you find encouragement and inspiration in what follows.

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For this newsletter, I want to focus on a big theme I was seeing in a lot of the questions sent my way. The theme of “how can I even be a Christian anymore?”

One subscriber asked: “How do we stay united with one another in such contemptuous times?”

Another subscriber wrote: “I would describe myself as a questioning believer. One tenet of what I think is part of most (maybe all) Christian denominations is that only Christians will be accepted into heaven. I have real difficulty believing that. I think if I had been born to Muslim parents in, say, Iraq, or Buddhist parents in Sri Lanka, I would be a Muslim or Buddhist today. That people would be turned away from heaven by the luck of their birthplace seems to contradict what I understand to be the nature of God.”

Yet another subscriber, who expressed not feeling at home in church any longer, asked: “How do I feed my soul without the rhythm of worship? Are there any churches you would suggest trying for those who are questioning their beliefs or who identify as agnostic?”

One final question was asked: “I know I don’t believe in the Christianity of my upbringing anymore, but how can I take my faith seriously today if I don’t even know what that looks like?”

We are going to look at these sincere questions today and the theme I feel like touches them all. The question of what “truth” is.

But before we do, here are some resources I would consider looking into on this topic.

RESOURCES TO CONSIDER

-I would highly recommend watching this video from Tim Mackie, the founder of The Bible Project. He in powerfully expresses what the story the Bible tells us in contrast to a lot of popular misconceptions about Christianity. You can watch it by clicking here.

-I am also currently doing a 5 week sermon series on the Bible. A lot of my first sermon in the series was framed by the content of the video from Tim Mackie. So I will include last weeks sermon here, which is called "The Problem with Literalism and Contradictions in the Bible." Subscribe to that podcast to hear the rest of the series.

-If you are looking for a great book to read on how to approach the whole Bible in a fresh and wise way, I would highly recommend reading the book "How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How An Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers―and Why That's Great News" by Peter Enns. He also has a wonderful book called "The Sin of Certainty" which would be an incredible follow up read.

-Lastly, if you are on your way out from Christianity or on your way back to Christianity and you are looking for a book that will be a great companion to your journey, I would highly recommend reading Rachel Held Evens enough. Especially her book, "Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church."​

Okay, on with today's content.

What Does It Even Mean To Be Christian Anymore?

At the heart of so many of the questions sent to me was this theme of where to locate and discern truth. A truth we can unite around. A truth that transcends even where we were born or where we are currently in our relationship with religion.

Obviously, this is a huge theme, but I want to zero in on a small piece of it that I have personally found most helpful.

In the Western world, which includes Europe and the Americas, we treat “belief” as cognitive certainty or right knowledge about something. In the context of religion in the Western world, especially religions like Christianity that are comprised of doctrines, “believing” religious truth is then treated as an exercise of conforming to a set of cognitive information or knowledge about Jesus, the Trinity, the Bible, and so on.

In this Western definition of truth, the last part of John 3:16 which famously reads, “whoever believes in him (Jesus) shall not perish but have eternal life” will often be interpreted as a adhering to a cognitive set of knowledge about Jesus in order to avoid perishing. This is the idea of belief I was raised with, as were many others.

Interestingly, Eastern thinkers, especially those in the Biblical world, would have defined this concept of truth differently.

For example, the ancient Greek word for “believe” in the Bible is pisteuó, which comes from the work “pistis.” The word “pistis” comes from the word peíthō, which means to “persuade” or “be persuaded.” It is actually a verb pointing to the act of having faith or trust in something or someone.

This is very different from the Greek word for knowledge, which is a noun γνῶσις, εως, ἡ ( (gno’-sis)). Gnósis literally means knowledge or doctrine in Greek. We Western Christians will often read the word “belief” in the Bible as if it is saying “knowledge,” yet that is not what passages like John 3:16 are saying.

A better way to go about this is every time the Bible says “believe” or “belief” think “trusting” or “trust.” This transforms passages like John 3:16 from a verse that says “if you have right cognitive knowledge about Jesus, you won’t parish” to “those who trust Jesus won’t perish.” These have vastly different connotations. One is about our knowledge, while the other is an invitation to trust Jesus.

Our Western concept of truth has a lot to do with abstract knowledge and sets of ideas, while the Eastern concept of truth has a lot to do with embodied realities and practices, especially those we trust with our lives.

I like to put it this way. It is one thing to “know” conceptually that a hot air balloon’s basket can carry a human being up in the air. It is a very different thing to “trust” a hot air balloon’s basket by stepping into it and allowing it to cary you. The distance between knowing and trusting can be quite large. The same is true for knowing versus trusting Jesus. One is putting out trust in our own knowledge about Jesus while the other is putting our trust in Jesus. It is the difference between worshiping Jesus or worshiping our own knowledge about Jesus.

“Okay, Ben, what does this all have to do with the theme you are talking about?”

Well, we have seen where this difference between knowledge and trust can take us. We have seen and experienced how when we base Christian belief on a rigid set of knowledge, it is not long before it leads to absolutism or fundamentalism or even extremism. When Christians, or adherents to any movement, believe they and they alone are the sole arbiters of truth, imposing their strict set of knowledge on others, socially, politically, and religiously will soon follow.

When we have this absolutist mindset, no matter what end of the political or theological spectrum we find ourselves on, we will continue to take our rigid and inflexible ideas on things like war, abortion, or human sexuality, and use them as the truth by which we not only engage with those who disagree with our perspective, but go as far as making policies and laws to enforce that definition of truth upon the lives of others, giving them no choice but to live in the way of our truth or reap the consequences. An individual’s lived experience or personal beliefs matters little in this absolutist approach, especially if it causes them to disagree with our absolutist definition of truth. They must abide by the way of our definition of absolute truth if they wish to live a truthful life. In this framework for Christians, even the most coercive practices, policies, and laws will be justified and even defined as “loving” because they are seen as saving others from a life of lies and evil and compelling them into “God’s truth.”

Absolutism requires the same harsh treatment no matter what, because the commitment isn’t actually to God or people, it’s a commitment to our own definition of “absolute truth,” which we often turn into a god. In the midst of all this, Jesus becomes a fascinating and disruptive figure. Because where we Westerners would organize “believing” by knowing a particular truth, then living in the way of that truth, the gospel of John shows us that Jesus organized it by “the way, then the truth, then the life” and that he himself was the definition of those things. Jesus doesn’t give us a rigid set of knowledge to abide by first, demanding unquestioned allegiance to it as the way that leads to life. No, Jesus gives a way to follow first, a way that leads to truth and life.

So, what is that way Jesus gives us where truth can be discovered? It is the way of love. To use his words, it is the greatest commandment, the new covenant, the thing to which all the law and prophets point. It is why he came to the world. It is what led him to heal, to oppose injustice, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and speak truth to power. It is what led him to the cross and it is what led him out of the grave. It is love. Love is the way truth is revealed. Jesus embodied that “way” by his life and his death and it is that “way” he invites others to “believe” or “trust” by their own life too. Knowledge alone without love is nothing, or worse, absolutism (pride). In the words of Paul in 1 Cor. 8:1 “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” Only the way of love can lead to a truthful knowledge.

After referring to himself as “the way, the truth, and the life” in the gospel of John, Jesus then says something jarring. He says “no one can come to God except through me.” This points to many of the questions subscribers asked, like the one above. The kind of exclusivism that many Christian denominations claim, that only Christians will be “saved.” Which can leave many rightly concerned about what that means for the fate of others who don’t consider themselves Christian.

Yet here again, we must think deeper about this. Based on what we’ve just been thinking about regarding knowledge versus trust, how can we better understand what Jesus means by saying, “no one can come to God except through me?” Put simply, rather than adhering to a strict body of knowledge, if Jesus is “the way, the truth, the life,” then the way to God is the way Jesus. And, as we have just been reading, the way of Jesus is the way of embodied love.

This is why Jesus is always running around in the gospel accounts making people super upset by how he points to those embodying this “way” outside of religious orthodoxy. He points to the Samaritan in a parable, someone from another religion who wasn’t considered a true believer as the ideal neighbor to others. Why? Because of his compassion for the man left for dead on the side of the road. He points to the Syrophoenician woman, who again was a “religious outsider” as having great faith! All throughout the gospels, Jesus is pointing to those both inside and outside religious orthodoxy as being of “great faith,” not because of their religious knowledge, but because of their trust in and embodiment of love. The love through which he was sent to the world (John 3:16).

For Christians, this is such a needed reminder that wherever we see people embodying love and trusting in the way that leads to life rather than abuse and death in the world around us, we are seeing Jesus. No matter if those people call themselves Christian or not. Because the way of Jesus isn’t based on a list of right knowledge. It is based on love. Or as Paul says, the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Also, side note, if we Christians truly believe that Jesus is the greatest and final authority over the world, the last thing we should be doing is assuming we know where other people are going to spend eternity. That is literally taking for ourselves the cosmic authority that only Jesus has.

The early church took this way to heart in their worship. This is why there are the liturgies of things like baptism, communion, praying, singing, confession and meditating. Because these were “ways” of practicing trust in Jesus as a community. It is very much in contrast to a lot of worship services in the Western world that are centered on getting people to abide by a certain knowledge about Jesus.

I could go on and on, but for me, this is the tension we are seeing in so much of Western Christianity right now. So many are advocating Christianity as a strict body of knowledge, while others, like myself, are yearning for Christianity to be seen and practiced as an embodied trust in the way of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The way seen so completely in the life and teachings of Jesus. It is this reason that I am still a Christian today. The life and teachings of Jesus and the way he invites us to embody to confront evil and injustice in this world is still the most compelling way I have discovered in my life. The more I follow Jesus in that way, the more convinced I become that it is the way that leads to life.

To the last subscriber's question about church recommendations, every church is different. I feel at home in the United Methodist Church. I have been nourished by its higher liturgy and its welcoming spirit, but it is not a perfect denomination, nor does it claim to be. I would recommend checking out your local United Methodist Church, but check out its website first. You can get a good feel for any church and the spirit it is trying to embody by what they describe on their website. No matter what church or community you are looking for, find one that explicitly practices love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

If you find this weekly newsletter helpful and would like to support my work, consider making a donation here.​