Becoming Secular

The problem with being called Christian

The other day I was listening to a song I had a thought:

‘I think I might have a problem with the word Christian’

I mean it’s a word I would use to describe myself, but I wonder especially when talking about faith and what we believe if it is always helpful?

You see by the regularly accepted definitions of the word you are either Christian or you aren't, if you say you are sort of Christian people tend to assume that your agnostic, it’s seen as a binary on/off state of being.

Is their actually anybody like that?

I would call myself a Christian, I've just finished working as a Youth Pastor for two churches for the last 3.5 years and moving to work for another one. I'm a white, middle-class male, who wears sandals, plays guitar and has a beard. If your looking for an stereotypical mid-twenties ‘committed’ Christian let’s be honest I fit the bill pretty well.

But if were being really honest and compare my faith and spiritual life in to someone who wouldn't call themselves a Christian am I that different?

Yes of course. I am.

Sometimes…

Kinda depends what day it is…

Just because I call myself a Christian doesn't mean I have it all worked out. It doesn't mean I don’t sometimes lose my faith or trust in God, it doesn't mean I don’t ask questions like:

Is there really more to life than this?

Can I really believe that there is a God that loves and cares for me?

Why can life be so f**ed up?

And maybe it’s how you answer those questions that matters, not the fact that your asking them. But let’s be honest again who those answers set in stone.

And you know what that’s okay because life is always different and sometimes the answer to the question is what are you on about life doesn't suck it’s absolutely brilliant and sometimes it’s your right it does f*****g suck! But that still leads us to wonder:

Is it the questions or the answers that define whether or not you are Christian?

Anyway this post was inspired by a song called Becoming Secular by Dave Hause, the chorus is simply one line:

“I've lost faith but I'm trying to believe”

How often have you felt like that?

How often has that been your prayer, your cry to God?

To anyone?

We have all felt that everybody not matter what their belief’s has lost faith in something at some point though they still want to believe. But the verses talk about something else that sadly lots of people have faced, the first verse starts like this:

“They tried to keep their arms around us,

They told us it was free,

Their coffee and their crucifixions burned,

Put scars on both our knees,”

It talks about growing up, how his and his friend’s faith and world-view expanded and changed the ’Christians’ they knew held on tighter and tighter trying to scare them into staying.

They cared for him, but still their reaction and fear drove him away.

So the question is how often do we as ‘Christians’ and churches through fear and worry about people not being Christian any more end up scarring people through our coffee (by the way why are churches obsession with coffee!) and crucifixions?

How often do we see people saying:

‘I've lost faith but I'm trying to believe’

And think well their not ‘Christian’ or part of the church any more, because I think subconsciously we so often have this in or out mentality in our mind and it affects everything we do.

How often have we felt that because we have doubts we can’t be a ‘real Christian’?

How often in church we talk about outreach and mean how can we get this person to believe what we believe?

How often do we forget that we are simply just called those in need?

How often should we be asking how can we see where God is in this person’s life, where are they in their spiritual life and how can we join them in that place and walk with them?

Isn't that what we should be asking about everyone we spend time with whoever they are?

Isn't that just a better and more life-giving way to live?

My point is this of course sometimes the term Christian can be helpful, it’s how I describe myself, but we can’t let it define ourselves in a us/them way because if we do we miss the beauty of the message and love of Jesus.

That he came for and to save everyone.

And let’s face it we have all at some point, ‘lost faith and are trying to believe’.

Side-note:

The last track on the same album Becoming Secular is from (Devour pick it up it is amazing!) ‘Benediction’ after asking all these questions about what scares you about life, what are your fears, ends with the line:

‘It’s love my friends, in the end, that will save us tonight’

That probably sums up my feelings on this quite well.