Wednesday, September 7, 2011

I am unapologeticly a follower of Jesus

Lately, I have had some people question my faith and devotion to Jesus. So I am making a very public statement about unapologeticly loving and following Jesus... There question no more...

But then I began to wonder why was this question even being raised. Was I not portraying a life reflective of Jesus? Was I not living a life which was so counter-cultural to today's norm that others notice a difference?

So I asked some of my "so-called" accusers and most of their responses had something to do with a specific denomination or in my case the lack of an affiliation with a specific denomination. Other responses had to do with my more progressive views on women and their ability to lead within the church and Christian faith...

So in this short but sweet post I want to say that no I am not a pretty package all tied up neatly with a perfect bow. I do like to rock the boat, go against the grain, and push boundaries. I want to live a life that is different, authentic and transparent. I want people to see Jesus in me in everything that I do... even as a woman :)

So no I am not officially affiliated with any denomination nor do I choose to be. I was raised evangelical and I do appreciate the vulnerability and rawness of emotion they have when praising Jesus, but I don't know if I am fully "evangelical" anymore...

I guess all I am saying is that I love Jesus. I want to follow the example which has been set out for me to follow. I know I will fail. I know I have many short comings which will get in the way of my journey to be like Jesus, but I will not be defined by a denominations legalistic rules and regulations and I most certainly will rise above whatever traditional roles you believe as a female Christian I am supposed to play...

Love,
A perfectly tarnished child of God

3 comments:

Jacob S. Heiss said...

We live in an increasingly post-denominational world. That's a fact. And it's a fact that many have seen coming from different perspectives for quite some time. Post-denominationalism is oddly related both to the growth of some forms of more traditionally focused Christianity in the patristic sense of the term (indicated by rises in conversions to Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy from assorted Protestant starting points) as well as the decline of some forms of more traditionally focused Christianity in an American culturally specific sense of the term (indicated by the contraction of virtually every mainline denomination, save the Southern Baptist Convention, whom many other mainline denominations continue to treat like the idiomatic elephant in the room).

Some of my buddies from seminary even referred to themselves as being "post-denominational" when pressed about their theological pedigree, such as my buddy, Keas Keasler. There's even a wiki now for post-denominational churches, and at least one priest has published a book on his process of being formed in an explicitly post-denominational way.

It seems like a lot more people have begun to consider themselves as being "Christ-followers" on the more individualist end of the spectrum, i.e. without reference to any denomination or creed or local church affiliation. On the more communitarian end of the spectrum, it looks like looser, more doctrinally- or missionally-specific networks are cropping up all over the place, like The Gospel Coalition, The Converge Worldwide Network, and so forth. In one sense, I suppose the whole emergent conversation could be understood as one instance of this dynamic.

There are a lot of advantages to this cultural shift. It seems like more people are investigating their faith more pointedly and defining themselves in less of a consumerist or herd-like way, i.e. shopping at whatever purveyor of religious goods or services seems to be enjoying the most attention at any given moment. On the flip side, I wonder if there is not a very real sense in which a biblically rooted understanding of membership in the church understood as the body of Christ--united worldwide and across time yet instantiated with little, local gatherings--might often wind up in that same airlock used to jettison the rubbish of a pejorative, antiquated commitment to denominationalism that you and so many others have found so lacking.

I guess this is where the authoritative influence of scriptural passages like 1 Corinthians 12 come into play, or, from a more philosophical or system dynamical level, a renewed concept and awareness of one's spiritual tribe. Thanks for this post; you got me thinking!

Derek in Chicago said...

Andrew visited our church about 5 years ago and I've followed his blog and organization since then. I believe that your husband is sincere, but I do not believe that he is sincerely right. Both the Old Testament and New Testament are clear on the topic of homosexuality and also more generally, on the topic of sexual immorality. I respect what you and Andrew are trying to do, but I do not believe that you need to be unclear and reductionist in order to love our friends and family who are caught in a pattern of sin, no matter what that pattern is. Love must tell the truth in a careful, thoughtful and respectful way - but it must always tell the truth. Eternal souls are at stake. I hope you give thoughtful prayer and consideration to this, because with all due love and respect, I do not believe that you are living in accord with Romans 12:2. Instead, you are allowing yourselves to be shaped by the culture. Thank you for letting me share this and know that I do so without anger or resentment. These are my honest assessments after observing Andrew for a number of years.

Anonymous said...

I was going to comment that I also do not care for demonmations, but must comment on Derek's post. Of course, we have to be truthful, but how many missionaries to Muslims do you know that start out with saying all the wrong things about the Koran or the Hadith? No, they tell about Jesus & the truth He gives. Maybe they don't even talk about doctrine, but just show love. With LGBTs, they have been burned by the church & won't respond with doctrine(which is somewhat fuzzy about gay issues anyway). They need to know about Jesus! He will sort things out, but first things first. I am one of those who believe that it is not sinful to be gay. The sin comes in certain behaviors, not just the orientation.
As for being a feminist, I think it is fine as long as you don't neglect any children you have. Brenda doens't have kids(yet), so I support her efforts to be a career woman/leader making a difference in this world.
I was going to sign my name, but after all this, I will remain anonymous, but say I am am evangelical, hetero woman who stayed at home when I raised my kids. However, working outside the home is very fulfilling. I don't work as others needs the jobs more, but do miss it....