Christian faith is meant to show Christ. In the gospels we see the actions and hear the words of the one we are meant to follow— one who personifies and teaches love, who eats with outcasts and sinners, who rails against the religious conservatives of his time.
Mahatma Gandhi famously said that he liked Christ but had trouble with Christians since they were so unlike Christ. I’ve talked to a number of people who echo his sentiments.
Why do different Christians seem to see Jesus so differently? Why do they respond to the call to follow Christ in such different ways?
Part of it is a question of emphasis. People from mainline denominations tend to emphasize the gospels— Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In many liturgical churches, the gospel is read from the center of the church to underline its centrality to the faith. Within these traditions, Jesus’ life and teaching are at the heart of faith.
Jesus’ life and teaching are extraordinarily challenging, emphasizing service to the vulnerable. In his life, Jesus associated with “outcasts and sinners”— who good and respectable were meant to avoid. He called and taught women, which was unheard of at the time.
If you ask many of these Christians where to look if they want to know more about how to live, they would direct you to look at the life and teaching of Jesus. The gospels are at the center of the faith.
More fundamentalist Christians will tend to emphasize the epistles— the letters that take up most of the rest of the New Testament. Answers about how to live will often come from those, with less emphasis on Jesus’ teaching and life. As the great historian/ theologian N.T.Wright writes, “For many conservative theologians it would have been sufficient if Jesus had been born of a virgin (at any time in human history, and perhaps from any race), lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death, and risen again three days later.” (Jesus and the Victory of God, 14.) In other words, for these folks, atonement theology eclipses other insights into Jesus.
The Bible is an extremely complex book—written over hundreds of years, by scores of authors, in dozens of genres. Anybody who claims the book has got to find a way to “get a handle on it.” Part of this is done through emphasis—do you read the gospels as central and the rest as secondary, or do you read the epistles as central and the rest as illustrative of doctrines?
Besides emphasis, there are different ways in which scripture is understood to be authoritative. Many feel unable to read scripture in ways that honor its various authors, times of writing, genres and intertextuality. Reading scripture flattened, with each verse pulled out as authoritative reduces understanding and context. A great example is the verse in Romans 1 that is used to condemn homosexuality. A few verses later, Paul writes, “Therefore, you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others” (Romans 2:1). Context is crucial.
It is understandable when people respond like Gandhi, disgusted with a “Christianity” that repels them from Christ. To me that is the great tragedy— when people walk away from Jesus—who cared for the vulnerable, ate with outcasts and sinners, and stood up for the marginalized— because they are put off by those who bear his name.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Mary Ellen Ashcroft, Vicar of Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church.
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