Discipleship and The Privatization of Religion
A Reflection on Mark 1:14-20.
Tag: Faith (Page 1 of 4)
Is it possible to be a proud and humble at the same time? I think so. But in order to understand how we can balance pride and humility we need to turn to scripture (the Bible).
“Manly” Conversations
This past Thanksgiving weekend our family was invited to a baby shower. As I was speaking with someone in the kitchen, in the living room area sat most of the husbands of the wives of whom were invited speaking about “manly” things.
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As a former atheist I believed three things about having faith in God.
First, I believed that God was no different from childhood wishful fantasies such as the Tooth Fairy or Santa Clause. I also believed that God was a “god of the gaps”; an explanation for natural phenomena that is yet to be explained by science. Ancient mythical gods fall into this category along with the plethora of gods recognized in classical Hinduism.
Second, I believed that if God did turn out to be real he’s a real jerk. He always seemed to be in competition for my happiness. To me it seemed that God put up a bunch of rules/commandments that kept me from experiencing freedom. You know which “rules” I’m referring to: No sex before marriage; Even after I get married I have to be “open to life.” It seemed to me there were really two options:
a) have a million kids or…
b) abstain from sexual intimacy.
And perhaps the worst “rule” to abide by was being forced to sit through an agonizing hour of church every Sunday. “What a party pooper!” so I thought.
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It’s been at least two months since I posted. I don’t know about you, but for me it’s really easy to go on autopilot and go through the motions of everyday life trying to reach my goals. I’m sure you’re familiar with the term “tunnel vision.”
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I often found myself so focused on writing or recording a weekly blog post, achieving my objectives for work, or completing my next personal project that I completely miss-out on reflecting on some important questions. So I took a step back to reflect.
I would like to share with you one big question that I often wrestle with. How do I live a life that is filled with joy and at the same time live in solidarity with the poor and suffering?
Who Are You? How To Recognize Your Identity
Since being exposed to the reality suffering on my first visit to the slums of Rio de Janeiro and serving the homeless and drug addicted in Toronto I have learned one important lesson: We can’t start to understand people’s suffering until we enter into it with them.
In the past two years two instances of suffering stand out in my life. The death of Jennine’s (my wife) grandmother and Jennine giving birth to our baby. Accompanying people in their suffering has taught me an important lesson about compassion and human dignity.
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Following the Easter weekend I wrote a post on evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. In the post I looked at various historical evidences in and outside the Bible. On Twitter someone tweeted at me, “clearly not by faith.” Was he implying that I choose not to base my belief in Jesus on faith? I can’t say for sure. But if that is the case then his understanding of “faith” in the Christian sense is misunderstood.
Blind Faith?
The Christian faith is not blind. Blind faith borders on the edge of superstition and ought to be questioned. The Christian faith is one that is based on evidence. In fact, the study of theology is defined as faith informed by reason. I go as far as to say if the things that I as a Christian profess by faith, including the resurrection of Jesus is not supported by evidence or reason then it is not worth believing in.
Courtesy of Unsplash.com by Oscar Keys