I've decided to publicize something I've been more or less willing to tell most people for quite some time, but which might keep me from getting future positions with the Church of the Brethren.
I am a Universalist.
I still consider myself a Christian, because Christianity is the finite language I learned to use to express an infinite God. It is true to me in the same way that English is true to me - It's my first language and it's definitely not wrong, but neither is it the only way to express a concept. I will tell stories from Christian tradition and use thoughts from Christian thought because they hold a relative truth that is true to me. Whether or not they are literally true is, in my opinion, irrelevant.
By most peoples' understanding, then, I am not a Christian. I've pretty much been keeping that from the Church because I've been afraid it could affect my job opportunities in the future, but for some reason today I just got fed up with letting people assume things about me that aren't really true.
I've learned that whatever I say here often manages to get spread around, so by writing this I am officially declaring that I am, I suppose, "out of the closet" as not being a "real" Christian. And whether or not anyone important in the Church actually gets a peep at this, it feels good to get that off my chest.
I'm probably not going to get some high-level job in the COB. Sorry, Dad.
2 comments:
So, I'm in the same boat...kind of. Minus that whole job thing. However, there was a point in my life when I wanted to be a pastor, but that time has come and gone, so I don't have as much to worry about. I think I don't tell people in my church about it, because I'm pretty sure they don't agree and would just throw scripture at me. I guess mostly it's about saving face since I'm the pastor's daughter. Oh, Church politics...whatev.
-Your anonymous English friend ;)
and once, when asked to participate in a 'let us ask you an hour's worth of questions on your faith journey' by the adult sunday school class at my church I said about that... I said. "Many days I connect more with what has become a common phrase at manchester: 'are you a christian? probably not, but I'm brethren.'" And to my surprise and astonishment the whole room nodded their heads! You see, many many feel that way - and since then I've discovered that a whole crap load of people in our church feel very similarly - That the rest of society has hi-jacked the word 'christian' to mean something we can't quite identify with, so when forced, or when held in supportive company we usually end up saying: "If that's what 'christian' means, than, No, I'm not a Christian. I'm Brethren"... glad to have found your thoughts here! glad you're sharing. miss you!
that said, if you're annoyed at the 'faith journey' question - my advice, be really honest, you might find more allies than you'd expect... or don't be, it at least feels safer.
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