• Loosing my Religion, or I believe in a Better Way

    September 10, 2008

    To help set the mood for this post and the title, here are a couple of songs and their amazing videos to enjoy.

    The first is REM - Loosing My Religion

    Secondly, Ben Harper - I Believe in a Better Way

    Now that you have mellowed and enjoyed the music, I want to share that they embody alot of what I have been thinking and praying about recently. I have already mentioned that I have read Pagan Christianity and I found myself telling folks about it at the recent Oikos Simple Church Conference. Alot of folk had never heard about the book but had heard about the authors. I found myself explaining that the book was an excellent deconstruction of man made religion that we call Christianity, stripping away the dogma to reveal “The Man Behind the Curtain” type of things we call tradition and religion.

    Now, I had grown up in the church of Christ, non-denominational (they are very conscious of that fact and mention it alot here in Oz, so much so that coupled with the almost clotting like clinging with others from other congregations in an insular like manner makes them a denomination!). The claim by the cofC, and the Disciples of Christ and a couple of other groups that began in the USA with Stone/Campbell is that they went back to the bible and only do what the bible says. Well, if that is the case then they are doing a lot of things the bible doesn’t even mention. And that’s where I found Pagan Christianity very helpful to deconstruct Christianity as we know it, pull aside the curtain and reveal that while that may be the case for some of the doctrine and beliefs, it is not so evident in worship, or even in the very way service is run, or the way in which the very building and table out front is held in a manner that makes them seem Holy.

    Now before this becomes more of a review of Pagan and how I enjoyed it and have since passed it on…. what I am writing about is what has come from reading Reimagining Church by Fank Viola, which is based on the premise that Pagan deconstructs Christianity and Reimagining reconstructs the Church in the manner that  was done by the original followers of Jesus, and listening to Wolfgang Simpson recently at the same conference. Life!Expedition, one of the supporters and hosts of the conference have the MP3’s of Wolfgang Simpson available - I would ask that if you do decide to download them, make a small donation in support of the availability of the messages.

    Wolfgang had alot to say about not being a Chrsitian and becoming a Disciple of Jesus. He goes on to say that we are great at making Christians but not so good at making Disciples of Jesus. Totally agree! Then there is the whole topic of economics and a belief, firm belief, about the Kingdom and that as Disciples we’re in the Kingdom and really need to start living as such! Powerful stuff that needs to be said! So, please have a listen to Wolfgang!

    So, this leads to what I started the post out for - to say that since the conference, I have spent alot of time thinking, praying, reading and really contemplating what it means to be a Disciple of Jesus. Now this isn’t too new for me since coming across a book called Mere Discipleship, written ironically by a fellow in the Church of Chirst in the USA. This book challenges much of what American Christians would be aghast at, such as becoming pacifist. I found this book quite challenging and it has been a catalyst with my thinking becoming more in alignment with the Anabaptists than many of the main denominations of today. That being said, you can see from some of my previous posts that I am not keen on denominations as they exist, but while I am not keen to label anything wrong, the Anabaptists are closer to what I coming to a conclusion about - however, it troubles me that we follow denominations, yes, even the Anabaptists, that have come from men, and are often named after men and not our master - Jesus.

    Anyway, that is some of what is going through my head at the moment - and I know it is not the last post about this.

    Possibly Related Posts

    • Leave A Comment

    Mail (will not be published) (required)