So...faith. At church at home i knew something was missing, it was a great place, loving people, a real heart after God etc BUT i think i always found that there was a certain "reality" missing. I felt something wasnt quite in place as it should be. Coming to Oasis i think i found that reality, like the world wasnt some sort of weird place that we all got dumped at and then there was God out there somwhere, where we should be. It presented me with the idea, this world is very much home, just not as it should be. This is hard to explain, but it's like, EVERYthing is spiritual and real, not just the God stuff! This made loving your neighbour not just a cliche but an actual thing you do, not something you do as you wonder thorugh life but something you aim your life to do...life is Christianity, Christianity is life, there's no "grey" area. And that hasnt meant behind every sneeze there's a demon but that everything we experience reflects deeper spiritual leesons that are real, not weird and alien.
So loving your neighbour isnt a fuzzy "smile at old ladies" but go out of your way to REDEEM the world. Our mission is redemption, holistic (an oasis fave i know heh heh) not just converting everyone. Something that spoke to me was Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis, where it says that our faith is a trampoline which you invite others to join, not a brick wall which you try to defend (my faith has been a brick wall i think). So faith wise, i've had to let go of alot of my "safety nets" or baggage that isnt so scriptual as i might have guessed, which has been hard but also great. Repainting my Christianity. My reference of what God actually is, or where he is, has been questioned, but as i've asked God to reveal himself to me, he has and i have prayed not to swallow whole Oasis. I want to tustle with it, give it all to God so he can give the good bits back...i dont want to discard my theology and embrace an all knew one, but enjoy and learn from it (which i think i already am). There are good things in my previous church which i must hold on to and the same here, God isnt theology but theology is a reflection of God. Im baffling on but God has been teaching me loads and foundational stuff which is scary coz it means letting go of security blankets and changed alot of what ive felt and thought. Gods theology is a practice, the best idea of God and love is nothing to the smallest action done IN love. Christianity is not a theory, its like actions which paint a picture of God. I must live this, not like the idea of it.
2 comments:
I love the comment about our faith being a trampolene for others to join, not a brick wall to defend! How true! I think of the countless times I've been defensive, instead of, I don't know, er, springy? xx
Sam, great to hear your thoughts and to hear you are grappling and chewing on stuff. One question i'd ask is early on you talk about 'looking at Christ' to get our focus and then love our neighbour. Some might say that as we look at and serve the poor we look at the very face of Christ as in Matt 25:35. I'll send you an article about mission/loving people that i found useful - bless you mate
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