Creativity, Writing
Rev Gav
Why am I a Christian?
John 14.27-31
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.
Why am I a Christian? An initial (somewhat flippant) answer might be, “Because I was not born in Iran!” However, (despite there being Christians in Iran long before Christianity was brought to these shores) I was born into the secular post-Christendom world of England; a world where the echoes of Christianity are ever-present but in which real, living, breathing, practicing Christians seem increasingly marginalised. At best, given our culture, I might hope to be a Christian in name only. for being born in England is no guarantee that one becomes a practicing Christian. Indeed in the mid 1980s I was educated in Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and predominantly Atheism, and if you had attended the grammar school I attended with its throwback to 1950s Christianity one could argue that I was systematically inoculated against Christianity! Being able to sing ‘Jerusalem’ with its dubious theology may well be rousing but one can hardly call it indoctrination!
Contrary to popular belief, many of us who identify ourselves as Christians — as followers of Jesus Christ — do question our faith. My faith is challenged on a daily basis from an onslaught of the three Ps; Preconceptions, Parody, and a few disgruntled Parishioners! (that last one was a joke – Ed.) I do not believe in blind faith nor being told what to believe, and I do not believe in forced religion. For if faith in Jesus Christ is true faith — if it is a life worth living by — then it can certainly stand the scrutiny of honest self-examination And that includes an honest self-examination, informed and not threatened by, science or secularism. Am I afraid of losing my faith? Not at all. There is little comfort in knowing that one is living under the influence of a lie or a deception!
So, again I find myself asking the question, “Why am I a Christian?”
Captivated by Jesus
The first reason I am a Christian is because I have been captivated by Jesus, and it is not because, like Jesus, I am a bit of a rebel and have issues with authority! I have been hooked in by a man who claimed to be God and who lived the most extraordinary life. The story of Jesus of Nazareth is the story of a builder turned rabbi and a man on a mission to do what? To change the world? If you or I had a plan to change the world — even in first century Palestine — we would not do it like Jesus did. The story of Jesus puts him on a collision course with the religious elite and the Roman empire, and the way this Jesus lived and died made me sit up and take notice of what he said and taught.
Was he really the greatest deceiver of all time — a charlatan and a con-artist? I do not know of many bluffers who do not fold when the chips are down; however, people do die for what they believe is true — for their ideology or to protect others — and Jesus clearly believed he was fulfilling a mission from his Father (God).
Therefore was he a deluded madman? I have met and know a few people with serious mental illnesses, for example, people with chronic and acute schizophrenia. Jesus was no schizophrenic.
This leaves me with only one tantalising and incredible possibility — one that turns a deeply moving story into something much bigger and something that changes my life now and forever. Yes, I am captivated by Jesus.
The Depth of the Rabbit Hole
The second reason I am a Christian is the Bible itself.
I suppose there is one possibility — that the stories of Jesus — the ones we read of in the Bible are all fabricated. Well, we know that Jesus really existed (even the Jewish and Roman historians Tacitus and Josephus acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth) but what of this group of writers that must have given years writing their gospel accounts with complex plots worthy of crime-writer Raymond Chandler — and for no remuneration either?
When one begins to study the Bible as first-century literature, one discovers that the simple stories that one had heard in church, or Sunday school, or in Religious Education, have a structure of mind-blowing complexity — that the biblical narrative is comprised of layers of depth of meaning. One discovers that there are no ‘throw-away’ lines in the text. There are tendrils and themes and patterns that even the central characters, Jesus’ disciples, seem to miss and only piece together after Easter Sunday. The significance of the donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the cup Jesus used at the last meal, the significance of the The Temple, the words he spoke as he hung on the cross, to name a few. Each one imbued with deeper significance and branching out with historical, religious, and social interconnections.
As a lover of crosswords, scrabble, complex crime novels, and logic puzzles, the Bible appeals to me, and I have yet to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes. It is simply the most remarkable collection of writings ever written and appears to contain within it the very hand of God.
The Extra Dimension
The third, and final reason that I am a Christian — a follower of Jesus Christ — is that I have met him. Now, I fully understand and can appreciate that this is the least rational and most crazy sounding reason for being a Christian, but please bear with me. When I say I have met him, I do not mean that I have bumped into him in the village shop, but that I have experienced and continue to experience God’s presence or Spirit. It is difficult to describe with words but I shall endeavour to give it a go.
When God is invited into one’s life; when one prays with an open heart and mind; God comes. Jesus, before he died said,
“…the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” (John 14.27)
I have sat with Christians when they have died, and they have known the presence and peace of God. It is a very moving and humbling experience to witness God’s presence having such a tangible effect in the lives of others.
When God is invited, God comes. God’s presence is as if an extra fourth dimension has been added to my existence. Paraphrasing Jerry Maguire (in the film Jerry Maguire) — “God completes me” — and when I choose (in my pride) to put myself before God and to distance myself from God, the lack of God’s presence is keenly felt. God’s Holy Spirit — the Spirit of Jesus Christ — is my very real and present guide and comforter, and my life is a journey of learning how to live with, in and through the presence of God in his world.
And finally…
It is my hope and prayer that you too will be captivated by Jesus, discover just how deep the rabbit hole goes, and know and experience the very real presence of the risen Jesus Christ. His life, death and resurrection have changed everything.
May the risen Christ bless you all.
Rev Gav
and then