Loose Change

There are a few last words I want to leave you with:

Women are equal to men in all ways - in value, in position, in the ability to fulfill all leadership roles. In a time in which women were objectified and undervalued, Jesus spent time with women and recruited some into a band of close female disciples, including Mary, Martha and Mary Magdalene.

Hormones, Body type and the capacity to bear children distinguish men and women, and these can influence the ability to do certain jobs and the relationship of individual parents to their young, during gestation and afterwards. However couples bond, in whatever gender configuration, there is no greater responsibility than raising a child, which should be valued by men and women.

Whatever transpires in the future, the key New Book description of the relationship between men and women declares that in Jesus there is neither male nor female. This trumps culturally influenced passages which ascribe an inferior/subordinate position to women, passages which have created a "behind the veil" mentality among certain Christian groups. Women should attend seminary if they choose and should be afforded every opportunity to be a senior pastor in a Church, where they will have the occasion to teach men.

Islam is alarming, if only because it doesn't seem to have a peaceful core. I am no expert on that faith, and I have no reason to speak against the prophet, but I don't see moderation among those who lead the faithful and interpret the Qu'ran. The values of Christianity - the ones represented by the Sermon on the Mount - are about loving, resisting non-violently, being persecuted for your faith, praying for your enemies, being meek, sharing your faith in love. The New Book is seldom bellicose. Islam, as I have seen it manifested in my day, is normally bellicose, punctuated with violence, committed to Sharia law and Theocracy, alarmingly militant in its evangelism and totally intolerant of other faiths. Moreover, it has great appeal in the confused West, where the faithful embrace the freedom found in rigid values, and women find peace within the veil.

I would feel much better if I knew there were those who viewed the expansion of the faith and the resulting changes which follow did so in the framework of a pluralistic society. I have friends who are dead afraid of the expansion of Islam, and I believe that there will be many more Christian martyrs in areas where militant Islam is expanding. There have recently been trials in Islamic Nations of people whose only crime was their faith, and Christians have been murdered in Afghanistan because "they were Christians." Whatever the supposed justification of such actions, the religious community needs to unite against it, as it must unite against persecution in all forms in all nations. The values of Jesus may not be the values of the nations Christians live in, but they are our values, which we should express, whatever the fall-out.

Evangelical? After months of traveling around ideas, theology and faith, I am ready to say that I no longer see myself as an Evangelical. That statement is only significant for two reasons. First, I know what the term means and so do my Christian friends. Evangelicals have strong views on how a person becomes a Christian and on many other theological issues, but most importantly, their faith is wrapped up in a narrow view of what the Christian life is, i.e., a continuous opportunity to share the gospel with everyone you encounter.

I would like to share the reality of my life with everyone, and am most interested in sharing Jesus with those I encounter who hurt, are lost, sick and seeking something. There are many commissions from Jesus, and I'd like to be sensitive to all of them.

Second, what does an old Evangelical become? I don't think anything in this blog makes me any less of a Christian than I was when I started it, but what label does a non-Evangelical Christian put on them self? Catholic? I wasn't raised a Catholic, so it's easy for me to say I like the Catholic Church, but I do like parts of it. I like God's Grace coming through the sacraments; I like the formality and the rituals, the robes and incense; I like liturgy and rote prayers. I like History. I want to take that into my life, but I don't need to be a Catholic to cherish part of what they are.

I must say: I'm not high on praying to Mary, celibate priests or an infallible Pope.

What about Liberal Protestantism? I do admire much of the work that liberal groups that meet in Protestant Churches do, but there's just not enough Jesus and way to much money and building.

I like the name Orthodox, but people think of the Greek or Russian Orthodox Church when you say that.

As much as the name has been soiled by a violent history and political present, I guess being a Christian will have to do. Not one who holds hard doctrine, a closed mind, a repressive spirit or judgmental thoughts, but Just a Christian.

Not such a bad thing after all.