Sometimes I remember the phrase so popular in some circles “back when,” that said “if you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.”  Remember that? No one is ever supposed to achieve that oneness of perfection, I guess.

But it’s different with Jesus. We are supposed to see him in everyone around us. “When you did this for the least of these, you did it for me.” That’s a little confusing.

Along the same lines … what does it really mean to be a Christian?

I know I’m opening a can of worms here, but I dare say that for many of us, saying a mantra of “Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Savior” isn’t enough. I can argue those terms with anyone … what they mean … what they DON’T mean. Frankly, I have to stretch a lot for them to find meaning for me in the classical sense because as a 21st century lesbian, I don’t think of any man as my Lord. That language just doesn’t work for me, if you know what I mean.

I DO think there needs to be a choice (whether conscious or not) to follow the way of Peace  & Love and to acknowledge that this guy (Jay, I call him) is the ultimate mentor, model, teacher and guide in following that Way. It does not have to be, in my opinion, an exclusive way … one could follow him and claim him as all those things and still relate to God as a goddess, for instance.

But somewhere along the line, commitment to his Way needs to rise to the fore.

Not “the way” that has been co-opted by so many who are positive about what Jay meant or sides he took in arguments, but “the way” that is open to learning (as he did from the Syro-Phoenecian woman) and adapting.

As is natural, I guess, people try to categorize believers. After all, categorizing makes it easier to pigeon hole and put people down. I’ve been reading lately about Post-Christians, Postmodern Christianity, and more. Anything I quote in here about this is from Wikipedia, BTW, so deal with it accordingly.

Okay … so here’s the first thing I read:

Post-Christianity is sort of a negative thing in Europe and Australia.

Some American Christians (primarily Protestants) also use this term to discuss evangelism to unchurched individuals who may have grown up in a non-Christian culture where such traditional Biblical references may be unfamiliar concepts. The argument goes that in previous generations in the United States, such concept and other artifacts of Christianese would have been common cultural knowledge and would not have needed to be taught to adult converts to Christianity. In this sense, post-Christian is not a negative term, but is used to describe the special remediative care that would be needed to introduce new Christians to the nuances of Christian life and practice.

Now … it’s not that I think that’s wrong. I don’t, as a matter of fact. As definitions go, it’s fine. But I want to be around people whose faith base or religious identification is more than just some socially normative thing.

I am not post-Christian. But I think I might be post-church.

Or am I really?

See … I think the church (and by the term I mean the collective international, universal church of all denominations) has become something entirely foreign to the first century understanding of what church was meant to be. It should be a community.  A caring community that takes care of each other, watches out for each other and finds ways, as a collective body, to act on the openness and welcome, the life-values of Jesus … NOT on the doctrines of those who have constructed a huge, monolithic organism loosely based on what he taught.

In that sense, I guess I’m not post-Christian.

So then, the great Source (Wikipedia) says:

Postmodern Christianity is an outlook of Christianity that is closely associated with the body of writings known as postmodern philosophy. Although it is a relatively recent development in the Christianreligion, some Christian postmodernists assert that their style of thought has an affinity with foundational Christian thinkers such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, and famed Christian mystics such as Meister Eckhart andAngelus Silesius.

Mysticism works for me, whether it’s Christian, Zen, transendental … mysticism is mysticism and I think that’s how I look at religion.

And that’s  when I read about the Postmodern Reformation. As  a Presbyterian whose experience about church is “re-formed and always reforming” this makes a lot of sense. I mean, really. Isn’t that what we ALL do in life? We learn things, we re-form our opinions. We age, we re-form what we can do and how to spend our time. As long as we are living, we are constantly re-forming opinions, memories, the importance of things (or people) in our lives. So here’s the last quote from the Source for today:

The Postmodern Reformation is a movement presently taking place throughout Western culture in which Christianity is experiencing a dramatic cultural shift away from institutionally centralized Christian practice closely related to primary Christendom values which have undergirded Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant culture since the 4th century. The movement parallels a number of other characteristic aspects of postmodernity including the adoption of primary extrainstitutional loyalties, a decentralized philosophy of cultural influence emphasizing authentic relationships, personal opportunity and responsibility for global and local contexts, and the localization of lifestyle. It also emphasizes a return to the values of 1st century Christian lifestyle using the tools of 21st century living.

So I guess I’m learning more about  myself by realizing there are others who believe as I do and maybe I’m not as far out as I thought.

In answer to the question, “Who the heck knows?”  though is the all-important answer … Jay does … and so does Godde … and through them, I come to know myself. The importance of a faith community is helping us figure these  things out in relationship with others.

So … what you do you think????

Deb