Exercising faith thinking...

Laura M has asked these great Qs at Conversation at the Edge.  I found that i had 2 ways of responding:

• the first and quickest was to trot out the easy apologetic answers to her Qs, to defend my orthodoxy;
• the second and harder was to think about Laura's questions, to give them the consideration they deserve and acknowledge in my response that I don't have complete easy answers but that i have valued the opportunity to think/reflect and the ongoing opportunity to consider these as part of a conversing community of faith.

My faith thinking is below - Laura'  origninal Qs are indented and in italics.  I'd love to hear any further thoughts you have on my thoughts and leave your own thoughts to the Qs either here or preferably over on the oringinal post...

Responding to Laura

"wow what great Qs... sorry its taken me awhile to respond, you've been making me think... i don't think i have ansers per se but happy to share my thoughts that have formed so far...

Is it possible that ‘receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord’ and ‘all things through faith in him’ simply means in modern English…You must become a follower of Jesus, there is no other way to save yourselves?

In other words, that you must try live your life by the principles that he preached, having faith that this is the way that God wants man to behave? That he is Lord because he is the Master, and we are his followers, his students, dependent upon his word? Wouldn’t this mean that a simple prayer isn’t sufficient? Couldn’t it also mean that belief in Jesus’ divinity isn’t really necessary? What is necessary is following his humanitarian teachings?

yes i think a simple prayer is a reflection of the process, if the way into the kingdom of God is to admit that we choose to not be independent kings/queens of our own kingdom and choose God's kingdom then that prayer is a step of faith into something different, like crossing over the border, or saying a pledge of allegiance etc...but i don't think that should be the stopping point either, it should be the beginning of a lifetime of searching, honesty and humility not just entering the kingdom of God but learning to live/be/act like one of its citizens.

As for Jesus divinity i think that is part of the searching humble hopeful attitude that we are committing too - in that it is not just about cherry picking what Jesus said but applying it, doing it, as much as we understand where we are in the journey.  That doesn't mean we should not ask hard Qs, wrestle with things we find hard to believe and stop being honest about these matters - i think more than that it is part of the life of faith Jesus calls us too - not just believe things about Jesus but more to believe in him and to put his teachings into practice...

Can’t ‘Ask, in my name, and you shall receive’ simply mean keep Jesus’ words and teachings in mind when you ask of God and of yourself what you want out of life?

Yes I think it does mean something of that - about blending belief into practice but i wonder if this again is not part of that faith growing/shaping process - taking the focus away from me taking or achieving and therefore relying on my own strength or power and instead asking for help, practicing humility, learning to detox from consumer filled culture where it is all all about me getting what I want when i want it...

Can’t ‘In Jesus’ name ‘ simply mean belief in the sayings attributed to Jesus’? In other words, ‘In the name of Jesus’ could mean ‘by the teachings of Jesus’, or in modern English… those sayings (quotes) have Jesus’ name all over them.

Yes i like the image this gives me of certain ways of being/doing steeped in Jesus, looking like Jesus, smelling like Jesus, smiling like Jesus, accepting like Jesus, partying like Jesus, serving like Jesus...etc

I'm not sure what the full context you were thinking in terms of the phrase 'in the name of Jesus' but i like that family name idea - this is the trademark/calling card etc of God...

Could terms like ’shall not perish’ and ‘ever lasting life’ refer to the future of humanity as a whole, rather than the individual?

I'm sure the context is a key to understanding the reference of such texts but then since they were undoubtedly addressed to people rather than to outer space there must, in my mind, be a dimension of them applying/being applicable to all of humanity.

Could ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’ mean it is here within your grasp?

I love this picture of the kingdom  of god, i think the literal word used for heaven is atmos which is where we get atmosphere so Jesus is saying the kingdom of heaven is here, it's all around us and we can be part of it now - i find that most hopeful, that life can be transformed, impacted, encountered for the better, here and now - not just waiting to ship out to heaven.

More than that I like the invitation that Jesus gives is not to say a prayer containing a certain number of correct points - it's do you want to join my kingdom then step on in, you are now part of it, go and make your family, your community, your country a better place - go and be like me and more than than I'll go with you and send some more of my friends to join with you - so you can be catalysts - yeast, seeds etc. 

There is frequent talk about preparing for heaven. Could this mean that followers of Jesus are obliged to prepare Earth and their fellow humans in a manner so as to create an environment similar to what is expected to be there for them in heaven?

I think this is a valuable insight that people like Brian Mclaren and others have expressed over recent yrs.  Whilst there is the hope of heaven there is also a call, as Jesus phrased it in his prayer, for God's will to be done on earth as in heaven - God's wish being carried out  as it were -and his primary agents/ambassadors/activists for participating in making these dreams come true, i would say, should be the followers of Jesus.

The fact that we often fail is because we are not perfect and another reminder to me for an ongoing need for humility and as part of the weaing process of trying to achieve God's wish through building our own kingdoms up again by using methods/systems/structues that resort to power, manipulation, bullying, conquest, exclusion, hate, fear etc...

Now here’s a real stretch… Could ‘He died for your sins’ mean Jesus’ death was a result of the sinfulness of those around him who did not speak out against the injustice of his execution? The result being, he died because of their sins. He paid the ultimate price, loss of his life, because of the sins of man (the men and women who didn’t stop it)? Perhaps the purpose of his death to teach mankind the horror of injustice which is not condemned?

I do not think this is such a stretch, there are several traditionally recognised views of the death of Jesus [which go some way to helping us understand part of what happened] and the suffering servant/perfect penitent ideas echo much of your own thinking - in Jesus death we see the evil, compromised, man made power structures as they truly are - selfish, petty, hatefilled, vengeful and ready to sell out the threat to such power even if it means compromising beliefs/practices/moralites - it's the ultimate moment of hypocrasy.

It is also the moment as well, where for me, Jesus demonstrated radical love, reconciliation and redemption is possible - in the darkest of moments of so many personal failures was born a hope through his death and resurection that things can be different, that the cross is about commitment, forgiveness, suffering and love and becomes the way for the followers of Jesus to follow him in embracing a world of hurt, shame and injustice by literally laying down our lives if necesary and our rights almost certainly.  For instance when it comes to environmental chaos it is the poorest who are least responsible that will suffer most - those of us who are rich need to look at our current rights to carbon based high consumption lifestyle...

Thank you so much Laura for asking these Qs... thank you for making me exercise faith thinking and for encouraging me to search on and reach further rather than to rest comfortably on a soapbox..."

Any thoughts/comments/feelings/faith thinking of your own..?