the main character

It has been interesting to follow the response to the 'difficult questions' post from February 21.  There has also been some stimulating conversation offline on this topic.  It's a critical question - faith and pain, the Church and suffering, God and broken humanity.  We can't and shouldn't avoid these topics.  I'm not going to attempt to answer the questions.  These aren't the kinds of questions one answers, they are the kinds of questions one engages and lives with.  As I've read all the posts, I've formulated 4 different posts that I will write in the next few days to engage these questions.  Today, I will talk about 'the main character.'  In the coming days, I will engage the following questions and topics: 'why do the innocent suffer?', 'when Jesus gives the wrong answer...', and 'being fully alive.'  (Then I'll steer the blog back toward focusing on compassion, creativity, and community for the sake of of poor and orphaned children.)

the main character...

One of the most important things that we can do as Christians is to identify our role and God's role in the story.  A perspective known as anthropocentrism, puts humans in the center of the story - this word comes from anthropos meaning humanity and well you all know Greek well enough to guess the '-centrism' part.  This perspective is similar to putting the earth in the center of the universe.  When we live with this paradigm, everything we see and experience is judged by how it makes me feel... what I think about it... how it effects me... my budget, my time, my lifestyle, my relationship with God.  To move away from anthropocentrism is a bold and courageous move.  When Copernicus introduced the world to the heliocentric universe, a Revolution ensued and the Church excommunicated him.  I propose that we are so neck deep in our anthropocentrism, that we don't see how it has effected our entire paradigm, including our Churches and our personal relationships with Jesus Christ.  And I think many churches are so neck deep in their anthropocentrism that if people followed Copernicus's lead, they too might find themselves feeling a bit out of place in many churches.

So I want to live in and launch a new Copernican Revolution...  We need to learn to live in a theocentric way.  God was, is, and will always be the main character.  God (Theos) is the center of the universe.  On a side note, this is one reason why we have decided since moving to Colorado Springs to worship at Holy Trinity Anglican Church.  The liturgy places God at the center of our worship experience.  This flies in the face of many forms of worship I have experienced, participated in, and led.  I'm not saying it's bad to hear how Biblical principles when applied can make positive changes in your life.  I'm not saying it's bad to feel the warmth of God's presence in song.  I'm not saying it's bad to drink a latte while we sing and take notes during a sermon.  I am saying that all of this is dangerous if I am the main character.  James M. Gustafson is a leading voice in theocentric thought.  If this conversation piques your interest, check out some of his work.

Want to join The New Copernican Revolution?  I suggest that as we engage the most difficult questions of life, we do so with humility and total dependence on God, for God is at the center of the universe, not I.

Comments

[The Lost]

My father preaches this quite heavily. The idea that we are nothing, God is everything, not for my glory but for His, not for my joy but for His.

The thing is, first you have to believe in God. Then you have to care enough to give Him what He wants, in spite of how seemingly little He has given the weakest of us.

My pops would say that sentiments like the previous are the result of a non-God-centered worldview and that if my thinking and worldview was lined up right those sentiments wouldn't even exist.

Have you read Brave New World? Where everyone is conditioned to be happy from birth, where there is no pain, no sadness. It is a despicable world full of mindless drones who drug themselves into 'a vacation' at the slightest hint of pain and sorrow. Reminds me a bit of a Christian thanking God for all His gifts when shown the true state of the world.

Yet a worldview focused on pleasing God completely wouldn't be much different from the horror predicted by Huxley so long ago, just a different method to bring about the boring sameness.

Happiness and peace at the expense of our God-given free will to live self indulging lives, seems a bit ironic...

[Dan Fedick (Public Theology)]

Excellent point. What if putting God at the center of all things meant entering into the pain and sorrow to share with the weakest of us instead of just believing that God's gift to us is our happiness?
To work with your previous question about why are people leaving the church. Leaving the church might be the healthiest thing they did in their lives.. I think it's because when you drug yourself into a vacation, and go to church for a show every Sunday.. You start to wonder.. Why am I going? What's the point? I think that sin is possibly the textbook answer, but it might be the sin of the church driving people away. Brave New World is pointing out just that.. When you start to act happy all the time, putting on a face, you lose yourself. Life isn't perfect, so why believe that your supposed to be happy all the time. Humans cannot sustain "happiness" all the time. I think it's impossible..

You know the scripture.. All God wants is for us to love Him, and to love everyone else. To love someone else is really hard if your putting on a happy face and running when pain or sorrow comes your way.

BTW.. I'm not trying to "answer" your questions to "Win you for God." I believe that there's really nothing I can say that will change your mind. I just know what it's like to have been where you are.. I grew up in the Church.. I saw hypocrisy.. When I finally had the choice, I left. I just think it's cool your actually talking about it.

BTW.. Did you look up my name "Fredick" or "Fedick"

[Dan Fedick (Public Theology)]

Note: I believe that the Church, if done right.. is an amazing place for growth, love and friendship. It's a place that we serve together, eat together, cry together, worship together and laugh together. When done right, it's a beautiful thing worth watching through every step like a bride walking down the aisle. When pushing people away(which historically it has done a lot of) it can easily turn you away with disgust..

You've probably heard this one:
"I don't hate your Christ, I love your Christ, it's just so many of his followers are so unlike their Christ." ~ Ghandi .

[Jake DeVries aka The Lost]

Ghandi's comments about christians are brilliant for sure!

Look me up on facebook sir!