Something I’ve been
thinking about as I ponder universalism and the notion of Christus Victor and
if/how they’re related;
As God had been
revealing itself to the world in Israel, and most clearly (Christians believe) through
Jesus, are we really to believe he may not have been at work in other places
through other means of revelation? The world was full of people and
civilizations that didn’t have ways to communicate and connect.
If God starts
revealing itself in Japan or undiscovered (haha) America through nature, etc.
would he be expected to stop or change direction when Christ embodies Jesus across the world in Israel?
Before and while
Israel was developing, there were civilizations in Africa, Greece, China, and
other Asian, African, European, and Middle Eastern locations developing. We
can't be expected to believe God wasn't revealing itself to these disconnected
peoples, right? These cultures had religious/spiritual practices. Are we to
believe they were completely misguided and lacking divine inspiration? Are we
to believe that they were completely off the mark until the 1st or 2nd Century,
when Christianity began to spread? And are we to believe that it was spreading
as God would want it to since it had become the "official" religion of
an empire? There's some deep irony in the fact that organized Christianity
first experienced its steepest growth and acceptance when it was co-opted by the
empires of Constantine and Rome.
These kinds of
questions are why I have a hard time with Christianity (or anything) being THE
way. It's my way. It's how I can relate to whatever God is. But I feel the need
to preserve or allow the dignity of other groups who relate to God in different
ways. I'm going to keep swimming in my lane because it's what I know and it
works for me and I don't see any sense in starting over with something else.
I'm a head over heart person. I don't have any mystical experiences or
feelings that keep me in. What keeps me in is that the message of Christ and that the trajectory of the story in the Bible bends toward justice and goodness -
and frankly, flips power dynamics upside-down.
I haven't ever
participated in a Unitarian Universalist service but I don't feel like I could
vibe with it, even though I feel like much of their approach to the spiritual
world may mirror mine. I can better relate to teachers like Brian McLaren,
Brian Zahnd, Richard Rohr, David Bentley Hart, Rachel Held Evans, Stan
Mitchell, NT Wright, Rob Bell, and Pete Enns, etc. who are able to frame
Christianity in an inclusive lens.
Evangelism /
proselytizing seems like a Western thing, and almost a natural result of
colonization. “We’re taking over your land. Be like us. Assimilate. Including
our God. Do it, or else.” As I’ve looked around a bit I don’t see many other
religions with the drive to get others to convert. Mostly I see people trying
to be their best selves in relation to their view of God and their neighbors,
which is a universal Good that absolutely meshes with Christianity.
