FAITH: From a Christian Perspective

I come to life with a point of view. Some would call it prejudice. I do not object. My perspective goes with me everywhere I go. I was born into Christian Faith and have never considered leaving it. Being a Christian makes sense to me. Why would I consider leaving? My passionate drives are simply to understand Christian Faith better, to live it abundantly and to share it generously. If together we decide to call it something else, that is okay. I welcome discussion and argument. They are tools of refinement. My best learning devise is listening. The best outcome is not winning but community. The best outcome is not accumulating but sharing.

I am writing on January 31. Yesterday I listened to the State of the Union address by President Trump. It failed to be a time for truth telling. It was not a call for giving and sharing. It carried no proposal for peace making. The speech did not seek common ground or understanding. It carried nothing that a Christian could identify as greatness.

Is it time for Christians to humbly and graciously speak truth to power?

The Israelite/Christian/Muslim share many key ideas. While the meaning of words change when used in different contexts and by different people, they are tools that can take us from language to language, from generation to generation and from culture to culture. I can think of four such words that run through the Israelite/Christian/Muslim Faiths. The four are JUSTICE, SALVATION, SHALOM (PEACE), and MERCY.

JUSTICE in the Bible flows from the very heart of God. It is a part of his character from which God never departs. Justice rejuvenates and makes whole. Justice does not punish, nor can it happen at the expense of another person. Justice can never be achieved in isolation. Justice rejuvenates individuals but the community is a part of the rejuvenation. Biblical justice corrects but does not punish. Justice restores relationships. Justice is found in reconciliation, not separation.

The word justice has been interpreted differently in the general public. Unfortunately justice typically is seen as punishment that somehow fits a particular crime. In the general public, people over and over again call for the kind of justice that punishes, penalizes and isolates. This is not Bible justice!

In the Israelite/Christian/Muslim tradition justice drives us to wholeness, reconciliation, and renewal. In our tradition, justice leads us to the heart of God.

SALVATION has been badly mangled by Evangelical Christians in particular. The call for individual salvation should be a tipoff to this particular grievous heresy. For many Evangelicals salvation is about a ticket for entrance into heaven at the time of death. This only remotely is what salvation is about. The best definition of salvation in English is “to be whole.” The drive of our religious tradition is not to make it to heaven but to be made whole. Heaven will take care of itself. Jesus was more concerned about the Kingdom of God on earth. Justice and salvation are nearly synonyms. Our understanding is that the heart of God longs, even begs for the whole creation to be healed and made whole.

Christians must speak truth to power. The great society for which we long is a society that is just and whole, not a combination of the rich and the poverty stricken waiting for crumbs.

The third word is my favorite. Once over dinner I asked a friend, who is an Old Testament scholar, the meaning of SHALOM (which is translated “peace” in English). After a long pause he responded “Shalom occurs when everything is the way it ought to be.” The drive of the Israelite/Christian/Muslim faith is the achievement of that time when everything is the way it ought to be.” If we keep this in mind, we are at the door of the heart of God. It does not take imagination to see how shalom relates to justice and salvation.

In America religious people have no special rights because we are believers. However, as believers, we have the freedom and the religious responsibility to speak truth to power. There is a way things ought to be. For this we speak and strive.

And last, MERCY. Mercy is a companion tool to be used alongside shalom, salvation and justice. How do we rid ourselves of past failures that have kept us from the achievement of justice, salvation and shalom? The word is mercy. Mercy removes the impact of past sins, mistakes, errors, and blunders. Mercy has the amazing ability to take us to a new day without the drag of yesterday’s failures. Mercy makes us and others fresh every morning.

However, mercy does NOT and should not lead us to forget. Mercy uses memory as a teaching tool. What does not work needs to be remembered for instruction but not for guilt and shame. Mercy enlightens the new day.

Israelites, Christians and Muslims have a special responsibility. We must speak truth to power. The world needs to hear our voice. The world needs to hear what greatness is all about. We must speak truth, we must practice justice with mercy and celebrate the possibilities of salvation.

Shalom to all!

The End

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hadbb@mtaonline.net.