As I prepare for my confirmation into the Episcopal Church next weekend, I noticed something in the Book of Common Prayer I really love. When asking new members if they promise to uphold the teachings of the Church, we are to say, "I will, with God's help." I love this because it allows for the occasional season of doubt and questions. I'm not promising to believe everything perfectly, and the church fathers, in their wisdom, knew the impossibility of this. But "with God's help," when we act in faith, the heart can't help but follow.
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What's one of the weirdest book titles you've ever read in public? Have you ever made a friend or had an interesting interaction with someone based on the title of the book you're reading? I finished this memoir about endometriosis last night and never had a chance to take it to Starbucks 😂 •
I once had someone approach me at a coffee shop to comment on my book, Paul Behaving Badly. I was reviewing it for a Christian blog I was freelancing for at the time. In asking me if I thought the apostle Paul was a self-righteous jerk who didn't like women, which the book aimed to disprove, it soon became clear that the guy was just using the book as a launching pad to evangelize to me. I told him I was already Christian, but I guess he had to make sure I was the "right kind" of Christian. Interestingly, when I told him I affirmed everything in the Apostles' Creed, he didn't seem to know what that was. Protestant newb- just kidding (sort of) 😜🤣☺️ •
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I think a big part of spiritual maturity is recognizing that not everyone’s faith is going to look entirely like yours. I believe it’s possible for two believers to carefully study the same piece of Scripture, using the best educational sources available, and still come to different conclusions about what it means, and how to apply it. •
Where it gets complicated is when you have people claiming to love Jesus out of one side of their mouth, who then make statements that directly contradict His commands. They support policies that make life harder for poor people, or make excuses for certain lifestyle choices that involve adultery with porn stars. Doesn’t that make them “false teachers”? Doesn’t that make them “fake Christians”?
My instinct is to say yes – but my real answer is “I don’t know.” •
Most importantly, determining whether someone is “real” or “false” means you have the ability to see into their hearts – something only God can do. And I attest that one can passionately love Jesus while being wrong about plenty of things.
Rather than use “fake” or “false Christian” as a means to separate “us and them,” I prefer to use “toxic Christian” instead.
This indicates that I disagree with teachings I find harmful, but doesn’t discredit the faith behind them, which isn’t my job to do. •
Even if I don’t recognize the Jesus that some Christians worship, the best I can do is call out poisonous fruit. The judgment of the tree that fruit comes from is up to God.
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I should probably hand over my Protestant membership card (assuming I ever had one) for how much thought I've given to the Eucharist lately: just how essential is it to Christian worship? Is it the literal body and blood of Christ, or purely symbolic? •
This book offers one of the most comprehensive explanations for those questions that I've ever read. A few years ago, I would have been solidly in the "purely symbolic" camp. I can't say my mind has been officially changed, but now I can say this: I think there is a good deal of sacred mystery involved. Maybe I don't need to know if it's "real" or "not real." Lose the mystery, lose the wonder. It also helps to know that the Episcopal Church does not come down heavily in favor of either side. •
But perhaps the most important aspect of the Eucharist for me is the part of remembrance: "Do this is in remembrance of me." That part is the most Jewish part of the whole thing, if I can say that loosely. My friend Helena, another Jew-scopalian (hehe), calls it a "yahrzeit" -- the Hebrew word that refers to a death anniversary. Jews light a candle on the anniversary on the death of a loved one, and recite the mourner's prayer. In the Episcopal Church, and other liturgical churches, we essentially do the same thing with the bread and the wine. •
Put in that perspective, it becomes so much more personal to me.
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