Jesus Wore
Silk Knickers Part One: The Rose & St Cliff
I’ve been
chewing something over the past couple of days since Christmas. Listening to Radio 4 on Christmas morning
Aled Jones (the lad who actually didn’t walk in the air with the snowman)
interview Rosemary Conley of the diet fame about her faith. Nothing wrong with that. She explained as many do how she came to God
during a real dip in her life; Divorce, death, illness and business problems. It’s not uncommon. My own faith story includes some of the major
fuckup scenarios that lead people to ask the big questions about life and to
seek the answers through spiritual doorways.
It was a
typical interview full of clichés (she even selected a Cliff Richard song!).
“I suppose I considered myself a Christian but I was really just going
through the motions,” “I didn’t have a
personal relationship with God. After I came to him, my whole life changed. Now
prayer is the most important part of my day, not something I rush through
mechanically. “I love morning prayer and reading Scripture. I often pray before
important business meetings. God is my guide in every aspect of my life,
whether personal or business.”
The thing
that annoyed me most though was her presumption that you have to all but down
and out before you begin your soul search or can live a happy life. This is a common theme that runs within the christian
faith. The presumption is that everyone
who “doesn’t know Jesus” must be having a really crappy life, that those who don’t
“accept Jesus as Lord” are “Lost”.
Rubbish evangelical statements like “life to the full” is only available
to christian believers is dished out relentlessly.
This is not
true. Let’s take those three themes (and there are many more) and just unwrap
them a little over the next couple of weeks:
Knowing Jesus:
Christians are in the main talking of “the personal relationship” with
Jesus. It’s sold as a true 1 to 1
relationship, face to face like the Pete and Dud monologues. Total trust is put in the “fact” that when
they talk to God then he hears every word and responds, just as if you were sat
across the table from him. It’s a lovely
thought isn’t it? Very comforting. Especially if you are feeling delicate,
lonely and vulnerable. To be fair it’s
also taught that even when you are in a good place you should “bring everything
to the Lord”.
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| "The fing is God - I'm not sure you exist like this" |
My point in
this section is that I reckon in having faith (total belief) that Jesus hears
your prayers and responds to every request is setting yourself up for
disappointment.
When the
prayers and requests fail to be fulfilled we are told, “ah but God’s ways are
not our ways”. The more fanatical Christian
will tell you that “everything happens for a reason”. Try telling that to the parents of the
children massacred in the U.S. just before Christmas. I’m sure even if the Right To Bear Arms was completely
revoked (which it won’t – sale of guns and even armour plated kids backpacks
have gone up!!) they would think the bloody murder of their infant was worth it.
My personal
relationship with God is just that – Personal.
It goes much deeper than the my little pony, touchy feely relationship
of a Father God and me his child. Spiritually,
I’m certain that I have had personal contact with the Almighty, even down to hearing
an audible voice on a couple of occasions.
However, despite that I reckon that my day to day life goes on without
the interference of a well meaning cuddly father xmas figure saying in a Harry
Enfield voice “you don’t want to do it like that”.
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| Only Me! |
For far too long I took (and offered) the advice of people who the church told me were well placed to offer me that advice and “authorised” to do so. - Even when they had no experience of a particular life problem or situation. - Duff advice was therefore on occasion dished out. The usual get out clause of some that had no real advice to offer was to “give it to the Lord” – pass the buck in effect – “take it in prayer to God and all will be well”. In minor situations, the relief of worry by faithfully passing the buck, was indeed sufficient to bring a bit of peace to the situation. But in truly serious situations the ramification of faithful abdication can be disastrous.
Some of faith have icon’s, figures of “saints” to whom you can offer prayers to who will intercede on your behalf to God. This is a strange one to me as it immediately puts a barrier in front of the 1 to 1 personal relationship.
The Christian commercial industry makes a literal fortune of selling merchandise to bring us closer to God. Pennants, posters, bracelets, DVD’s and music, all designed to assist us in focussing in on the one “we love and who loves us”.
I can see a value in looking towards the wisdom of the Almighty, but I’m fucked if a fluffy Easter chick saying Jesus Loves You, will convince me of such a fact.
I have bits and bobs stuck about my study, pearls of wisdom, some from the Bible, some from Richard Branson, Winston Churchill, Nelson, Mandela, Gandhi, Mother Theressa. I don’t worship any of these people as God, neither do I worship Jesus as God due to the hard sell of the Bible. As I’ve said before, the Bible helped to teach me about Jesus but it aint Him.
My faith is in a Spiritual God ( I believe Jesus WAS a human manifestation of God). Putting my faith in the Spiritual does make a difference because it assists me dealing with the negative thoughts in my mind and replacing them with those of a higher order and importance than my measly existence.
Sometimes when I’m in a difficult “life situation” I look at all the people on my study walls, my mentors alive or dead and ponder that they all took a chance of doing what they really believed in. I take comfort in that this is the same for me, be it in my understanding of “Knowing Jesus” or in the day to day events of life, no matter how hard either of those things may be.
To finish this Part 1: I recently read a book by John Suk, “Not Sure”. It’s about a pastor struggling with doubt and faith: He takes no prisoners when he turns to the widespread belief that the essence of Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus. His contentions are the following:
1. There is no theoretical consensus what this means.
2. Different religious denominations don’t offer official ideas on what it means.
3. Personal relationship has become what the person says it is.
“The bottom line is that the huge emphasis contemporary evangelicals put on a great personal experience of and with Jesus as the be all and end all [don't overcook this "be all and end all"] of Christian faith has little or nothing to do with Scripture and everything to do with taking from our culture [individualism precipitates a longing for the personal] what it thinks human happiness is all about”
In other words, they are creating their own designer religion.
The Personal Relationship demythologises God, it humanises God, it diminishes God, and makes religion cuddly and therapeutic.
Suk has pondered the Bible concerning this and says:
1. God is present; Jesus is present with us.
2. Jesus is especially present when we serve others.
3. God is sometimes distant; Jesus spoke of his absence (John 7:33, 34; 8:21).
4. Jesus’ absence means the presence of the Holy Spirit.
We want the same kind of relationship we have with a spouse but, Suk says, we can’t. I agree.
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| Me and my bessie Big J |
Next Time: Midnight at The Lost & Found.
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