Miller writes about the pastor of the congregation of which he is a part in Portland, OR, a man named Rick. Rick, he says, doesn't really care if the people to whom he reaches out believe in God or not, or come to believe in God. Rick ministers to people because that's what he's supposed to do, no questions asked, no demands or conditions applied.
One of my frustrations in my excursions through fundamentalist land last summer was the constant badgering about "belief". The various fundies somehow found it necessary to turn every discussion in to an argument to be won or lost; they invariably won because I wasn't involved in the arguments at all, and they set the rules anyway. At the same time, my good friend Democracy Lover enjoys pointing out the irrationality of religious belief in general and some of the claims of Christianity in particular, and feels that he has the better argument on these matters because I quite freely admit that there is no reason for holding the beliefs I do. Both positions share the fundamental assumption that it is necessary to show other people that living a truly human life involves understanding it, making sense of it, living by a set of rules comprehensible in themselves, and coherent enough to get other people to join up.
What a bunch of nonsense.
I wanted to exchange views with fundies; they wanted to tell me I was going to hell because I didn't subscribe to various doctrines, or don't believe in "Truth". I had and have no desire to convince anyone that what I believe must or should apply to anyone but me. All along, all I've been trying to do is explain what I believe, and why, so that I'm clear about it for myself. If anyone understands, that's wonderful. If not, well, most of this is between me and God anyway, and I think God understands, so that's all I really need to keep going from one day to the next.
If we had more clergy who didn't care if the people to whom they ministered accepted their words as representing something transcendent to which it was necessary to subscribe in order to live forever, I think I would be happy. Unfortunately, we think of "evangelism" as including asking the question, "Do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?", a question I'm still trying to understand. God didn't send Jesus only when the world accepted all the various teachings about who God is; Jesus came "in the fullness of time" - when God decided the time was right. The Disciples were called before they even knew who Jesus was; the whole time they were with him, they really didn't get what he was about, as he constantly pointed out. Why we should be held to some unbiblical standard concerning belief is beyond me.
The Christian life is about figuring it out as we go, and it is changing all the time. I no longer believe most of the stuff I thought I did ten or fifteen years ago. I'm quite sure in ten or fifteen years I will believe things I do not now, because life changes the way we see and think and believe. I would much rather have a faith that changes than slap a coat of lacquer on a bunch of words and say, "That's it, right there, all you need to live in faith!"
