Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Piatt

Home
Progressive Christian
Three of the Most Dangerous Christian Words: “Do You Believe…”

Three of the Most Dangerous Christian Words: “Do You Believe…”

Last updated on: April 18, 2015 at 12:40 am by Christian Piatt

Three of the Most Dangerous Christian Words: “Do You Believe…” 2015-04-18T00:40:14+00:00 Christian Piatt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If you were ever baptized, think of the three words the pastor or priest likely said to you before performing the sacred act.

How about if you decided to join a church.

Or when you wanted to receive communion.

Or if you were confronted by another Christian about the strength or integrity of your faith.

All too often, the phrase offered by the “person in power” or “person of authority” will pose a questions to you that goes something like this:

Do you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, do you believe he died for your sins and do you proclaim him as your personal Lord and Savior?

And has it ever occurred to you to think about what the reaction would be if you said no? Or even if you sad “I don’t know,” “perhaps,” or “let me think about it.”?

It may not be explicitly stated, but this “statement of belief” many of us have been on the receiving end of is a litmus test, a test of spiritual fitness to allow the holder of power – the gatekeeper – to deem if you’re worthy of the privilege or blessing they are imparting.

But it’s unfair. In fact, it’s not Christ-like.

For starters, we have to consider where the phrase has its roots. Not very long (in the context of 2000 years of history anyway) after Christianity was established as the state religion of the Roman Empire, the ones in power (both in government and the Church) recognized that their plan wasn’t working the way it was supposed to. The idea of the church-state marriage of convenience was to be of mutual benefit to both parties. But despite most people claiming Christianity at least in name, lots of different groups interpreted what it meant to be Christian in lots of different ways.

As I wrote in my book, postChristian: What’s left? Can we fix it? Do we care?, some early Christians believed in the physical resurrection, while others didn’t.

Some considered Jesus to be both human and divine; others only believed one or the other.

Some were monotheists; others believed in as many as 365 different gods.

The differences were many. And what the Powers that Be realized was that this was hard – if not impossible – to control. And what good is a state religion if it can’t be used to leverage power?

So the government and the Church came to an agreement of what it meant to be a “real Christian.” It is called, in retrospect, “proto-orthodoxy,” which means “original belief.” It was at this point that belief in the trinity, in the physical resurrection and the importance of monotheism took hold. All other beliefs were considered apostasy, and were grounds for expulsion from the empire or execution.

Not surprisingly, the threat of death or exile made proto-orthodoxy a pretty easy sell. And as for the dissenters, well…they weren’t heard from for long.

But why orthodoxy? Why focus simply on belief? For one, they couldn’t very well follow people around all day, making sure they acted Christ-like. And they certainly couldn’t give them a psycho-spiritual assessment to determine the nature of their heart. So the most obvious way to get people to fall into line was to establish orthodoxy and to require people to claim it as their own.

Or else.

But this method of defining the fitness of Christians really stuck, well beyond the reign of the Roman empire. For one, it was efficient. Ask someone to proclaim their beliefs, and if they pass, they get the good stuff. If not, do not pass go.

In fact, it remains as the principal means of control for religious leaders in our contemporary culture. Why? Not because it’s modeled after the Greatest Commandment, or after the actions and words of Jesus when he met someone in need during his ministry. It remains because it keeps those in power where they are, and it gives them a simple tool to maintain order.

But that’s the kind of fear-mongering power play that Jesus confronted head-on.

When someone asked him for help, he didn’t first ask them what they believed, or to recite the Apostle’s Creed (which didn’t exist yet). He didn’t make them sign a statement of faith (most of the people around him couldn’t read anyway). He just helped them. If anything, he tended to say “your faith has made you well.”

He didn’t say “your faith in me has made you well.”

He didn’t even require them to become Christian, or even Jewish, before he helped them. Or even after he helped them.

He just praised their faithfulness (ie: persisting or taking a risk to humble themselves before him and others, reaching out in an act of trust), he helped them, and then he urged them to go and help others.

It’s not that belief in itself is a bad thing. But how we use it, and the ultimate importance we give belief creates a lopsided, unhealthy (and arguable un-Christian) Christianity.

Think of Christian identity as a three-legged stool. One leg is orthodoxy (right belief). A second is orthopraxy (right actions). But third – and often neglected by many Christian individuals and organizations) is orthopathy. This means right-heartedness. For far too long, the orthodoxy leg has tried to hold up the stool on its own. And it just doesn’t work. Jesus even tried to tell the folks who were hung up on creeds and legalism. But it seems we’re bound to repeat mistakes if we don’t learn from them the first time around.

And as I note in my previous post about what Christianity can learn from Buddhism, the orientation of our hearts around the fundamental guiding principle of selfless, all-encompassing sacrificial love inevitably informs what we believe and how we act. This is why Jesus says that all other laws and commandments depend on how we love.

Period.

Said another way, once we all get a handle on the sacrificial, consuming state of love into which Jesus invites us, then lets talk about whether our beliefs and actions are behaving appropriately.

I’d bet anything that they do. In fact, I’m betting my life on it.

Previous Post

April 15, 2015

Five Things Christianity Can Learn From Buddhism

Next Post

April 20, 2015 Explaining "Working Poor" to my Privileged, Middle Class Children

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category atonement belief bible Bill O'Reilly Buddhism CCM children christian piatt christianity Contemporary Christian Music current events derek flood Easter education Everyday Sunday faith faith and culture Frank Schaeffer great commission Haaz Sleiman Hobby Lobby Homebrewed Culture humor ISIS Jesus John Paul Lederach Killing Jesus LGBTQ marc driscoll Mission Year Music My Jesus Project Nat Geo parenting politics popular culture postChristian prison reform Ray rice religion republicans sacrifice sexuality theology Uncategorized video violence wild goose festival World Vision young adults

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Amen" originally mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Let it happen So be it Praise God Be true