Is Being Christian a Subjective Experience?
Since I think it's more important that we BE Christian (verb) as opposed to being A Christian (noun), does that make Christianity relative?
So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the kind of simplicity that arises on the other side of complexity. Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals of any given endeavor, and you’ve spent considerable time exploring the deeper complexities that arise out of the basics, eventually you hit a point of returning to simplicity.
But it’s more mature. More even keeled. Like I said the other day, in the sports world they talk about the game slowing down.
In reflecting on my own journey through (and slowly beyond) the complexities of Christianity, I tried to identify when it was that I started noticing this second, slower simplicity in my Christian practice.
I ended that post with these words:
…things began to simplify. Not just in my approach to ministry, but in my approach to, well, Christianity.
Rather than my faith being primarily characterized by acquiring the right beliefs and understanding the deeper mysteries of the religion that grew around the person of Jesus, I began to simply try and live my life patterned after the example of who Jesus was and how he lived.
You might say that I cared less about being a Christian (in the noun sense) and more about being Christian (in the verb sense).
Hearing from many of you, that sentiment struck a chord. In a good way.
Being Christian (as opposed to being A Christian)
It sounds as though there exist a not insignificant amount of us Christians out here who have grown disillusioned with the kind of Christianity primarily defined by “here’s the things you must believe in order to be one of us.” That’s what many of us were raised to think it meant to “be a Christian” (in the noun sense). Of utmost concern? You must think/believe a certain way.
For many of us, though, our experience of the world is that it’s far too complex for such a narrow, primitive view. Even if there did exist one singular “correct” way to think about every aspect of Christian theology, how on earth could we ever ascertain which perspective/tradition/denomination has it right?
I’d argue we can’t. Even if such a perfect perspective existed (which I’m dubious about), I do not think we could find it, or, would know it even if we did.
Which means we're left either in despair (woe is us! we can’t know the exact perfect way to think about everything!), or, we accept the situation as is and look elsewhere to find meaning and purpose.
In other words, what if it’s not about getting everything right?
What if it’s not about “correct belief?”
What if being Christian (in the verb sense) truly is more important than figuring what “a Christian” is (in the noun sense)?
And… stick with me here… what if such a move necessitates that we permit a certain kind of subjectivity to coincide with the practice of being Christian?
Being Christian is Different for Different People
My sense is that how one person “christians” (and yes, I’m using that word here as a verb) will not only probably look different from how another person christians, but it might actually require it.
Why? Simple: everyone’s context is a little different. Our backgrounds, our histories, our culture, our family of origin, our socioeconomic status, our ethnicity and so on, all these variables turn the dials of our lives and tune us to slightly different frequencies of existence. Therefore, how we live (even how we live as it relates to our religious leanings) will inevitably be different from one another.
I sense confusion… let me offer a few examples to try and illustrate what I’m getting at.
Consider how being Christian in the first century required navigating very different matters than it does now in the 21st century. For instance:
We wrestle over the ethical implications of things like stem cell research and A.I., whereas they wrestled over the ethical implications of eating meat that had been sacrificed to pagan gods.
We take for granted that slavery is a stain on our species history, whereas they took such systems for granted and therefore were trying to figure out how to treat slaves (or BE a slave) in ways that honored the teachings and moral example of Jesus.
We split our personalities multiple times and in multiple ways through various social media apps, dating websites, office relationships, and more; whereas life was surely more one-dimensional with regards to “this is who you are and this is how you relate to others” two thousand years ago.
You can imagine continuing that exercise with various points throughout history or across diverse cultures around the world, and you can see how “what it means to be Christian” changes.
Yes of course the call to “love your neighbor as yourself” remains, but precisely how one executes that call is dependent on so many factors.
Does This Stress You Out?
Now, perhaps all this reflection on the subjectivity of being Christian stresses you out, and if it does then I wonder if that might be worth getting curious about. Is it stressful because maybe you’ve been conditioned to think that there is a certain uniformity expected from Christianity? Or worse, expected by God? In other words, is it possible that you’ve been exposed to, and taught to believe, that there is One Way that all humans ought think/believe/act? And our goal, therefore, is to be on that singular path?
If that’s the case (and I would understand it if it was, because that’s what a lot of conservative/evangelical/fundamental Christianity teaches), then of course it would be unsettling or uncomfortable to consider not only are there different ways to be a Christian (as is evidenced by two thousand years of diverse thinking on the matter), but there are also different ways to be Christian.
I, for one, find such a notion liberating—even if I grant that there was a season in my life when it terrified me (precisely for the reasons just named). But nowadays I think it’s a gift to relax around this topic. It’s freer to accept and appreciate that people christian differently.
You might now be thinking, okay, so then are you saying that all ways of being Christian are equally valuable or acceptable? Is it just whatever-is-clever, you do you and I’ll do me?
No, not at all. In saying that I think there are multiple ways to be Christian I am not therefore implying that anything and everything goes, or that there is no hierarchy of good/better/best and bad/worse/worst. Of course there are. This is why I give so much emphasis to the fruit produced by any given belief or practice. The better the fruit, the better the belief.
In summary:
Focusing on being Christian in how we live might very well be more important than trying to be the right kind of Christian with regards to beliefs.
Since that’s true, it must therefore be acknowledged that people have been Christian in their actions/behaviors differently over the past 2000 years because so many factors and variables make it thus.
Such relativity is a feature of Christianity, not a bug.
However, our conditioning on what is/isn’t “real Christianity” understandably might cause numbers 2 and 3 above to stress some of us out.
Perhaps this is why Jesus encouraged (admonished?) people to not judge one another.
Not only is it super hard to do (at least in terms of judging rightly or appropriately) but we’re not very good at it, and it will almost certainly come back to bite us.
This article puts into words the expression of how my life has morphed into faith in current time.
Well said. Thank you 😇