Calling James Talarico NOT a Christian Says More About You Than Him

It's wild to me when people suggest otherwise. But I understand why they do.

I do a lot of thinking, writing, and talking about what it means to be Christian (in fact I’ve got an entire chapter on this topic in my upcoming book, learn more about that here).

In short, I think the question of what it means to BE Christian is far more useful and meaningful than what it means to be A Christian. In other words, being Christian (as a verb, describing the way you live) seems to me to be the whole point, whereas being a Christian (as a noun, describing an identity) feels at best a distraction and at worst an on-going example of how religions get used to divide instead of unite.

More and more when someone accuses another person of not “being a Christian” I rephrase it in my head as them accusing someone of “not being the same kind of Christian that I’ve come to believe is the correct version based on a very narrow view of what I think are the right beliefs, aka, the beliefs which I just so happen to hold.”

Sure it’s clunky, but it’s also true.

Is James Talarico a Christian?

If you’re new to the name James Talarico, here’s a good starting point. He currently serves in the House of Representatives in Texas and is running for Senate this year. He’s also, by my estimation, an incredibly thoughtful, compassionate, kind, respectful, and articulate man who is absolutely animated by his Christian faith.

And yet, I read an article the other day titled, “James Talarico is (Probably) NOT a Christian.” Because I’m familiar with so much of what Talarico stands for, I assumed this headline was irony.

Sadly, it was not.

The author (we shall call him Tim, for that is his name) made an actual effort to claim that James Talarico is not a Christian. To spare you from reading the overly long article, his main two points were:

1. Since Talarico is Pro-Choice, that means he denies the humanity of Jesus. The author used multiple hundreds of words to talk about abortion before finally making his point, that unless a person believes that life begins at conception, then they can’t be a Christian because that would be denying that Jesus was fully human all the time. As he put it, it denies “the Word becoming flesh.” Quite the stretch, but okay.

2. Since Talarico supports same-sex marriage, that means he denies the divinity of Jesus. Talarico says what many of us say (myself included) when he points out that Jesus never spoke against—or for, for that matter—same-sex marriage. Tim takes this undisputed fact and goes on to say that since the Old Testament condemns homosexuality (except that it doesn’t, Tim), and since God describes what is and is not marriage for all times (again, that’s not quite right either… another subject I explore in my next book), then these should be understood as Jesus also saying those things. Tim’s idea is, if anyone suggests “Jesus didn’t say” something that we read about in the Old Testament as coming from God, then that’s tantamount to denying the divinity of Christ. Another stretch, IMO.

Therefore, according to Tim, James Talarico is (probably) not a Christian because he denies both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus.

Which I can promise you isn’t even true, by the way. Talarico would (and does) affirm both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus. So even the main points of the article are incorrect, and absurdly so. All the author did was prove that James Talarico doesn’t share some of the beliefs as he, Tim, does. Big whoop. That’s true about pretty much every human on the face of the earth.

And saying that he is “not a Christian” is disingenuous, because really the claim being made is, “he does not fit my narrowly defined view for what it means to be a Christian based on a specific set of doctrinal positions that I’ve come to believe are the essential tenets of the faith.”

Also big whoop. (I think this is a record for the number of times I’ve used “whoop” in an article). Christianity has been a diverse religion since its inception. To assume there is but one correct way to think about all the theological intricacies of Christianity is merely to reveal you’ve got some gaps in your knowledge about church history.

If our religion is a tool that helps us live more like Jesus, then we’re doing it right. Conversely, if our religion is a tool that helps us measure who’s in and who’s out, well, to quote Jesus, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

Oh how far the apple of Christianity has fallen from the tree of what it originally mean to be a Follower of the Way. (Which, need I remind you, were what the first Christians were called: Followers of the Way. Not acquiescers to Doctrinal Statements)

Christianity is More About Behavior Than Beliefs

Most of the hand wringing and online ink-spilling done within Christianity today revolves around beliefs. Doctrine. Theology. Ideas in our brains.

If aliens scoured the vibes across the internet, they’d likely walk away with some formula of: To be a Christian means you believe ____________ and __________, and definitely do NOT believe _________ or __________. Exactly what goes in those blanks are simply a matter of which denomination, tradition, or branch of Christianity you come form.

It’s just… that’s not how Jesus seemed to operate, was it?

As best I can tell, Jesus wanted people to follow him. To be his disciple. To live as he did, to act as he did, to treat people as he did. It’s not that beliefs were unimportant to him, but certainly he didn’t focus on beliefs in the same way that many Christians today do—which is to say, they elevate beliefs as the most important thing. When Jesus did consider beliefs it seems as though what mattered had more to do with their efficacy in producing good fruit, and not their accuracy to some objective truth.

Plus, keep in mind that the idea of “being a Christian” was nonsensical to Jesus because dude was still alive.

Clearly whatever it could’ve meant to be a follower of Jesus, during the actual time of Jesus, could not have rested on, for instance, a theological belief about either the divinity of Christ or the resurrection of Jesus. I’m not saying those positions are unimportant (certainly as it relates to the tradition of Christianity-as-religion they rate near the top), I’m just pointing out that someone could have been an absolutely perfect picture of a “follower of Jesus” during the time of 30-33AD and not held either of those two beliefs in their head.

And that actuality matters to me. A lot.

What Does Being Christian Look Like?

What else matters (or at least, what I think should matter more to many Christians) are the kinds of things that seemed to matter most to Jesus. Making such a list should not be difficult. Off the top of my head, here’s what seemed to matter to Jesus.

• Forgive people (like, every time)

• Show compassion (like, all the time)

• Love others (those who like you, and those who do not)

• Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the poor (if you think there’s a hell, doing these things is how you avoid going there… at least, according to Jesus)

• Call out hypocrisy in leaders (fools at the top of the pyramid shouldn’t get away with being awful humans just because they have lots of power… this goes double if they’re a religious leader)

• Trust in God

• Pray

• Serve people (especially if you’re in a position of authority or leadership)

• Be generous with your resources (hoarding wealth and being stingy really got Jesus' anger-juices flowing)

• Do religious things because they help you and others flourish, not because you’re trying to get right with God

• Be a person of your word

• Don’t respond to violence with violence

• Be free (because you are free)

• Through your actions as well as your words, communicate to others the beautiful and liberating power of living a life characterized by all the above

Doing these kinds of things? That is being Christian.

Based on what I know about James Talarico, I feel safe in assuming that he does his best, just like I do, to embody the above kind of life.

In other words, I think James is obviously Christian in how he lives. Both because he says he is, and because based on the testimony and witness of others, he also walks the walk.

As for what his (or anyone else’s, for that matter) particulars are when it comes to Christian theology? I don’t know. And on some level, I don’t care.

If you are loving God with your whole self, and if you are loving your neighbor as you love yourself, then you’re doing the Main Things Jesus taught.

Which means, you’re following in the way of Jesus.

Which means, you’re Christian.

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This Weekend in Palm Desert

For anyone in the Palm Springs/Desert area, I’m coming your way this weekend!

On Saturday, March 21st I’ll be presenting Not an Oxymoron: Why LGBTQ Affirming Christianity Makes Sense at Hope Lutheran Church. Event starts at 3pm. Register here.

Then on Sunday, March 22nd I’ll be preaching at all three services at Hope Lutheran Church. Get service times and directions here.

I HOPE to see you there! (See what I did there?)