Christianity

Do we still call ourselves Christian?

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Over the past few years I have seen many people announce on social media that they are no longer calling themselves “Christian” because of who the term has been associated with in movies and in the mainline press. The word “Evangelical” has received similar treatment. Those in the middle and on the progressive edges of society that still hold true to the teachings of Jesus can often be found twisting themselves in knots to get the proper language that both defines as well as differentiates.

We have to stop and reflect on that practice.

Why should we, those who have read the Bible, or the Gospels at least, be the ones to change ourselves and separate ourselves from 2000 years of tradition?

While not all of that history is positive (insert any reference to the Spanish Inquisition and The Crusades here), much of it has been. We have seen the spread of health care and education, minority rights… in fact all the hallmarks of a progressive social democracy can be found in the origins of Christianity. And if we are being historically faithful, even before that with the Hebrew people.

It has been proven over and over again that when good people try to tinker with language or give up our identification, those who are twisting that identification want more. There gets to be a point when we have nothing left to give up.

So before we get to that point this go around, because let’s face it, everything we are seeing today has been done before (spoiler: the fascists always lose in the end), let’s just not. There is no need to give up our words, or give them away to people who want to destroy the positive found in those words.

To be “Christian” is to be a follower of Christ. We can call ourselves that, can’t we?

To be “Evangelical” means to be people who tell the story of the Good News. We are still doing that, aren’t we? In fact that is why this website is called The Barefoot Evangelist.

We should not give up who we are to appease those who do not represent us. We need to use those words and titles even more, proving what they really mean. Words have power.

Sunday Reflection – Lent I, March 9, 2025

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Temptation

Luke 4 When Jesus returned from the Jordan River, the power of the Holy Spirit was with him, and the Spirit led him into the desert. 2 For 40 days Jesus was tested by the devil, and during that time he went without eating. When it was all over, he was hungry.

3 The devil said to Jesus, “If you are God’s Son, tell this stone to turn into bread.”

4  Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say, ‘No one can live only on food.’ ”

5 Then the devil led Jesus up to a high place and quickly showed him all the nations on earth. 6 The devil said, “I will give all this power and glory to you. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 Just worship me, and you can have it all.”

8  Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say:

‘Worship the Lord your God
    and serve only him!’ ”

9 Finally, the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on top of the temple. The devil said, “If you are God’s Son, jump off. 10-11  The Scriptures say:

‘God will tell his angels
    to take care of you.
They will catch you
    in their arms,
and you will not even hurt
    your feet on the stones.’ ”

12  Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don’t try to test the Lord your God!’ ”

13 After the devil had finished testing Jesus in every way possible, he left him for a while.

Kids Korner: Is Jesus a king? (November 24th)

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Read John 18:33-37 with your family.

In the days when Jesus was teaching, people tried hard to understand what he was trying to say, especially when the things Jesus said were so different from what they understood of the world around him.

We have the same problem today. We expect Jesus’ stories and teachings to fit into our 21st century world, and really struggle to force it to fit when it doesn’t easily.

But Jesus asked us to think outside the box, to not use our assumptions to understand what he was saying, but rather to use our heart and our ears to hear the message and vision of something new.

When Jesus was asked if he was king, he knew Pilate was only asking about political leadership the way Pilate understood it. But Jesus was never interested in leading a country or an empire, Jesus was trying to change all of it into a better world for everyone, not just the rich.

Jesus didn’t answer Pilate because Pilate could not understand. Now it’s our turn. Do we understand Jesus?

Arrogance and presumptuousness of the Abrahamic traditions

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That’s a fancy title, but it gets at the heart of what I think is happening in the Middle East. Like almost everyone else in the world my news channels have been bringing stories of the happenings from kidnapping to humanitarian crisis, and all the terrorism in between. All of us are watching a crisis that has been thousands or hundreds or decades or weeks in the making, depending on who we listen to and who wants to dominate the mic.

The truth is something less simplistic and more compelling: One of the main problems in the Abrahamic traditions is the assumption that each of us have, that Christianity, Judaism or Islam in turn have decided we are the most important and the only ones who should have a voice. Even in historical times when there have been attempts to treat each other better, the status of ‘second class citizen’ has accompanied any senes of tolerance.

It doesn’t matter which tradition we look at, there are plenty of Christian, Muslim and Jewish fascists, totalitarian governments and terrorists. No one is prepared to budge from their position of absolute domination.

And in that arrogance, people are being killed.

It takes nothing to whip people up into hate and justification for their actions. Being angry is easy.

The hard job is saying what part did we play to contribute to this situation and where do we go from here. That’s the mature conversation that no one in the Middle East or any of their hardline supporters want to have.

All of the Abrahamic traditions have scriptures, songs and prayers of peace and positive relationships with neighbours, but none of the leadership is listening.

When God made the promise to Abraham that his generations would be more numerous than the stars in the sky, there was never a conditioning statement that said only some of them would have the right to live in the promised land.

Teen Time: God in the midst of a non-binary world (November 7th)

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Not every passage in the Bible is hiding a secret message.

Quick test: If the words of the Bible lead to people being excluded, it’s best to take a really good look at the meaning behind the verses with someone who knows what was happening at the time. If the words are inclusive, then we are pretty close to reading Jesus’ teaching straight-up. God is always, always the God of everyone, believers or not.

Who were the Galatians? The were a group of Greek speakers on the west end of modern Turkey, in today’s city of Ankara. They were believed to have emigrated from Gaul (modern France) around the 3rd century BCE. Paul started the church in their community within a decade or two of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Teen Time: Christianity & Halloween, what’s the deal? (October 31st)

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Over the past 2000 years Christianity has become a significant faith in almost every country in the world, making us a universal faith. And when people see their old festivals and celebrations through the lens of their new faith, cultures start to merge.

Some facts about the celebration of Halloween:

1. The name itself means “All Hallow’s Eve”, and was the night before “All Hallow’s Day”, which today we call All Saints Day

2. Christians celebrated our saints from the beginning, and when they got too numerous, it was agreed to collect them all into one day of celebration

3. All Saints Day started out being celebrated in May or June, after Pentecost, and the Eastern Orthodox traditions still celebrate All Saints Day this way

4. All Saints Day was celebrated in Rome for over a century until Pope Louis the Pious decided everyone throughout the church, no matter where they lived, should attend church and recognize the importance of our saints on All Saints Day

5. Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis on the doors of the cathedral on October 31st because he knew crowds of people were attending worship on November 1st, and he wanted to start a conversation about the way the church was abusing the people with the Indulgence System (paying for yourself or a relative to get out of purgatory). October 31st is also Reformation Day

6. In the Celtic traditions in Ireland and Scotland, Samhain (pronounced Sow-in, or Sow-een), was the harvest festival when they brought the herds down from the north and had to slaughter most of them before winter began

7. Both Ireland and Scotland had different traditions for celebrating Samhain, and included things like bonfires, children going door to door asking for firewood or treats, feasting, dressing in costume, carving a face on a turnip, and remembering the dead

8. Settlers to North America from Ireland and Scotland brought the mixed traditions of Samhain and All Saints, and both traditions make up our modern tradition of Halloween (with a good amount of marketing from the candy manufactures)