So in 2005, when the church I'd worked for, for 3 years, left the denomination because of the denomination's decision to change the definition of "salvation" and adopt a more universal approach to their faith, I didn't see a problem. We had to stand by the definition of Christian, as outlined in the Bible. I was flabbergasted by the encounters I had with others who felt more allegation to the denomination than to Christianity as a whole. They had always been a part of the Disciples of Christ denomination and that identity was supreme to them.
Even though that choice felt foreign to me, its not uncommon. As I read through Nabeel Qureshi's book, "Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus," I become more aware of just how impossible walking away from ones' belief system can be. Its like the childhood assumptions created a foundation that our very identity hinges on and challenging that threatens one's perceived identity. But this isn't just about changing religions.
When I arrived in Visalia, and began to study the Bible from the perspective of the Jewish faith and Middle Eastern culture (from where it was written), I was in awe of how I had let Western culture taint my understanding of what the Bible was actually saying. I realized a faith I accepted at 4, had been built upon often by uneducated volunteers filling a spot in some Sunday school class and that I had believed things just simply because someone told me to, not because I had been shown it as truth.
Believing something doesn't make it true.
Its hard to see truth when it stands in opposition to something you have believed as truth your whole life. It begins to open Pandora's box of wondering what beliefs are open for questioning. Here's the thing when it comes to my faith, I am committed to believing what the Bible actually says, not what I believed it said just because its tradition.
Studying the Bible has proven to be an enemy making activity. Why? The more I study it and take it for what it really says in context of culture and situations of that day, the more I find myself alienated from established Christian groups. Within the Christian community it would seem, I am by all accounts too liberal for conservatives and too conservative for liberals. But our beliefs shouldn't be a package deal - believing x means you also believe in y and z.
What changed for me?
Issues like women's role in ministry, what is hell, and understanding what specific scriptures were actually saying began to completely change as I examined the original language and context of the scriptures.
Reading my Bible wasn't enough, I had to study it. If I assert that I believe in the Bible as God's word - active and alive, then I must know exactly what that means in order to truly live up to my calling of sharing the good news!!!
This challenge isn't to tell you if you disagree with me, you are wrong, rather, its to ask, why do you believe what you believe? Do you believe in something because you studied it and believe its truth or do you believe it because that is what you were always told to believe? I want to believe truth even when it crumbles the traditions I've always held true.
So I end with this question: Why Do You Believe What You Believe?
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