life, love and all that I can be
Two of our congregations last night as part of our worship attended a public lecture delivered by Bishop John Shelby Spong. The lecture was about our historical understanding of God and some of the conflicts between traditional theology and our knowledge and understanding in the 21st century. I was quite struck by his closing reflection (which I will try to reproduce as closely as I can):
I believe that God is the source of all life.
Therefore, the only way that I can worship him is to live fully.
I believe that God is the source of all love.
Therefore, the only way that I can worship him is to love wastefully.
I believe that God is the ground of all being.
Therefore, the only way that I can worship him is to be all that I possibly can be.
I am a Christian. Why?
Because I believe that Jesus Christ lived so fully, that I can perceive the source of life within him.
Because I believe that Jesus Christ loved so wastefully, that I can perceive the source of love within him.
Because I believe that Jesus Christ became all that he possibly could be, and I can perceive the ground of all being within him.
What is my role as a Christian?
To work to create a world where every person has the ability to live fully.
To work to create a world where every person has the ability to love wastefully.
To work to create a world where every person has the ability to be all that he or she can be.
What a challenge that is.
October 14th, 2003 at 11:23 am
Yes, it’s very challenging considering that Spong doesn’t believe most of what the bible said about Jesus Christ.
October 14th, 2003 at 12:54 pm
I don’t understand. Do you disagree with this reflection? Do you think that this reflection is unbiblical? Do you think it is unchallenging?
Regardless, through my reading and listening to Spong, I feel that saying that “he doesn’t believe most of what the bible said about Jesus Christ” is a gross injustice.