Today I have a friend, Geoff Reinhart guest blogging.  He is an embedded church planter out of our church, New Community. The new church he is starting is called Chi Rho Community and is a missional church plant in North Idaho. Geoff describes himself as a wanna-be theologian and fly-fisherman. I like him!  :)

Here is his post.  At the end, let me know what you think. Enjoy.

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I have had a number of conversations in the last two weeks that all seem to circle back to the questions, “What kind of Christian are you? What do you believe?”  Labels are still strong in many corners of Christendom – if you say one certain thing, act specific ways, or are aligned or ordained through certain organizations, people think they can lump you into categories. Perhaps this is good at some level. I wonder, though, if on many levels Christianity shouldn’t be a little simpler. What kind of Christian am I? Uh, one that follows Jesus… What do I believe? Uh, I believe that Jesus is who He said He was. “I Am” are still two of the most important words in the New Testament. 

As I thought this through, Halter’s and Smay’s “The Tangible Kingdom” challenged me. The authors report on the observance of the current tensions in the church and how followers of one Savior can see things from such different perspectives:

Tensions can be characterized by seeing the church in two primary camps. One we’ll call “Jerusalem Christians” (those who see the person of Jesus through their traditions and the literal interpretation of doctrine) and the other “Galilee Christians” (those who see the Christian message through the person of Jesus and the narratives about his life). Often, Jerusalem Christians turn belief into dogma: arbitrary rules of life that people are held to beyond their common sense.

A few examples may help here. Jerusalem people are represented pretty heavily in the traditional evangelical camp. They hold doctrine so tightly that sometimes the life of Jesus gets obscured. For example, while in seminary my Jerusalem-oriented professor of New Testament said that Christian leaders should never drink alcohol. As any good Irishman would do, I raised my hand and asked the obvious question, “Didn’t Jesus drink and make wine?” I was asked to leave the class before an answer came. This man interpreted other scriptures so that he could create a case for grape juice instead of wine. I, on the other hand, was focusing on What Did Jesus Do? Others may piece together some scripture and conclude that Christians shouldn’t have non-Christian friends, yet Jesus was called a friend of sinners. Hundreds of thousands of Christians believe you can’t get into heaven without “praying the sinner’s prayer,” even though Jesus granted salvation to many without one reference to a person praying a prayer. Even postresurrection, there’s no precedence for praying a prayer as the ticket to eternity.

Galilean Christians are those who interpret the Bible through the life of Jesus. The Jerusalem people, therefore, tend to be more literal and conscious of correct doctrine, whereas Galileans try to develop a correct theological framework around the life and deeds of Jesus. Jerusalem Christians are more comfortable with black and white. Galilean Christians were forced to deal honestly with the grey areas. Jerusalem Christians strive for perfection in the minutest details, whereas Galilean Christians just want to make sure they don’t mess up on any of the “biggies.” (The atonement, justice, mercy, love, benevolence and advocacy for the poor, oppressed, and sinners, to name a few.)

So, back to the original question: What kind of Christian are you?  Honestly, my idealism has me pretty firmly in the Jerusalem camp, but my life application of the Scriptures forces me practically into the fold of Galileans. Here is what I have seen in the last few weeks: most of us who call ourselves “Christian” like to use statements that make us sound like we’re from Jerusalem, but as soon as life and sin hit close to home, we situationally shift to being Galilean. The fact is, we need to reside in the tension between Jerusalem and Galilee – both are important, and living peacefully with those who are stronger on the Jerusalem or Galilean “side” is possible.

I meet once a month with a group of men to discuss theology (“Theology on Tap” is one of the names we use to describe what we do). What makes this group so interesting are the varied backgrounds and beliefs of the participants. We can argue and debate our way through Trinitarian theology or cosmic origins and leave as respected friends (maybe the “tap” part is helpful here).

Is there consistency between what you say you believe as a person of faith and how you interact with the world in all circumstances? When or why would there be inconsistency?

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If you live in North Idaho and are interested in joining Geoff in his new venture, you can reach him at: Geoff Rinehart