Thomas Groome articulated the truth (as I perceive it) that Christianity, understood in an “individualized and ‘otherworldly’ manner is an impoverished and inaccurate understanding of salvation” (1). I, too, feel that the many manifestations of Christianity that seem to focus on salvation and orthopraxis as individualistic, concerned primarily with “admission” to Heaven, miss the core of Jesus’ ministry. I believe that this bankrupt understanding of the Christian faith results from the post-Enlightenment conflation of faith and belief; it has led Christians to believe that Christianity is about believing “correctly,” as opposed to living in line with Jesus’ ministry (2). Jesus’ articulation of the Kingdom of God (3), primarily achieved through loving our neighbors (4), is key to bridging this divide and building an active faith in the Christian communities I will serve.
In both preaching and more explicitly educational contexts, I think this can be done by focusing on Jesus’ themes of healing and justice, as well as by uncovering the meanings of Kingdom that better align with Jesus’ ministry. In the communities I will serve, we must co-discover ways to bring Kingdom forth and avoid articulations of Kingdom as afterlife or an end-times event. In discovering what the Gospel means for our lives, yada and its meanings can be explored; if biblical ways of “knowing” are related to love, so our learning needs to be related to love (5). As people, most of us know that love is unhealthy when it is only words or sentiments; love must be acted upon in order to be healthy. It must be kind and compassionate. Love fails to have meaning if it is only spoken of.
Imagining faith as a verb can also help communities discover the ways that Christian faith is and can be active (6). In telling Jesus’ stories and other stories in the Bible, their actions (or calls to action) must be considered. While the ways that folks in my non-creedal denomination view faith and salvation may vary, discussing these biblical understandings of knowing and having faith can help set a foundation through which to explore scripture.
Groome’s articulations of faith as verb and yada will help me to create building blocks for exploring Bible stories by asking communities to study the stories of our tradition through the lens of loving action. In essence, I must ask, “What can these stories teach me about how to love my neighbor?” and “How can I act in the world in ways that bring forth Kingdom?” If I bring these questions and lenses to my ministerial contexts, I will hopefully challenge myself and my community to bring Jesus out of “up above” and back down to earth through our hands and feet.
(1) Thomas H. Groome, Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision (New York: Harper and Row, 1981), 35.
(2) Ibid, 57-60.
(3) Ibid, 44-45. I would define “Kingdom” similar to McBrien’s fifth school of thought, although I would suggest that Kingdom does not arrive fully at the end of time, but when we (as humanity) truly realize our inherent interrelatedness and live that truth.
(4) Ibid, 39-41.
(5) Ibid, 141.
(6) Ibid, 68.
Bibliography
Groome, Thomas H. Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision. New York: Harper and Row, 1981.
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