Faith Reconsidered

A long-time friend of mine recently asked about my change in direction both theologically and politically. I began a letter to him several times, but realized that I could not explain the transition in a page or two. I decided to send him some of the essays that I wrote as I had processed my thoughts, but realized there were too many to attach to a letter. So, this is the result!

Below, I have listed in chronologic order, my essays and thoughts. Most are complete. Some resemble more of an outline, possibly prepared for discussion in a group setting. A few are incomplete, probably because I was distracted by another thought or event, and never made my way back. Some overlap. Repetition is common, as it reflects a revisiting and reprocessing of various themes as I progressed in my journey.

Introduction and Background

Being raised a Fundamentalist Baptist, initially aligning myself with the far right “moral majority” politically, I now identify with the Emergent Church Movement, am a member of a Methodist church, and consider myself politically progressive. How did this change come about? Did I deny Christ? Am I a heretic?

Christ is at the center of my transformation! My shift in theology and politics is a direct result of my spiritual walk with and pusuit of God. I believe I am closer to the heart of God than I have ever been.

The change began subtly. Probably the first significant discomfort with my status quo was while attending Cedarville College. The continual student and faculty debates on Calvinism disturbed me. They seemed to be divisive and certainly not honoring to God or one another. Participating in beach evangelism left me questioning and feeling a bit empty, wondering what we had accomplished. And, just before leaving for a short-term mission trip to a mission hospital in Africa, my pastor warned me to not become overly concerned with the physical needs of the people, but to keep my eye on eternity and their need of salvation! He cautioned that the physical needs could distract me from the spiritual needs, if I wasn’t careful!

Then, during my Air Force years, attending, and becoming a member of a church outside my formative denomination was accompanied by the beginnings of theologic reconsideration and prioritization. The First Gulf War caused me to reconsider my politics and committment to the military.

Promise Keepers, a mentoring relationship with a progressive pastor, and life experiences continued to challenge my thinking. However, the real classroom of transformation was my mission experience in Honduras, where my theology and politics were shredded. I have posted my Thoughts from Honduras elsewhere, but in them I didn’t share much of my inner struggle concerning theology and politics. I feared that that would not settle well with my supporters.

Several books were key to my awakening: the A New Kind of Christian series by Brian McLaren, books on Orthodox theology, the early Church fathers, Roman Catholicism, and my favorites, by N.T. Wright, who is an Anglican theologian and first century historian. The writings of Hugh Ross challenged my thinking about creationism.

And probably most influential was seeing through new eyes, through the eyes of my Honduran neighbors, what the North American Church and American politics looked like. It was not a pleasant sight!

At the end of 2006, my family returned to the U.S., to Athens, Ohio, where years before I received my medical education. Athens is a town of extremes that have learned to co-exist. A town that values thought and education; a comfortable place to continue my transformation and to reconsider my faith and politics.

And that is where these essays begin:

2007

The Word

The Living Body of Christ

Differences

Just Think About It

Health Care: What Would Jesus Do?

Eric Liddle

Health Care

2008

Meditations on The Trinity

2009