Genesis

I think for me, following Christ is just an accident of birth. Born into the right family, right time, right place. I think the need for a Christ-like figure (God in form of man) is basically inherent in our human nature. Thus the reason I followed Christ is that I was born into a Christian family in the US. I have no doubt that if I had been born into a Jewish, Muslim, of Hindu family, that I would be a devout believer in each religion and that it would likely meet the needs I have to experience God.

That explains why I started, but why continue? The Divine Christ gives me a culturally appropriate glimpse of God that I believe all religions seek to engage.

Though I have been taught from Day 1 of my life that Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sins, that has never made a lot of sense to me. This understanding was no longer culturally relevant for me, although I am fine with others that find it relevant to their life and understanding (as long as they are not condemning me for mine).

Because of this, I have struggled for a long time with what salvation means since there really was not a progressive view of salvation while growing up. While not a perfect answer, I have come to understand it as being saved from my own Human Nature or as Paul puts it, "the flesh". What this means for me is that I focus less and less on my wants and desires and focus more and more on the wants and needs of others. It is not perfect, but it is how I constantly find salvation from day to day.

St. Augustine noted that "If we're afraid of sinning because we don't want to go to hell, we're not afraid of sinning. We're afraid of burning."

The late Rev. Charles Sargent, of Friendship Baptist Church in College Park, GA, had a thought about a traditional spiritual that we sang with great vigor: "I've got shoes, you've got shoes, all God's children got shoes. When I get to heaven, gonna put on my shoes. . .Here's what I want to know: What are you gonna do right here and right now?"

I guess I've always been a bit suspicious of the "do it so you can get to heaven" rationale that was either the first ("Begin with the end in mind") or the final ("It's smart to hedge your bet, just in case") reason for being Christian.

I am a Christ-follower (it's helpful to bypass the "Christian" label and cut to the functional description) because I've found that, when I do it well, I'm able to order my life in a way that honors God and the blessings I've received. And when I do it not so well I find that the notion of redemptive grace draws me back to try again.

There may be other religious traditions that offer those same spiritual blessings for other people. Acknowledging that reality doesn't in any way diminish the fact that Christianity is sufficient for me as a context for encountering God.

Stan Greene

I'm pretty naive on this one, but here's my two cents. I've wondered why there are so many different beliefs. But isn't the core of each the same with basics on how to live in community and belief in a higher power? For me the question of who gets to go to heaven or not is ways out of my league. If we all just focused on the directions on how to live given in each of our beliefs and not judge others, wouldn't the world be a better place?

Lori Pierre

I have struggled with his same issue for years. I am curious to see where you go with it.

Mark Kershner