Why be a Christian?
It has been well said that the human life is a search for meaning. Why are we here, what is our purpose, how should we live?
For millennia these questions have found expression in an understanding of gods, something greater than ourselves. In those years, as we have struggled with life’s deep questions our understanding of God has been developed and refined.
Relationship with God
It was the Jews who first declared a faith in a single God and who sought to live in a deep relationship with their God, seeking to live faithfully even when life for the people was hard and they struggled to understand some of the events that befell them. Their journeys seemed to help them to understand their God more deeply though they also knew that so much of God was beyond the limits of human understanding.
A God of love and forgiveness
Two thousand years ago a Jew called Jesus emerged in the land we now call Israel and he taught people about God in a way that resonated deep within the human heart. Jesus taught about a God of love and forgiveness whose care for his creation was as deep and passionate as that of a parent and their child. Jesus taught by using stories and religious riddles to help people tackle the big questions in a new way. His new understanding was revolutionary and continues to be so.
Jesus showed us that we were created to live in community with each other. He challenges us to see beyond the boundaries of race, gender or creed. To look at the face of friend and stranger to recognise the imprint of the God who brought us to life. Jesus taught us that to really understand God and our purpose here on earth we have to be prepared to let go of some of our attachments to the things in life which seem to give us security so that we can understand that it is from God that all our needs are met.
Meaning of life
Jesus taught us that it is who you are and not what you have that gives life meaning and that to offer a life of service to the needs of ours is the most authentic expression of the human life possible. Jesus taught us the power of love, which compels us to forgive those who wrong us in the midst of a world that cries out for revenge and retribution. These values often conflict with the values of the world and as a faith community we struggle to understand in our own day and for our own time, what a life with God looks like.
Faith isn’t about having all the answers but it is about being prepared to explore the questions in honesty and the light of our experience. It is about looking at the God we see revealed in Jesus and seeking to make sense of the world around us in the light of what we find.
It is about realising that God’s Spirit continues to inspire those who seek to live the Jesus way today. Though we may not have all the answers you are welcome to join us in asking the questions.