If you look at my posts through 2015, you’ll notice a very “evangelical Christian” style of being. That was how I identified myself and how I lived most of my adult life. I was enjoying my evangelical journey so much I was able to ignore the inconvenient truths of that life. The first of these inconvenient truths was I just couldn’t accept the premise God would send most of the world to Hell, even though he loved us enough to sacrifice his son for us. Even though I was was always in Christian leadership, I never really believed in Hell or Final Judgment. It was my dirty little secret. A second part of that life that didn’t work for me was the focus on framing all relationships with non-Christians in terms of getting them “saved.” For me, I couldn’t accept the inherent dishonesty of being someone’s friend with an agenda. I wasn’t supposed to love them for just themselves, I was always supposed to view them as dangerously broken; I was to accept my duty to convince them Jesus was the only solution to that brokenness. And thirdly, I won’t go into my problem with the culture wars raging in our country. For more on that, read my blog post entitled, “My Journey To An Epic Gay Wedding.”
So, like I said, I was so enamored with Jesus I was fully immersed in the evangelical life despite these glaring problems. It was a great ride, and I was transformed into a better man because of it. That lasted until my wife and I went public with our support for gay relationships, and we found ourselves suddenly shunned by so many of those who previously loved us, befriended us, followed us, and learned from us.
That involuntary exit from our beloved community caused me to rethink what was real and what I believed. Today, I still identify myself as a Christian, but what many would call a “universalist” Christian, or a “progressive” Christian. I no longer claim the Christian description of God is exclusively accurate, but rather have come to clearly see God is readily available to any seeker, religious or not, from any faith tradition. I affirm even an atheist’s search for wholeness and truth will be lovingly met by whoever, or whatever, God is. For me, I found joy, and growth, and healing as a Christian, so I still relate quite nicely to my Christian view of God. I’m not fixin’ what’s not broken!