BLOGGING TOWARD SUNDAY…

Point One of Progressive Christianity states:  By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus.

When the folks at the Center for Progressive Christianity put these eight points together, no point engendered more discussion than this one.  For some, the word “approach” was not strong enough, and seemed to indicate a lack of passion or commitment.  Others, who became the majority voice, liked the fact that “approach” carries with it the idea of a cautious beginning.  One person wrote, “How else could we move toward God but by cautious approach as Moses approached the burning bush?”

I personally like the language, because for me, one of the central tenets of Christianity is that in Jesus we see God.  The author of John has Jesus say, “He that has seen me has seen the Father,” and “the Father and I are one.”  In the life of Jesus then, we see all of God that a human being can possibly hold, and how a person who is filled with God behaves.  Jesus is, as found elsewhere in the gospels, the “way,” the “gate,” the “path” on which we first set our feet in our approach to God.

One of my favorite Christmas cantatas begins with these words, sung by the soprano soloist, “How shall God make known to man all of God that man can know?”  The answer, for Christians, is that God did that in Jesus, so we must pay attention to who Jesus was, what he said and did, if we would come to know the God he so faithfully reveals.

Filed under: Blogging Toward Sunday