My worldview keeps expanding, but the church-worldview doesn’t.
Let’s be honest; the church can be quite narrow in its thinking. It’s a shame really, since God is so vastly beyond our understanding. However, church people are human, and as humans, once we have an authentic spiritual experience, we try to conserve it, repeat it, and hang on to it. This tends to close us off to alternative thoughts and experiences that may also be valid.
In your every-day life, contradictions, paradoxes, and complexity are just part of the way things are. We can’t deny that these are also part of the Christian life. Unfortunately, many Christians deny this part of life when it comes to their religion, preferring instead simplistic, sound-bite religious truisms.
At NRCC, our community’s statement of faith, says this:
We believe in paradox. On the spiritual path, we just can’t get away from it…
- We say that our God is one; we say that our God is three.
- We say our God is good; and that God allows evil.
- God is all-powerful; yet human beings have free choice.
- God is merciful and forgiving; and yet insists on justice.
- We say that Jesus is fully human; we say that Jesus is fully divine —
the visible expression of the invisible God. - We say that scripture is inspired by God, but yet, it is the words of humans.
This paradoxical nature of our central spiritual truths demands of us humility on our spiritual journeys. We do well not to become rigid in our religious beliefs, but to posture ourselves with open hearts willing to discover deeper, even surprising, dimensions of the transcendent realm; the heart of God.
If you left the church because it painted a world only in black and white, consider NRCC. We are a Christian community trying our best to live faithfully and humbly, embracing divine mystery and remaining open to an unfolding experience of God.
For more about us, or to listen to an audio lesson, please visit our website: www.NorthRaleighCommunityChurch.org