Christianos

bioslexis = the living word
zoiaudien = the living voice
christos = christ
christolexis = word of Christ
christakousis = actively hearing Christ
christakouian = one who actively hears Christ
(Greek)

“And the radio up...”

I love rain. When I lived in the Pacific Northwest, hiking the Olympic National Forest every weekend, I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. I can guarantee that my life behind the Pearly Gates will include redwoods and fat, warm raindrops drenching my hair and skin and making my leather jacket shine like armor.

... What? Of *course* there are leather jackets in heaven! Don’t be ridiculous ;)

It is always raining when I write my blog. If not from the skies than from my mp3 player. Either ambient harp with storm sounds laid not-so-gentle beneath warm strings played by a lover’s hands, or the steady tapping of rock ‘n’ roll, pure and full of itself, thrumming against my ear drums. That sound of digital, virtual, lyrical rain carries me forward, allows me to lose and find myself like when you whisper, “Touch me...”

It is in those moments that the curtains fall away and the wizard, my sweet Lord, is revealed.

Let’s go there now... shall we, Trolley?

Everywhere, everyone was talking about Madonna and Mariah Carey. Their new albums dropped in April. It was a “show down”! It was a “return to form”! It was a maelstrom of press releases, baby. It was *news.*

Actually, it was a joke. Because for all the media coverage and hype, for all the buzz and awareness, Kid Rock’s “Rock n Roll Jesus” out stripped them a gazillion units with no rumble in the aisles controversy (other than for the music itself). Maybe it’s because he’s actually not so coifed and air-brushed that he’s interesting to look at on YouTube music videos? Or perhaps because he’s actually saying something.

“Simplify, testify, identify, rectify...”

Over on the Mardi Gras 3000 forum, a member posts: “I am not a denomination. I am not a joiner. I have a system of beliefs that are very strict and very strong. I believe in them and not in what a church says. If the church I attend right now were to change it’s stand on the fundamental issues – on any of the issues! – that I believe in, I would leave. I follow God. Not man.”

I have had people ask me: “You have very conservative members on your forum. And very liberal members. How do you balance that?”

I always smile. Simplify, testify, identify. I am far more conservative than most people think I am. I am startlingly set in my ways. Unbelievably rigid in matters of the heart and body and soul. Somehow, perhaps because God speaks to them above the banter of man, the conservative members on the forum read these truths about me, finding them between the lines of diplomatic chatter and poetic license.

But I am also very aware of my limitations. I am mortal. I am not divine. I am not God. This makes me a liberal. Not following? Let me explain: I do not believe that a direct translation of ancient Hebrew texts, written by the hands of man, studied by men’s minds, and (most especially) preached from men’s pulpits, can tell me the word of God. The word – the Word – is either Living Word or man’s word. The historical context and survivalist reasoning behind much of man’s scripture is understandable. But you know what? I still wear mixed fabrics. I don’t think women shouldn’t be touched during their cycle. And I don’t believe that God only wants us to have sex to make babies. However... I do believe that sex should only occur between someone you would raise children with ;) Aren’t I complicated? *smooch*

I turn questions over to God like people turn pages in a book. I make my decisions from the voice of my Christ in my heart (which is not always what I want to hear) and not the blinders-on murmurings of undereducated, sheltered, cloistered, ignorers of science, nature and the biology of the universe.

There is a dichotomy here, of course. I was just talking with a friend about the importance of knowing when to *stop* looking for answers. When to accept on *faith* (faith being something never proven beyond a shadow of a doubt) that which we embrace in our hearts. I have to know when to close the book or the browser window, nod my head and say: I don’t need to “know” that... I already *know.*

I was raised to learn. Not for drama or proof or to satisfy my human curiosity, to deconstruct or feed my doubt, but rather to grow as a child of Christ, to find Him. Only and always, first and foremost, Him. To educate my mind. To read. To research. To take that step further. It was a natural impulse for me. Whether I was processing the connection between desire and rebirth by reading Calder, or exploring the nature of time and dimension with Pickover, it explained my world. It made it so very clear that this universe – beyond our solar system and within our own bodies – is so much more complex and mysterious than any straight-forward evolutionary track alone can ever explain. The more science I knew... the more my Lord was shown to me.

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain...” But that’s the only attention I want to pay.

Faith: Where did humans come from?
Me: From single-celled itty bitties.
Faith: Where did the itty bitties come from?
Me: A great big bang in the universe.
Faith: Where did the great big bang come from?
Me: God.
Faith: Who made God?
Me: God.
Faith: He’s always been here?
Me: Yep.
Faith: And He goes on and on again?
Me: Uh-huh.
Faith: Like numbers.
Me: Yes. Forever.

What is the glue that holds our diverse forum together? God.

The more complicated answer: The human desire, across any and all walks of life, to explore the nature of morality, mortality and the face of God.

The more subtle answer: We are drawn together and stay together because we are dedicated to a singular vision that has room for us all. We are dedicated to this country of vision. The sweetest patriotism.

Now I could sit here (okay, actually, right now, I’m standing with a FlipStart, thumb typing but whatev) and say: If you believe in acceptance, in embracing all human beings – regardless of race, gender, sexuality, nationality or economics – as equal peers, than guess what? You’re a Christian. Because Christ said we are *all* His children. I could say it, but I’m really quite obsessively not interested in labels (see last week’s blog). Like, to the extreme. For instance:

I’ve always considered myself a New Testament Christian. I happened to Google it one day. It led me to an interesting place. You see (prepare for an insightful aside), Google is a wonderful tool... but also a very misleading and dangerous one because everything and anything can be made to look legitimate. I have found personal photos of myself, taken by a friend, uploaded to a Photobucket account, and then right-clicked and PhotoShop’ed by strangers to place me in Maui when I was standing in Alaska. I have read quotes I (kinda) said two years ago at a festival, printed as things I reportedly said yesterday. I have accepted awards on days I was home in bed with a cold... that I picked up at the awards ceremony two weeks prior.

Back to the label...

I found a nice community of twenty- and thirty-something NTC folks from all over the U.S. and I was lightly chatting with them about the election and some general politics. My blog URL was listed in my profile and my signature block and someone asked me about it. I drifted away from that forum (time just didn’t allow) but then, this last Thursday I got an email.

Did you know that “New Testament Christian” is a “legally recognized denomination based in Graham, Washington” and I guess they (or someone posing as representing them) are not entirely down with my blog. So... I dug more. Turns out, the trademarked, copyrighted, patent pending phrase I’ve used *all my freaking life* to describe my approach to faith, has nothing to do with me. As a matter of fact, the pastor-as-prophet methodology that I so *adamantly* stand against is rampant in NTC(C of A).

So... I’ve got my Cease & Desist from the church of man. Gee. Why am I not surprised?

But now, what am I? At our forum (the MG3K forum, I mean) we have Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, Rapturists, atheists, religious cosmologists and angelogists, ... the list goes on. It seemed so easy to just use a label. But guess what? In the end, the label was as one dimensional as the word of man. And I – what I am... what *all* of us are – am as far from one dimensional as divinity can take us. Christ did not mean for us to condense ourselves into MySpace Q&As or even eHarmony personality profiles.

The meaning of the word Christian is “belonging to Christ.” It comes from the Greek word, christianos, from, of course, χριστός -- Christos. It means nothing else. And right now, for me, that seems enough. I want fewer labels and more faith. I want to be defined by my actions and my beliefs. I want to be hard to compartmentalize. I want to play hard to get.

My little island, in our country of vision, just lost all her road signs. The “You Are Here” display? Was just swallowed by the rainforest. And you know what? I like it much better here now.

Wings: I don’t want to be a label.
Me: You only have to be one.
Wings: Hm?
Me: You. You just have to be Wings.

“Open up your mind and start to live...
Give a little bit more than you got to give.”

EJ