Chasing Francis Study Questions 1

Further to this blog post Chasing Francis questions are starting to be explored. I am not going to put everything on here due to it being a public space and blog but I do want to share a flavour of my thoughts.

The first set of questions arise from the fact that the protagonist in the book is experiencing a crisis of faith where they begin to question their conservative / entrepreneurial evangelical approach. The writer refers the reader explicitly to the work of Dave Tomlinson and implicitly to the work of John Drane in the questions.

The first question asks the reader to think about the statement “I love Jesus – it’s Christianity that drives me crazy”. There was a time when I would have given this an unequivocal yes, that’s exactly how I feel. Yet, I realise that I am past that stage in my journey.

Yes, I love Jesus and yes aspects of Christianity drive me mad. Yet, I am increasingly recognising that it is aspects of Christianity which frustrate me not the whole of it.

I get driven mad by thinks like the competition for resources which occurs between tribes within and between denominations.

I get driven mad by arguments about whether or not to show God’s love in practice to LGBT people.

I get driven mad by the way we expect people to sit, stand (and at times even do the Hokey Cokey) just because they happen to be in the same room as a bunch of other Christians.

There are other things that frustrate me at times too about the music, the apparent consumerism which creeps in and so on. BUT I realise that I am a Christian and part of the church. I am part of what makes up this thing we call Christianity. I am part of what will be driving other people mad.

I know that amid the clamour and competition for resources are lots of dedicated people simply trying to keep going in our largely secularised society as well as lots of people who are seeking the resources to try something new.

I know that caught up in the arguments around LGBT issues in the church are lots of LGBT people who face physical danger in their countries due to the way in which Christianity is used to promote a certain view. I know that there are lots of people in this country who feel unable to attend church because of the exclusion they have faced through actions and words. I know that for them we need to keep going on this journey of seeking justice in the church.

Yet, at the same time I know there are lots of good people who are trying to work their way through this and reconcile the dissonance they feel between what they interpret the bible as saying and the LGBT people they know. I know there are people who are genuinely struggling about what they are doing to LGBT people yet feel they have to hold on to their interpretation of the bible or to the teachings of a church they regard as family. In short I know this is not as simple as I would like it to be for a lot of people.

In terms of when to stand, sit and so on. I am gaining an appreciation that to lots of people that sort of ritual matters in a way which I just can’t get. To them the bodily actions of sitting and standing at certain times is a way to enable them to express their whole selves in worship.

 The next question asks you to examine the limitations of evangelicalism. I could go into this but I won’t. I have been on the journey to the edges of evangelicalism and have journeyed back in slightly. I no longer go to an evangelical church but I am still evangelical in some of my thinking. I prefix it now with the term Open or Progressive which I know to some will mean I cannot be an evangelical really. Yet, I regard myself as an evangelical. That strand of faith is an important part of what nurtured my faith, and shaped me and it is still there within me even if it is now mixed with a cocktail of other Christian influences.

The next question relates to experiencing a crisis of faith. I do not have time to go into it here but the simple answer is yes. I believe it is almost impossible to be a LGBT evangelical and not to go through a crisis of faith as you seek to wrestle with who you are. Indeed I would argue that anybody, LGBT or not, who takes their faith seriously is likely to if they open themselves up to different influences and not live in an enclosed bubble.

The next question asks how you would counsel somebody who becomes cynical and disillusioned with the culture and theology of their church and have you ever felt that way. Yes, I have felt that way. In terms of counselling somebody who feels like that you need to be ready to listen. Context is important and you need to understand where that cynicism and disillusionment is coming from before you can counsel them. My key thing would be to have ready a list of books or other resources you might want to signpost them to, as appropriate. You also need to be ready to journey with them through this or be able to signpost them to somebody else who would be able to.

The final question in this part of the study course asks how we can make church a safe place for everybody to voice their doubts and struggles whilst feeling valued and accepted. The answer to this is I don’t know fully. Whilst we might seek to have policies in place which allow this and might seek to build an inclusive culture churches by their very being tend to be unsafe places to doubt because there is a fear that if people do voice their doubts or views which might go against the orthodoxy of the institution the whole thing will come tumbling down. Small groups are one way to provide safe spaces, but will these be safe for all? I don’t know but this is an important question we need to wrestle with. Any ideas please drop them into the comments section.