Our beliefs guide our actions. I would also suggest that the depth of our belief correlates with the breadth of our deeds, paving the way for how far we might carry them out. This is why we have “affirmations of faith” in worship services at Friends Church during the reflective season of Lent, where we say in unison a different creed or faith statement each week. The point is not whether we fully agree with every word in those affirmations, but rather to get us thinking about what we believe, why we hold our cherished beliefs, and to see how they connect with our behavior in the wider world. Plus, for me, it’s an encouragement to hear others speaking words of personal conviction alongside me with reminders of why this faith I love is so important, and that I am not alone in practicing it.
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan “Jay” Augustine, Senior Pastor of St. Joseph AME Church in Durham, NC, asks, “Which Jesus do you serve? Which Jesus do you believe in?” Currently, the Social Justice Class is drawing lessons from the book How to End Christian Nationalism. In last Sunday’s lesson, we pondered the gravity of Rev. Augustine’s questions. When it comes to the threat of Christian nationalism, if I believe in a Jesus who loves and saves me on the condition of fealty, and if I believe in a colonizing Christ whose power is measured by the extent of his control, then I might have no problem blending my faith with nationalism. I could insist that to be a “real” American, one must be Christian, and that to be a “true” Christian, I must abide by ankle-deep theology boasted on bumper stickers, “I stand for the flag and kneel for the cross.” (Side note: One can be patriotic without being nationalistic, and one certainly need not be one particular brand of Christian, if any, for their patriotism to be legitimated.) So, in our class discussion, we asked each other to “tell me about your Jesus,” and we committed to starting each class in the series on ending Christian nationalism with that prompt.
To be clear, if I’m talking about my Jesus, I’m not doting on a Christ figure that I own, but rather giving testimony to a Savior who names me Beloved and claims me as a child of God; that being my foremost identity in this life.
The Jesus I serve is an approachable, patient professor who teaches me that the only greatness worth anything in this life and the next is the degree to which we serve one another, looking out for each one’s dignity and wellbeing regardless of who we are, where we come from, or even what we believe. The Jesus I believe in is an advocate who believes in me even when I don’t believe in him or the loving God he incarnates and shows forth, and especially when I come to the end of believing in myself.
My Jesus is a friend who stands up for me when simply getting out of bed is a challenge. My Jesus is compassionate, forgiving, and just. And while he loves me just as I am, my Jesus loves me too much to leave me unchanged not just for my sake, but for the sake of those whose lives will be touched by mine. My Jesus is a company keeper, the sun shining on my face, the ladybug crawling onto my finger, the cup of water I forgot I needed, the hug I didn’t ask for, the loving father welcoming my prodigal self home, and the mother hen warming the places in my heart, mind, and spirit that the patterns of this world have caused to go cold; and my Jesus has never failed me yet.
How about you? I’d love to hear about your Jesus. Maybe it will shine a new light on areas my faith has yet to search. Maybe it will draw us both closer together as friends in our discipleship with Christ. Maybe it will challenge us both and bless us with fresh insights on how we can better serve one another and those in need. Maybe not. But I won’t know unless we talk about it. As James Baldwin says, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” So, let us face what we believe and see what it leads us to do.
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