My Christian Tribe Has No Name

I belong to a tribe of Christians who believe in the supremacy of Jesus Christ. For me, it means that his teachings surpass every other teaching ever given, including in the Old Testament of the ancient Judeo-Christian scriptures that teach us about Jesus.

What is the practical reality of such Christianity?

God is radically different than how He’s portrayed in the world, He is just like Jesus, even the OT shows an incomplete and blurry image of God. The bible therefore is a book that describes the progressive revelation of God and cannot by that definition have equal weight between testaments.

He is radically in love with you and will always be, no matter what you do. That means that if you ultimately reject Him, He won’t burn you, torture you or inflict you pain for the mere reason you didn’t choose Him.

While the OT shows a portrait of God, and it shows God acting in very imperialistic, enemy-killing and even genocidal manner, it is a portrait painted by guess who? a very imperialistic, enemy-killing and genocidal society.

What we call sin is not what makes God angry, but what hurts us. Sin is more like a terminal disease than a bad score on a test.

The gospel (euangellion — good news in greek) is not how God satisfies his own demands for justice by killing His Son, but the gospel is the good news that God is not a legalist, bound by the rules he himself created, “I want you to serve me out of your free will, but if you don’t, I’m obligated to kill you”. Good news means that God loves you and me to the point of wanting to offer us the antidote for the disease.

The gospel is also all about redemption from captivity and bondage. The scriptures paint a picture that our world was kidnapped and thrown into a state of rebellion and the principalities and powers that took us captive can only be overcome by a stronger fighter. He, however, takes us back not by crushing the enemy, but by letting the enemy kill Him. His death demonstrates to the universe the false pretenses under which we were held captive and therefore, every charge that was against us gets cancelled, nailed to the cross. These principalities and powers therefore lose the claim over us because of what Christ does on the cross.

God implements law only to the degree that we need it. Maturity and growth automatically reverse the need for law and we become free to do what we want, while fulfilling the demands of the law by the natural and obvious choices we begin to make. We don’t stop eating garbage because God said so, but because we recognize it’s harmful. We don’t stop working one day of the week because God told us to have a Sabbath rest, but we do it because it makes sense to do so, and besides it helps us remember what He did in creation (worked six days and rested when He was done), freedom from Egypt and at the cross.

God is not only just like Jesus, but Jesus is equally, fully and unequivocally God.

The ethics of the teachings of Jesus are as radical today as they were 2,000 years ago. We are to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us instead of raising up firearms and blowing them out of existence. We do not pick up the sword, not even to administer justice.

Justice is not retributive, but it is restorative. Justice means to do what is right, and that doesn’t mean killing those who “deserve it”. Justice means to give equal rights to the oppressed in society. To turn the other cheek, walking an extra mile means to peacefully protest against injustice while demanding that proper restorative justice be administered.

Sin is already deadly, there’s no need for God to inflict more “deadliness” on sinners. Sin kills, and all God does is show in the end that those who die, do so because they don’t want the restoration that is possible through His healing power.

Church is not a building, it’s the people. Therefore, the so-called liturgical sacredness of the building, clergy, hour and forms of worship, relics, music, etc… are not only not part of the church, but they are a hindrance to the real church.

Hierarchy doesn’t belong in church. Laity and Clergy are terms absolutely foreign to the New Testament. So are the OT laws that apply to how “church” should run. We are all priests and parts of the body of Christ, of which He is the head.

God loves everyone and we’re asked to do the same. That means we are to love terrorists, homosexuals, transgendered, politicians, angry neighbors, whites, blacks, etc…

We’re not asked to get involved in politics and to try to change society by imposing laws of how and who to marry, and/or any other political hot button. We are called to be counter-cultural lights against the tide of society, while loving everyone.

We’re also not asked to pack our “life bags” and wait for translation at heaven’s train station. We have been called to be the army of the Lamb, over which “the gates of hell cannot prevail”. That means we are to go on the offensive and attack the power of darkness, and not hide from the world in order to achieve a certain level of holiness. That attack involves absolutely no violence, but enemy love to the utmost, even if that includes our own martyrdom.

Heaven’s kingdom is to come to earth as He taught us to pray. That means this earth is our home and we must cherish it as kingdom people. Animals, people and the environment deserve equal amount of respect and dignity here and now.

There are many more points that make me different than many of my Christian brothers, suffice it to say, I cannot find organizations that fit the descriptions above. I can say I’m catholic because of its universality, but I can’t say I am, because of its many corrupt traditions. I can say I’m a protestant because I protest against such traditions, but I can’t say I’m a protestant because of other corrupt traditions, and also because I’m part of Christ’s whole body and despite differences between one ear and one foot (Catholics vs. Protestants), Christ is still the head. I can say I’m Anabaptist, Methodist and Adventist, but I can’t say that I am because those traditions do not see things all things as I now see them.

I’m sure there are many out there who feel like they are part of this new Christian tribe but that feel out of place in institutional Christianity, I would love for you to join me in my cry for change: for a better picture of God, Jesus, the bible and church.

This manifesto is also for you who may disagree with all points made above. It’s about time we start a dialogue about God that doesn’t rely on the old assumptions one has of Christianity, whether you believe in God or not.

I would love your thumbs up, thumbs down, peaceful and encouraging dialogue and even questions about any of these claims. (I do realize I provided zero footnotes to back up what I said).