Over the last couple of months I've had an opportunity to interact with a friend who's grown increasingly interested in religion. For a long time, she was very much a self-described agnostic, at least until she met her now-boyfriend who's a very devout Southern Baptist. Without getting into the details (which I find somewhat humorous) of how their relationship has developed, I can tell you that as she's (somewhat forcibly) become interested in religion, she's been asking a lot of questions not just about her new denomination but about others as well. And so she's been asking me questions about Christian Science, since I don't generally try to hide the fact that I'm a Christian Scientist.
On a Friday afternoon shortly before I was about to leave work, she asked me if Christian Scientists believed they were "saved" through Christ Jesus. I knew exactly what she meant when she asked that question. She was really asking if we believe that the human Jesus--actually the incarnation of God--came to Earth about 2,000 years ago to pay the penalty for mankind's collective sins, and by simply acknowledging him we effectively get a free pass to behave however we like. I knew that was what she was really asking. But since it was late in the day and I was ready to leave, and perhaps out of the fear that if I really got deep into what I believed I'd inevitably end up with a confrontational conversation (which has happened in the past), I gave her somewhat of a non-answer, somewhat of a white lie. I said, "yes, we are saved through Christ." I then gave her a link to the tenets on the church website, highlighting the second tenet.
And guess what happened? That wasn't good enough. She wasn't satisfied with that answer. On the following Monday she told me she had dug through the church website a bit, and after reading some of the things there she said, "it quickly became unclear to me in what way Jesus is seen. It seems to point to Jesus Christ having a dual nature--Jesus the mortal man and Christ the spiritual idea of man. Instead of how I understood your explanation, where I understood that you would believe the names Jesus and Christ are used interchangeably, pointing away from the dual nature. Could you clarify?"
Wow. I was quite impressed with her figuring that out! And feeling a little guilty that I had tried to gloss things over in an effort to avoid confrontation. I immediately realized that any short, non-answers are never going to be good enough for anybody. My friend wouldn't let me gloss over these details; she wanted the t(T)ruth.
So at that point, I explained to her that I had given her a short and potentially misleading answer because it was a Friday afternoon and I hadn't wanted to get into a long theological discussion at the time. And then I went right into the longer, fuller answer. I quoted from pages 333 and 334 of Science and Health, and then elaborated by putting things into my own words.
And then guess what happened? There was no confrontation, no condemnation, just friendly inquiry. I suspect that we've all run into a scenario at one point or another where we've had not-so-friendly discussions on the topic, but what I'm learning is that fear of that happening is just another type of fear to be overcome.
Wow Gordon! What a story! I'm interested in your previous interactions with this person that made her so openly curious about C.S.. Your approach toward this person is the kind of thing we want to discover in this workshop so we can all better understand what types of things promote other's desire to better understand C.S..
ReplyDeleteGordon, thanks for sharing your story! I love how your friend wasn't satisfied with a gloss answer. I, too, have found myself in situations where I have glossed when, after looking back, I should have shared more openly.
ReplyDeleteRecently, a group of friends and I have met weekly for a supper club. Before every meal, we say grace. This has opened up some really interesting discussions about our different religious beliefs--and they're all genuine, inspiring, and, I think, has brought us closer together as we talk about God, spirituality, healing, Jesus, and looking for good in others and the world.
We’ve had several newcomers attend our church over the past couple years. Usually they come once and never come back, which used to really disappoint me. Recently however, I’ve come to see these visits as an opportunity to love. I’ve enjoyed reading these blog posts, especially the one about setting out the CS Org table and just loving everyone who passed by the table and appreciating their qualities.
ReplyDeleteOne older woman visited our church because she was searching for a religion and asked many questions after the church service. One young man came because of a comparative religions class he was taking, but he stayed after the service for a good long while asking really intelligent questions. Turns out he had grown up in the same neighborhood and played in our parking lot with his friends, but never knew what our church was or even what it was called. When he asked his mother for a church to investigate for his class, she suggested our church. One young man from Africa who was newly hired at Kohler Company visited but commented that our church was so empty (people wise).
Sometimes I feel we tend to overwhelm/overload visitors with information, and I like the blog idea shared of listening carefully to their questions and then asking if we’ve answered their questions to their satisfaction. We’ll share periodicals if visitors want them too.
Recently the church Treasurer and I had to open a new business account at a local bank. What should have taken ten minutes took one hour because of several mistakes made spelling church members’ names on previous documents. I began to feel impatient and really wondered about the competence of some of these bank employees. And the banker seemed put out that she had to figure everything out, and it was taking her forever. I figured she was uncomfortable because she didn’t want to seem incompetent to us. Being aware of my impatience, I suddenly noticed that she had a picture of a toddler on her back counter and that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. I thought ‘she has to work and arrange for child care for her little one’ and started feeling more sympathetic towards her.
All of a sudden she started asking questions about our church and what we believe (including people can’t get blood transfusions, can they?). She said she was looking for a new church home because she didn’t like the fire and brimstone taught at the Reformed Church she’d grown up in. I said we don’t believe in the fire and brimstone hell, but that our thinking and experiences might seem like hell at times. But God never leaves us in hell and changes our thinking and turns our bad experiences around and shows us how to pray through these experiences. The church Treasurer jumped in with lots of helpful comments too. She asked what we thought about Jesus and we gave a simple explanation. The banker stated she thought she’d look into the Praise Fellowship Church in town because she heard they had a single mothers’ group where the women took bus trips together, and she wanted to go along on their trips and be safe in a group. I said that sounded very nice.
A former church member who moved away once said to me she used to be shy about letting people know she was a Christian Scientist, but now she will share Christian Science with anyone. If she was in a grocery store checking out and the checker mentioned she felt ill, my friend would offer to pray for her on the spot.
The weight of representing Christian Science to the world isn’t on our shoulders. “I can of mine own self do nothing.” We are God’s reflection, and we’re responsible to love God and our fellow man.