I Want to Be a Christian

Over the Christmas holiday, Leah and I spent some time with her family in Baltimore. One evening, Nancy (my mother-in-law) leaned over to me and shared Nicholas Kristof's article Am I a Christian, Tim Keller? 

This was a big moment for us - to be openly and calmly discussing things of faith and Christianity. It was great. I really enjoyed our conversation about the article, and some of the comments as well. Nancy had great questions about the uniqueness of the suffering of Jesus, the necessity of believing in the Virgin Birth, the nature of doubt in faith, and whether you had to believe everything or if there were parts that you could choose and leave others behind.

I don't pretend to have all of the answers to her questions, or to others. However, it occurred to me that these are really insightful questions. For many people, these questions are the concerns that have been on their mind, but they have either been unwilling or afraid to ask them. In some cases, they may have been told they couldn't ask them, or that the asking already expresses doubt and disqualifies them.

What struck me as I reflected on Nancy's questions and the comments of so many others on the article, was the number of people who sincerely desire to be a part of the Christian faith. When I read the questions about the details of believing, doubting, and specific questions, I hear and unspoken desire to be connected to the Church. I may be hearing things people aren't saying, but for the first time, I think I began to hear the true desire to belong from people that are wrestling with real questions about their faith.

One of the most powerful moments of the article, for me, was the question and answer about the role of doubt in the Christian faith:

Can I ask: Do you ever have doubts? Do most people of faith struggle at times over these kinds of questions?

Yes and yes. In the Bible, the Book of Jude (Chapter 1, verse 22) tells Christians to “be merciful to those who doubt.” We should not encourage people to simply stifle all doubts. Doubts force us to think things out and re-examine our reasons, and that can, in the end, lead to stronger faith.

I think it is very helpful for us to acknowledge the truth about where are hearts are as we reflect on our faith.

In order to continue to process this article, and the questions raised, I am going to take some time to develop my thoughts around the following questions:

• Why is the suffering of Jesus so unique or special when millions of others have endured such terrible suffering over the millennia of human history up to the present (Eben Spinoza's comment)?
• What is the nature of the Christian faith? Where is the boundary of those who are in and those who are out (Pastor Keller's response)?
• Who needs to believe (general response to comments/questions posed)

I'm glad to tackle others if anyone has comments or questions they want to add after reading the article.