I BELIEVE

At the all age service on 4^th July I put up a number of 'I believe …' posters around the Church and asked people to walk around, consider them and do the following: If the agreed with the statement, tick the poster; If they disagreed, put a cross on it; If they were unsure or the statement didn't produce a response either way, to do nothing.  Here are the statements - why not try for yourself before looking at the responses made by members of the congregation.

I believe …

… in God

… in Fate

… that Jesus walked on water

… Wayne Rooney walks on water

… everyone should have clean safe water

… that the coalition was right to invade Iraq

… in justice for the world's poorest

… in an eye for an eye

… in forgiveness

… in the young people of Worsbrough

… it's all the parents fault

… in life after death

… when I've nothing left God takes over

… in all the colours of the rainbow

… in myself

The following pages show how the congregation responded (I have used 'Y's instead of ticks).  The length of the gap between to two answers represents the people chose not to respond for whatever reason.  The total number of participants was 44.

I believe …

… in God

   YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… in Fate

XXXXXXX                   YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… that Jesus walked on water

XXXXXXXXX­­­                                         YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… Wayne Rooney walks on water

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                                   YYY

… everyone should have clean safe water

      YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… that the coalition was right to invade Iraq

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                                          YYYYYY

… in justice for the world's poorest

                 YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… in an eye for an eye

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                  YYY

… in forgiveness

           YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… in the young people of Worsbrough

XXXXX                        YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… it's all the parents fault

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX             YYYYYYYYYY

… in life after death

XXX                          YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… when I've nothing left, God takes over

      YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… in all the colours of the rainbow

                               YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

… in myself

XXXXXXXX                      YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

It's interesting to consider the different 'types' of belief statement:

I believe in all the colours of the rainbow

At least one person took this to mean a literal belief that the colours exist and make the rainbow.  Others interpreted it as meaning that we should celebrate and embrace the wealth of difference there is within the human race.  There may have been other interpretations and for some it may have meant nothing.  The same expression of belief may mean very different things to different people, even within the same faith tradition.

I believe Jesus walked / Wayne Rooney walks on water

Those who didn't agree with this for Jesus presumably took it to mean a literal physical fact.  Those who did agree with this for Wayne Rooney presumably took it as a metaphor for his skill on a football pitch.  How are we to decide which way a statement should be understood?

I believe everyone should have access to clean safe water

Whether or not you believe Jesus walked on water what difference will it make to the way you live.  If you believe the statement about safe water (or justice for the world's poorest) you should try to make your belief a reality, as far as you are able, otherwise why profess to believe it?  Sometimes seeing is believing.  In other ways, believing is seeing: I believe in this, so I'm going to try my hardest to see that it comes about.

I believe in myself / the young people of Worsbrough

It's perhaps a little hard to define what this actually means.  But this kind of belief (or its absence) surely has a huge effect on how things will go for the people in question.

I believe in God

I've written in a recent magazine on this subject suggesting that this simple statement can carry a broad range of meanings: what is meant by God?  What characteristics does God have?  What power does God hold and how does it operate in the affairs of our world?  It is interesting that many who expressed belief in God also expressed belief in Fate.  I wonder how those two beliefs relate to each other for different people who hold them both.

I believe that our beliefs should be worked out fresh for ourselves - not second hand or adopted by default.  Each person should wrestle with them for him or her self and then try to be true to them.  

A whole different Ball Game?

In your opinion, which of the following 5 statements is most similar to the sixth statement? Or, if you are not happy with any of them, think up your own football analogy (or any other for that matter) which is a better 'match'.

1.      Can you be a footballer if you don't believe in grass?

2.      Can you be a footballer if you don't believe in goals?

3.      Can you be a footballer if you don't believe in balls?

4.      Can you be a footballer if you don't believe in the team?

5.      Can you be a footballer if you don't believe in competition?

6.      Can you be a Christian if you don't believe in God?

You may think that the answer is a very obvious 'NO'.  But that is to beg rather a large number of other questions:

What do we mean by 'a Christian'?

If we mean 'someone who believes in God' then the answer to 6 is obvious.

However, many people's normal use of 'Christian' means something like: a person who leads a good life - who is thoughtful, honest, unselfish and generous to others.'  You don't have to believe in God to be that.

Another definition of a Christian, perhaps the most literal one, is: a follower of Christ'.  Sounds promising, but suddenly we are confronted by a host of other puzzles to solve: the four gospels and St Paul all give us differing interpretations of who Jesus was and it's quite possible that they all differ from how Jesus understood himself.  So how are we to interpret him 2000 years later?  And what is the relationship between 'Christ' as worshipped and spoken of by 'the Church' and Jesus of Nazareth, the first century Jew?

The distinctive thing about Jesus was not that he believed in God.  He obviously did, but then so did your average first century Jew.  The distinctive thing about him (in my opinion) was his radical reinterpretation of God's 'kingdom' (as he called it) and therefore his radical reinterpretation of God.  The religious people of his time thought he was going much too far to the point of blasphemy - one of the reasons he ended up on a cross - one that we should never forget.  So, going back to question 6 …

What do we mean by God?

The Almighty - who, as almighty, is presumably behind everything that happens in this world, the evil and the good?

A kind fatherly figure who is there for us and bails us out when we need him (but for some reason occasionally goes off duty while innocent children are suffering!)?

An idea (within our shared consciousness - in other words our language) which holds our highest aspirations?

A way of speaking of the 'Life Force' or the sheer wonder of existence.

The depth dimension within each one of us - our real potential?

The struggle for justice - overturning corrupt power and liberating the oppressed?

The list could go on, but is perhaps best ended with a Chinese proverb:

If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."

In other words, if you think you have finally found the divine - Beware.  It is not the divine that you have found - it can only be an idol which if you embrace it as the final answer will only lead to your ruin.  Our religion is a journey and never a destination (in my opinion!).

Popular forms of religion often seem to have a lot in common with popular forms of superstition.  That is to say that for all their piety and expressed belief, they are actually more about us and our need for security and meaning than anything else.  True belief needs at least a healthy dose of atheism to purify it of all the dross that so easily accumulates. 

Where does all this get us?  It gets me to a point where I want to echo the advertising for the launch BBC4: "Everybody needs a place to think."  I don't want the Church to be a place where we find 'Truth' in an easy to open package.  Instead I want it to be a place where there is space, for everyone who wants it, to think through the questions and issues that are most important to them; where they can do so with the help of the best of the resources available in the Christian tradition and in the company of a community of people who are going to give them honest and loving support.

I hope this article will have provoked some thought and if so I hope they are thoughts that you will pursue.  And I would be interested to hear what you think - whether you think along the same lines I do or not.