“There’s A Bigger Story Yet To Be Told”

As we get closer to the day of Crucifixion and the empty tomb or resurrection we are always brought back to the question:  Just what did Mary see in the entity she encountered outside the tomb on the day of resurrection and who was it that walked with the two on the road that day that set their hearts on fire.   

Christ is the Archetype and Model for the rest of creation as Scripture clearly teaches (Ephesians 1:3-14; Colossians 1:15-20). Yet Christians have instead focused on proving that Jesus is “God,”  This focus has sidetracked many Christians to over shadow, ignore or even eliminate any of the teachings or understanding surrounding "The Christ".   

It appears that many Christian denominations felt it necessary to put their group out in front and to solidify their own ranks by accepting Jesus to be their God.   This focus seems to have pulled Jesus out of the Trinity making him the “problem solver,” leaving Christianity to have no overarching vision or explanation for what it all means.  We haven’t fully understood how “The Christ” holds all things together see (Colossians 1:15-20) yet  we were more eager to make Jesus out to be God incarnate than to make him part of the Christian understanding of the universal Trinity and thus we ended up with a religion largely concerned with exclusion, an attribute of dualistic thinking.  May I suggest that most spiritual seekers looking for the truth, both within and outside the church, would agree here.

As a result, Christianity from its conception was constantly being divided into smaller tribes, groups and eventually denominations.  If the Eternal Christ is forgotten or ignored, Jesus becomes far too small, a mere local “god” instead of a universal principle and part of the bigger story.  Not “The One God” but one with God, meaning the same as but not equal to.  {Philippians 2: 6.} NIV: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;   May I also suggest here that most theologians would agree that Jesus never equates himself to be God but makes it very clear that He is one with God.   John 14:11.   Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

Many Christians still see the universe as incoherent, without inherent sacredness, a center, direction, or purpose beyond personal survival itself.   Christianity has been focus on “saving the individuals soul” with little care for the world or “the other peoples” rather than creation as a whole.  The focus for many has become believe by saying this or by doing that and you are saved we are told.   Massive disbelief has been the result and some of the fall out has been a great exit from the traditional church, it doctrine and rituals.   Rather than learning to believe as a result of living out the teachings of our faith, we especially in the west have it in reverse.  We are taught to believe first then by some miracle, we will begin to live it out in our lives.  No wonder people within and outside the church struggle with their belief.

It would appear that science and reason have now taken over as the resource where we look for answers.    Jesus was indeed a deep and life-changing encounter for some people, but the official Church often showed little evidence of His universal love for all of creation.  Christians brought Jesus to the “New World,” but hardly ever the Christ, as we see from our treatment of indigenous peoples and the earth.   Most slave owners and proponents of apartheid fully identified themselves as “Christians.”  May I suggest that we are at a new turning point in all religions within our world and especially Western Christianity in general.  We are beginning to see that the Holy presence doesn't think in terms of we and them, nor is there dueling between right and wrong.       

In the past most of religion has failed to offer the world universal meaning, and now many who are postmodern and largely post-Christian deny there is a “bigger story line” and purpose to existence as a whole.   Most progressive people deny all truth claims and meta narratives as mere grabs for power.   So instead of universal hope, we offer a cosmic cynicism where we retreat into small identity politics.  This is a major crisis and loss of inherent dignity to the whole creation and humanity.   I would like to suggest to you that the extravagances, technologies, and entertainments will never be able to fill such a foundational hole in the human psyche.  In other words, the world—even most of the Christian world—has yet to hear the truth about the Gospel!  I believe it is a job worth the undertaking.   

  This article is comprised of information drawn from: morning devotions with Richard Rohr