ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
August 27, 2025
My friend, Rev. Michael Dunn, posted an old quote from the late Bishop John Shelby Spong. The Bishop said,
“God is not a Christian. God is not a Jew or a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist. I honor my tradition. I walk through my tradition. But I don’t believe my tradition defines God. It only points me to God.”
Like a lot of things Spong said and wrote, this is one of those that will make some people uncomfortable. I, on the other hand, find great comfort in his words. On those rare occasions when humility is more fully present in my life, I am able to learn so much about God, faith, and myself through others who might have a dramatically different starting place. And in spite of what some may say, I find that all the religions I have interacted with have a genuine passion for love of God and love of neighbor. Of course, every religion was shaped by its unique origin story, often pushing back against some cultural shift. And then, over time, each of those religions began to institutionalize, often putting structure and adherence to a list of rules above its commitment to love. And then as the years go by, each religion has moments of reformation, some that emerge from a desire to return to some earlier way of believing, and other times emerging from a desire to remain relevant in the midst of a changing culture. Of course, depending on the age of the religion, this shifting and pushing and splitting can occur numerous times. Christianity is no exception. In fact, we might have fought and split more than any other religion, though that’s just a guess. With all of that said, I do find it a bit arrogant for any religion to suggest that it has God figured out. Don’t you think such a claim makes God laugh?
Holy God, what I know of you and what I believe I have discovered in Jesus is magnificent. Yet if at the heart of your being lies love, I can only imagine that you would be filled with joy whenever love finds its way into this world through tangible expressions of kindness, compassion, mercy, and justice. Bless all those who seek to bring love to life, even if their take on religion is a bit different from my own. Amen.
