Leonard: Don’t miss the forest for the trees
Years ago I read about a man who was in Bible college studying to become a pastor who was grappling with some inconsistencies he was encountering. Mustaches and beards were strictly banned from the school, yet he had never seen a picture of Jesus without both — even at the school.
Similarly, he and his peers were not allowed to drink alcohol, yet Jesus’ first miracle was turning water to wine, not wine to water. For him, it began a time of deconstructing the religious system/church he had grown up in and comparing it to what he read in the scriptures. He was amazed at what he found when he actually began to read the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He wrote the book, “The Jesus I Never Knew” to record the life change that came about.
I grew up in Texas and had a pretty serious drug problem … my parents drug me to church every Sunday morning (lame joke, I know). Wearing slacks, leather shoes, and a shirt that had to have a collar, we were there for at least two and a half hours: Sunday school, a 30-minute break to shoot hoops and eat donuts, followed by “big church” with the adults, a pipe organ, hymns, a robed choir, stand up, sit down, and a quick sermon.
At this time in my life, I preferred time in the gym with Metallica raising my testosterone levels. I was always so grateful when a few cute girls I had crushes on were there, and I was less grateful when they weren’t. I am glad that I was raised to know God and Jesus but over the years I, too, have had to wrestle with what I call Churchianity vs. Christianity vs. Jesus. I have come to see that those three can be very different and hope that my remaining 400 words will encourage you to distinguish between them and choose the better option, and to not miss the forest for the trees.
Over the summer, some friends and I started a new nonprofit called Ascend Vail. Our motto is: “Build Community. Pursue Faith.” We do it in men’s and women’s groups of 10-15 people and on any given week we have almost 150 adding to the conversations. People who have never been to church sit with people who have never missed church and when many of the churchgoers are asked about their religious background they immediately name a denomination.
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“I grew up Methodist … I got baptized as a Lutheran … We got married in the Catholic church.” I have begun calling them Churchians. Churchians see getting someone to go to church as the end game. I was a church-ian for many years and did what church-ians did (and didn’t do): go to church on Sunday morning. I was under a religious system that had some good do’s and don’ts (which my wife and I encourage our kids to do and don’t do) but my motive/heart/beliefs were centered around a building. This is huge in the Bible Belt of America. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but it’s not the best.
Very close to Churchianity is Christianity. While they share a lot of commonalities Christianity is one step closer to the best option. As I meet with friends in our groups five mornings per week I have come to hear the term Christianity not shed in a good light due to the “postmodern” world we are living in, the issues some people have with that label, or the people that say they are a Christian yet come across as very unloving and judgmental.
I have definitely been that person and strive to be better, but we all have our bad days and sometimes drop the ball, so to speak. Yet still, having been a “Christian” for most of my life, I still got caught up in the religion of Christianity and studying/reading/teaching the Bible on a pretty regular basis while missing the forest for the trees.
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Enter Jesus, a humble Jew who came from a very poor family and never traveled very far from home. He was a total revolutionary who took on the religious and political systems of his day. He taught us to love and pray for one’s enemies, to take one’s relationship with God with utmost sincerity, and to forgive one another (knowing that we all make mistakes and bad choices that result in severed relationships).
At some point in my 20s I began to finally see the forest and the trees. The most central part of Churchianity and Christianity, Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and speeches/teachings started to take center stage and all of the pieces of the puzzle began to make sense. It was a monumental paradigm shift that brought a new joy to going to church, a new joy in my life, and a new way to live my life for a person, not a building or belief system. It changed everything.
If you have questions about this I’d love to hear them over a cup of coffee. If you see me as “on the other side of the aisle” or your religious antagonist, I’d love to hear from you and talk over a cup of coffee. I don’t want anyone to miss the forest for the trees any longer and promise that if you can begin to consider a person (Jesus) instead of a religion (Churchianity or Christianity) many pieces to the puzzle of life will fall into place. Have a great week.
Scott Leonard is the President of Ascend Vail. You can reach him at ascendvail@gmail.com
