Real Life Matters

In 1982, I got my first job as a bus boy at the Big Boy restaurant in the Livonia Mall. I rode my ten-speed bicycle back and forth to our house, listening on a Sony Walkman knock-off FM Radio to the latest hits on WLLZ^[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1982. The hourly minimum wage in 1982, which for some reason I can still remember clearly, was $3.35 per hour.

As a 16-year-old on a ten-speed, riding home in the dark after washing dishes at Big Boy, I could not possibly fathom that, 39 years later, I would sometimes ride this route in the afternoon for fun. It’s an easy ride to the Hearthstone subdivision, where I lived beginning in the 6th grade. Much of this route has been repaved in asphalt – a road biker’s dream in Michigan, which has a well-deserved national reputation for bumpy roads.

Memories Flow into Gratitude

Every time I ride in my old neighborhood, without fail, the memories come flooding back. I feel as if I am back in 1982. At first, the painful memories arrive. Happily, these are always chased by an abundance of positive memories, bubbling up to the surface. All of these memories and feelings have now surrounded my heart, leaving me with a simple and profound feeling of gratitude for my life and for the people I have met along the way, many whose names and faces I can barely recall.

More than anything I feel connected with the past as I roll slowly past my old house at 19941 Brentwood, Botsford Elementary School, Clarenceville Junior High School and Clarenceville High School. I think about the jobs I had at the Livonia Mall during my high school years, working at Big Boy, the Shoe Department at Crowley’s and then the Men’s Furnishings Department, where I folded dress shirts and arranged them carefully on display with colorful ties. I also remember driving on Saturday mornings to Livonia Youth Symphony rehearsal. I can recall trumpet Lessons with Mr. Manguth and Mr. Moots as if they happened yesterday. I also very much remember and appreciate the four summers I spent working at Portage Lake Bible Camp in high school and then in college. I am grateful for all of it.

My Evolving Faith

Many things have changed in my life since those formative years, including my faith. I have lifted off the large backpack of evangelical dogma that I had been carrying around for years. As soon as this backpack was resting safely on the ground, I felt a huge sense of relief. There were things that I was unable to carry any further on the trail, including the belief that the Bible is the only “perfect” rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct.

Perhaps this will explain my convictions on this further:

Though the defenders of Biblical inerrancy are adamant that God has spoken, they grow nervous when it’s suggested God continues to speak. They become frightened when someone implies God might say something different from their closely guarded interpretations of Scripture. I once shared this need to protect the Bible. Now I realize that suggesting God continues to speak doesn’t lessen the value of the Bible but instead reclaims one of its central tenets. God speaks fresh words. I believe God spoke to the men and women of the Bible. I believe God has always spoken to his children, perhaps in an audible voice, but far more often through gentle prompting, circumstance, or other people. But I don’t believe we’ve always gotten the message straight. This is the reason God continues to speak. He doesn’t ask us to rely solely on the testimony of others. He doesn’t wish to be known by rumor or reputation alone. The God who spoke to Peter is equally committed to speaking to you and me. The Bible was never intended to end the conversation, but to encourage it. God didn’t fall silent with the last chapter of Revelation. He continues to reveal himself. It makes no sense to glorify the accounts of our ancestors’ encounters with God while dismissing our experiences with him today.^[2]Gulley, Philip; Mulholland, James. If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person (pp. 37-38). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Also, I cannot now find a way to reconcile the “Good News” of the gospel that I accepted as a child with the proposition of Hell, which is an indispensable part of the evangelical message as it is mostly preached today across America:

Nowhere is such spiritual split-mindedness more evident than in our statements about human destiny. On the one hand, we assert God is loving and merciful. On the other hand, we believe God will forever torture the very people most in need of forgiveness. We seldom question the jarring contrasts of such beliefs, preferring to live with the inconsistencies rather than be transformed by God’s grace.^[3]Gulley, Philip; Mulholland, James. If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person (pp. 66-67). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

The consequences of this thinking are very destructive:

Unfortunately, salvation as recruitment continues to drive most religion. The crusades of this age have been in large stadiums rather than battlefields, but the motive remains the same. We remain confident of our salvation and the damnation of others. This sin is characteristic of nearly every religious group. It motivates Mormons to knock on the doors of church parsonages, inspires Christians to send missionaries to Israel, and even justifies Muslims flying airplanes into skyscrapers. Instead of asking ourselves why there are gentle, humble, gracious people in every religious tradition, we seek to recruit or destroy them. We are uncomfortable with the thought that God might be at work in all the world, in all people, and even in all religious systems. Sadly, I’ve discovered that traditional Christianity, Islam, and Judaism share one common belief—they are certain God won’t save everyone. Those who knocked on my door or handed me a tract on the street suspected I wasn’t saved. In recent years, when I’ve confessed that I believe everyone will be saved, I’ve confirmed their suspicions. They thought my belief in the salvation of everyone a sure sign of damnation. ^[4]Gulley, Philip; Mulholland, James. If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person (pp. 159-160). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

My Beliefs Today

I believe there is a God and that each of us is very much loved by God. Beyond this, I have lots of questions and very few answers. And that’s fine with me – maybe even a good thing.

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. – John 10:16