I'm a heretic and so are you
If you’re in Christian cultures long enough, you’ll hear someone label someone else as a “heretic”. A heretic is defined as a person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted. So you can imagine how often this word gets tossed around, especially when someone has different views or beliefs. This is also why some pastors think certain teachers in popular Christian circles need to be exposed or protested so they don’t mislead their ’sheep’. Yet, Jesus was called a heretic…
Why?
Because He challenged religious systems.
You know who else challenged religious systems? Many Christian leaders of our past who we quote in our weekly sermons. Yet, we’d be shocked by what some of those leaders believed if we were to study. In fact, did you know that Relevant Magazine released an article 5 years ago called “Heretics who should be banned from evangelicalism.” You know who’s on that list?
C.S. Lewis (guilty of inclusivism and rejecting the penal substitutionary atonement theory)
Martin Luther (guilty of rejecting biblical inerrancy)
Augustine (guilty of rejecting a literally reading of the creation story)
William Barclay (guilty of universalism)
John Stott (guilty of rejecting eternal conscious torment)
Billy Graham (guilty of inclusivism)
Crazy right?
Someone recently told me in response to one of my blogs that I was heading down the path of heresy. Honestly, it makes me smile. Not because I want to be in error but because every single one of us believes something about God, the Bible, or Christianity that is wrong. If not, we wouldn’t have thousands of different denominations.
So my challenge?
Keep learning, even if it makes other people uncomfortable.
Keep questioning, especially if it doesn’t line up with the character of Jesus.
Keep challenging the norm, because to accept everything you hear from well-meaning pastors and teachers as fact, just because you’ve been taught it your whole life, doesn’t necessarily make it true.
We live in the Information Age. You have so much access to history and culture that leaders no longer have the ability to control you with their power hungry, fearful, or condemning messages.
So go learn, process, and explore the real God. A God who is fully revealed to us in the person of Jesus. If something doesn’t line up with the character of Jesus, it’s okay to reject it, even if it feels weird to do so. Go dialogue with people. Wrestle with your doubt. It’s okay!! As my friend De’Eric Williams says, "Whether we agree or not, let us agree that we are both worthy of love, honor, and respect.” So let’s represent Jesus better because the only way people will know you’re a disciple of Jesus is by your love for others. And please let’s stop labeling people as heretics! Let’s give people the space to grow, even if it’s not at our pace or lines up with our beliefs. If you love people well, even those you disagree with, you’re more like Jesus than you may realize.