I want to believe

"If you don't see God in all, you don't see God at all."

I am not entirely sure where the above quote originates from, but I came across it via a status update on author Samir Selmanovic’s Facebook page. The status update reads: ‘World Music piece, masters making these instruments alive, singing “If you don’t see God in all, you don’t see God at all.”’ It sounds lovely!

The above quote sums up perfectly what I have been thinking about as of late. What I am about to say is going to sound oh so “emergent” and, for many, “heretical”, but please do not be offended, this is purely what I am thinking and struggling with. I am probably wrong in my thinking and welcome all to challenge my view, but as Rob Bell said: “Just because I’m a Christian and I’m trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn’t mean I’ve got it nailed. I’m contributing to the discussion. God has spoken, and the rest is commentary, right?” I think what he says wonderfully describes the open theological discussions that we all need to embrace and use much more often. Anyway, back to the matter at hand…

Recently, I have been reading many books. Far too many books, most likely! Two of the books that have grabbed my attention most are “If Grace Is Real: Why God Will Save Every Person” by Philip Gulley and James Mulholland and “It’s Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian” by the aforementioned, and simply wonderful, Samir Selmanovic. For many, these two books would challenge their spiritual viewpoint, possibly even offend it, but for me they seem to have backed it up. As I was not raised in a Christian household, I had to discover religion myself, so I came to Christianity really only a few years ago, my eyes opened by such thinkers and speakers as Jay Bakker and Rob Bell and the wonderfully poetic and honest lyrics of mewithoutYou’s Aaron Weiss; the “liberal/progressive/hippy” side of Christianity, one might say! Many progressive thinkers - Jay Bakker and Rob Bell themselves included - transformed from conservative thinkers to progressive thinkers over their spiritual lives as their eyes were opened, whereas I seem to be one of only a few people I know who jumped straight into the progressive deep end, completely ignoring the “normal” conservative viewpoint! This has caused me a lot of problems, but I am extremely thankful for it. Instead of being challenged and offended by progressive thinking, as many conservative Christians would be, I find myself being challenged and offended by conservative thinking. Therefore, the two aforementioned books, to me, are Godsends!

I lean strongly towards the Christian Universalist viewpoint and, even more so, the viewpoint that God is within everyone and, furthermore, every religion. This is what I am going to talk about further in this post. “It’s Really All About God…” has opened my mind and heart to this topic and I thoroughly suggest that you all pick up a copy and read it as soon as possible. What Samir Selmanovic says about finding and learning about God in other religions really hit home for me and made so much sense. It was as if, after reading, that a light inside my head had suddenly been switched on, a light that had been sitting there slightly flickering for so long…

How can we confine God to just one religion? How can God be bound to one religion? Surely, God can use people outside of Christianity to influence those on the inside? There’s nothing to stop him doing so. He is all-powerful, yet we refuse to acknowledge this in all cases (we claim it but, I feel, don’t fully believe it) and bind God to our interpretations of the Scriptures, more often than not placing the Bible above God. To me, a God that is bound by rules and regulations is not a God at all. Too often we feel as if we have God all figured out and simplified, and nothing can be further from the truth. I fully believe that God can use whoever for whatever, whether Christian or not; Gandhi, for example. A truly fantastic man who was not Christian, yet one could claim that God was using him. If we shut ourselves away from other religions and refuse to acknowledge them, respect them and study them, we shall never learn about God. Similarly, if we refuse to acknowledge that God is within all and God can use all for all, we shall never learn about God.

Seeing as people get angry when Scripture is not used to back-up points, I shall present to you a Scriptural example: Acts 10:19 - 23 in particular (and onwards) shows how God sent Gentiles to Peter’s door, clearly using them, despite them not being Christian. Surely this means God can use “Gentiles” today? Mainstream Christianity seems to want to build high fences around itself to keep out non-Christians, those that are seen as “unworthy” and those that are of no use to them and God, when it is clear to see that God has used those that are non-Christian to influence those that are Christian, and still does! Now, apply this to something much bigger and explain to me why it is impossible for God to be using a whole group of people, or religion, for that matter. Too often we assume that God only uses those that are Christian and ignores those that aren’t. To me, that is far more heretical than any of the emergent crap that I say!

Now, am I completely missing the point or am I on to something here? In short, I really cannot get my head around how we can confine God to one religion and say that it is impossible for him to act outside of Christianity and through those that are not Christian. This does not seem at all Scripturally sound. As shown in Acts, God has worked through non-Christians, so who is to say that He is not at work through non-Christians right now? Who’s to say that He is not currently at work through our Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan, Atheist or Scientologist brothers and sisters? We need to stop shutting people of other religions out and invite them in and begin to learn from them, because through the process of learning about their religion, we can strengthen our knowledge of our own religion and learn more about the almighty God.

"Real Shit to Make Ya Feel Shit"

Firstly, I should explain that the title is a reference to a DJ Hazard tune. I’m not a fan of it much myself, but you can listen to it here if you so wish.

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of music in our lives, and, more specifically, music that has a negative affect on us emotionally, mentally, etc. It may make us angry, depressed, agitated, cynical, pessimistic, hopeless, whatever. The point is, it doesn’t necessarily make us “happy”, therefore it’s ultimate effect is a negative one. Why then, if it has a negative effect on us, do we listen to it?

As many of you may know, I’m a heavy metal fan. I’m definitely not as much of a heavy metal fan as I used to be, but since I was first introduced to heavy metal at the age of 9 or so (I must admit, it was via Slipknot!) I have listened to it and loved it. In my old age though, even though I’m nowhere near old, I’m straying further and further away from heavy metal, but that’s besides the point. The point is, I like heavy metal. Heavy metal is seen as a “negative” musical genre, and I somewhat agree. One of my favourite sub-genres of heavy metal is “black metal” (click on the link for a description if you are unsure on its meaning), easily one of the most depressing, dark and “negative” genres of music. Yet, despite its negativity, I can’t stop listening to it. There’s something about that negativity that I can associate with, and I seem to thrive on the fact that it makes me feel like crap. Weird, huh? The same can be said for hardcore punk music (again, click the link for a description, if needed), one of the most angry genres of music; although it depends what type of hardcore punk you listen to, as there are many bands that play a very positive and upbeat style. Despite the fact that 99% of the hardcore punk bands that I listen to make me feel angry, and often cynical and pessimistic, I can’t help but listen to them and enjoy them. Why do we enjoy listening to music that makes us feel bad? What is it about this negative music that we find so positive? It’s definitely odd and it’s a question that has been puzzling me for a long time.

Even though I love and appreciate heavy metal, I also love and appreciate upbeat, happy indie pop and cheesy 80s dance tunes. They make me happy. Surely, if we are aiming to increase our happiness through music, we should all listen to upbeat, happy indie pop or cheesy 80s dance tunes? Surely, it does not make any sense at all to listen to music when we know its outcome on us will be negative? Yet, despite this, leather-clad Scandinavians will listen to depressing black metal and 13-year-old emo kids will cry over My Chemical Romance and Dashboard Confessional.

What is it about depressing music and its depressive outcomes on us that is so appealing?