Several years ago, Denise and I were in the process of joining a new church, having just moved to the city and attended it for a while. The process of becoming a church member required two meetings with the pastor, which was a reasonable requirement. At the last meeting, the pastor presented us with a four-page “Statement of Faith” that we were required to sign to receive membership. This paper started with the statement, “I Believe… ” I looked at the three dozen statements, and all of them were conjectures that were established by their church culture, but with very little evidence from the Bible. For example, “… in the imminent return of Christ.”

I looked at the pastor and said, “I can’t sign that. I don’t believe all the things it says.”

To which he replied, “Oh, you don’t have to believe everything in the statement. Sighing is just a formality of the church.”

I signed the form; however, doing so made me very uncomfortable. This is typical of most churches, which have a long list of essential dogmas (based on nothing but conjecture) that must be believed to be considered a genuine Christian, in the eyes of those churches. I suspect, on a Freudian level, that the reason we seek precise and certain dogmas isn’t to honor God (who never created those dogmas) but to separate us, favorably, in the competitive piety of religion. That’s why there are at least 120 denominations of churches, each claiming superiority over the others.

I spent twenty years with a parachurch organization, The Navigators. It was a typical attitude that we were superior to other parachurch organizations, such as Campus Crusade, and indeed, we felt superior to “church people.” This is what I mean about the competitive piety of religion.

However, as I separate the historical Jesus from religion, I must examine the fundamental basis of inclusion from the perspective of the historical Jesus.

As recorded in Luke 9:23, Jesus said the following: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Full stop.

This is profoundly simple but comprehensive. There was no statement of doctrines, nor other litmus test. However, the meaning of Jesus’ simple inclusion must be explored to understand the revolutionary nature of this idea.

After I left evangelical Christianity in 1990, I avoided the Bible for 2-3 years to allow my brain to deprogram from all the religious bullshit I had been taught during my evangelical years. When I returned to reading the Bible from cover to cover, I was overwhelmed by the simple yet revolutionary teachings of Jesus of Galilee. This is one of the factors that led not only to my return to theism but also to my belief in Jesus’ divinity.

In this simple requirement for “membership” in the following of Jesus,’ we are asked to deny ourselves (the Greek word ἀρνησάσθω, which means to reject the “truth of our rights” or to renounce our desires, or interests). I think the most rational application of this self-renouncement isn’t to consider all our desires as evil, but to put the desires of others ahead of our own. This aligns best with Jesus’ other teachings about love and compassion, particularly for the most vulnerable members of our society. But, putting other people’s needs above our own is against our human nature. We are born prioritizing our own needs. We constantly revert to this animalistic nature at every chance.

I know that for me, I’ve done well in putting other people’s needs above my own at times, and at different times, I’ve done poorly. I know from experience how personal hardships, like my six-year battle with cancer, tend to make me more self-focused. I observe people at my church and in the world who are excellent examples of putting others first. I must try to do better.

This is why I can give myself, with a sober judgement, only a C in being follower of Jesus, too self-centered. The religious people like to give me an F because I do not conform to the religious norms. They use the competitive piety markers of dogmas. But that is not the proper measuring stick.

So, while the religious would have long lists of precise dogmas, none of which are spelled out in the Bible, to be a member, Jesus’ only requirement is to put the needs of others above our own needs. If you meditate on this idea, absorbing the practical implications, it is revolutionary.

In closing, I know that some would ask, “Doesn’t the Bible itself (2 Timothy 3:16-17) say that ‘all scriptures’ are useful for teaching and training in righteousness? Doesn’t this mean dogmas are a good thing?”

I will address this later. However, the point I want to make is that the Bible is profoundly simple. The entire Old Testament can be summarized in Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” The New Testament can be summarized in the sermons of Jesus, the Beatitudes, and the parable of the sheep and goats. Religion ignores those simple thoughts and focuses on obscure dogmas that give it an advantage in competitive piety. I have also observed that those friends who had always valued having the correct dogmas the most, who started all our conversations by showing alarm that I don’t believe those dogmas, all have now completely gone off the rails into Trumpism. Trumpism is the exact antithesis of the historical Jesus of Galilee—so, having “correct” dogmas does not protect you from theological error. But the arrogance of thinking you have all the correct dogmas might make error more likely.

Respectfully,
Mike