Doctrinal Statement?

Q: Do you have a Doctrinal Statement? Where are you coming from?

A: No. I don't have a doctrinal statement. Running contrary to all of my modernist protestant upbringing, I have not provided, nor do I subscribe to a fixed doctrinal statement. Yes, there are benefits to having a doctrinal statement. However, I believe that the dangers of having one, at this point in history, outweigh the benefits. Let's be honest, the real purpose for doctrinal statements is to be able to draw a box around ourselves so that we can identify "us" and "them", "we" and "y'all"; "we" -- the true believers and keepers of "the faith" as opposed to "y'all" -- the heretics whom "we" either pity for "your" ignorance or secretly eagerly await God's wrath and judgment upon "your" wicked and heretical ways.

While I do believe that many doctrinal statements were initially created by good-hearted people in an attempt to articulate an authentic community's understanding of God and thus create cohesive glue for that community, I think, in the long run, those statements tend to backfire. As they are passed on through the generations, the statements become more deeply etched in stone. Eventually they are transformed into a hand-carved statue that is the "image of God". This is also known as an idol. The reason God got so upset about idols in the stories of Israel is because idols are stagnant and finite. God is infinite and dynamic. God can never be defined or contained within a rigid image, even if it is an abstract rigid image like a doctrinal statement.

So, in an effort to avoid idolatry, I do not present a doctrinal statement. I can only tell you that I believe in a dynamic, trinitarian God who eternally lives in loving community and, through that loving community, created and creates all things. We are part of that creation and are continually invited to join in the loving "dance" of God's community. The second person of that community, known as the LOGOS in the Greek language, became a human being in the person of Jesus. Jesus' life was the clearest example of what it looks like for a finite human being, bound by culture -- language, race, gender, class, politics, framing stories, etc. -- to live in complete and open relationship with the Divine Community of God. Through his teaching, miracles, self-sacrificial death, and death-conquering resurrection he demonstrated to us the way of God and invited us to move away from the self-destructive patterns of living that we have created for ourselves -- hatred, fear, war, inequity, etc. -- and walk in the total freedom that comes from connecting with our creator and living in the creation as stewards and harmonious participants. The Spirit of God -- life and love itself -- courses through us every day, like the wind, like energy. We are invited to throw up our sails in self-abandonment and let the Spirit of God take us into places of other-oriented community life; abundant life, the "life of the ages", eternal life...now.

The best way to know where I'm coming from is to read my story. It's who I am and where I am right now. I invite you to join me on this wonderful journey of discovery.