Chapter 1: Confessions of an Adopted Son
Download Chapter 1 A Christianity Worth Believing – Chapter 1
The following is a growing collection of web-only material that dig deeper into Chapter 1: Confessions of an Adopted Son.
From Chapter 1:
I am a Christian — a theologically trained, church-planting, evangelizing, Jesus-loving Christian. I trust in resurrection, and I seek to join with God in the world. But I have problem, an internal conflict that has only gotten worse in my twenty years of following this faith. It’s the kind of problem I tell others about with great caution and no small amount of anxiety.
I am a Christian, but I don’t believe in Christianity.
At least I don’t believe in the versions of Christianity that have prevailed for the last fifteen hundred years, the ones that were perfectly suitable in their time and place but have little connection with this time and place. The ones that answer questions we no longer ask and fail to consider questions we can no longer ignore. The ones that don’t mesh with what we know about God and the world and our place in it. I want to be very clear: I am not conflicted because I struggle to believe. I am conflicted because I want to believe differently.
I have attempted to paint a picture a Christianity that does not need to be stuck in the images, world-view and assumptions of ages gone by, but is alive and well in our day.
But while Christianity has given so much to the world, it too often carries with it a message, a belief system, that can be hard to believe. It too often creates a culture that is unintentionally hurtful to far too many people. I have a tendency to climb on my high horse of righteous opinion and make statements that imply (sometimes not very subtly) that Christianity is a stagnant, exclusive club for those who are satisfied with ill-fitting answers meant for issues of a different age. But when I come to my senses, I’m convinced that if I’m ever going to feel like I truly belong to this family, if I’m going to live out the faith I profess in any kind of honest way, then I have a responsibility to break the no-talk rules and say what I believe the good news has been about all along. I am as responsible as anyone for the faith I profess. If I want to be a full participant in Christianity, I need to stop complaining about the beliefs articulated by others and make my contribution instead.
Attached to this post is a podcast of the first live reading of this chapter (unabridged). It was recorded in San Diego, California at an event hosted by Christ Lutheran Church of Pacific Beach on February 29, 2008.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
hey dave,
i’m looking forward to reading your book when it comes out. thanks for the preview.
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Doug,
Beautiful opening chapter! I’m looking forward to reading the rest.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Doug, in listening to this chapter I get the feeling that you are exactly the right person to share these questions and thoughts. Nice.
I really appreciated the perspective of integration and adoptive family. It was a great metaphor.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Doug,
Amazing book! I look forward to getting to know the real you that you sought to connect to the world-at-large, and meshing it with the you I know from Solomon’s Porch! I also hope and pray that your tour with Mark and Tony is going great… Praying for you man!
Love ya brother, Linda K.