What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus, the Christ?

I am thinking now about how we live out our lives and don't take the time to examine the meaning of our lives. One part of the meaning of our lives that is extremely important is what we believe about the universe, human beings, the reason and destiny of both. As I think of these things, I think from the experience of faith.

But, what is this faith that I feel a part of as it is a part of me? As I start to explain, some images come to mind: Jesus, the prophets of the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, and a long line of witnesses to a living faith that began with holy experiences on earth. But, how do I know about these holy experiences on earth? What is the source of my knowledge? There is certainly a living tradition that has been passed down in the Church, written and oral; there are the Holy Scriptures that are at the core of this tradition, but represent a norm to guide the tradition; and there is my individual and communal experience of "the Holy One." The Holy Scriptures speak of foundational events such as the Creation of the Earth, the creation of a people out of Abraham, the redemption of the Hebrew people from their bondage in Egypt, the calling of prophets and the witness that they bore before the people about the truth and will of God on earth. And, with the books written about Jesus and following his witness on earth in Judea around 2,000 years ago, we hear of a creative act of God of a new sort, the calling of a prophet like the old, but also unlike those who had gone before, and then we hear of the destruction of Jesus by the authorities of his day, but this destruction/execution/death becomes the revelation of God and the unveiling of a new relationship between God and human beings. The resurrection of Jesus is celebrated as the dawning of a new age, as God's Spirit comes to the earth among human beings in a new and personal way.

For someone listening to all of this from outside the religious tradition, it might sound a lot like science fiction. Someone might think: "this sounds a lot like some of the ancient mythologies . . . can a person in our day really believe that this "holy history" describes reality?"

In the 20th century, there were two basic approaches taken among Protestant theologians who responded to questions like these. One approach was the approach of liberalism which was to apply the tools of modern historical research and literary criticism and discern the kernel of truth in the ancient traditions and documents from that tradition. Often, all that was left was some moral teachings, with no real claims to truth about the basic core of reality. The other approach was that of neo-orthodox theology, which arose out of liberal theology but in protest against it, relying on a new dynamic way of reading the scriptures. This theology had its precursors in both the Reformation and in an existential type of theology like that of S. Kierkegaard in modern times, which rejected liberal theology while not reverting to a fundamentalist type conservative theology. To understand neo-orthodox theology, you need to read Karl Barth's writings, especially his early ones like his first edition of his commentary of Romans or some of his early essays like 'The Strange New World of the Bible,' and you also need to study some about the political and social circumstances out of which this neo-orthodox protest arose. Liberal theologians in Germany actually provided support for the Third Reich as did the conservative theologians, whereas neo-orthodox theologians formed subversive movements seeking to undermine the Nazis and remain true to the way of "Jesus, the Jew," as they called him in protest and claimed that this Jesus was the unparalleled revelation of the very being and truth of God and the truth about humanity as well. But, later in the movement when it came to explaining their beliefs to those outside their religious community, the neo-orthodox answer that Barth gave was that none of it made any sense until you had taken the "leap of faith" and were standing within the tradition. You either take that leap or not, but no one can give you any assurances or guarantees about truth before you face this crisis in your own soul, a crisis about the depths of existence, both within and without you.

However, I really think that the early Barth was talking to the world both within and outside the Church in the same way in the beginning when he spoke of "Crisis Theology," as an existentialist theologian (although he later distanced himself from existentialist thought). And, I want to go back to his early writings and the holy history of this movement of neo-orthodox or crisis theology in the early 20th century. Because, in those days, Barth bore witness to an emptiness of meaning in human thought and life, and he bore witness to it in such a powerful way that something holy was opened up - a new way was opened between the human and the divine, a new way that was a very old way, grounded in the troubling claim that God was not just involved in some way, but had revealed the Divine Self and Character in the execution of Jesus of Nazareth.

The power of Barth's early language and protest was so strong that it convinced many that his critique of modern thought and life came from "The Truth," from God. I am convinced of this too, and was stunned when I started reading Barth in college, along with the reading of Kierkegaard. There is something in the modern soul that feels a genuineness and a freedom in Barth's protest. I don't know how to discuss belief in our day without talking about Barth's thinking and preaching.

Well, to bring this to a close for now, I had meant to say that the neo-orthodox answer to explaining faith to those outside the religious community was that the neo-orthodox just quit trying to make sense of faith to the world. But, as I was about to write that, I remembered that early on there was some real and earnest communication going on with those within and without the Church about the foundation of what it means to be human and what it means to live before God. So, I want to start with this, when I continue to speak of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, the Christ in the next post.