Help! I think I might be interested in all this!
I suppose this may be expecting quite a lot, but it's conceivable, just conceivable, that having had a look at all this Christian stuff you may
possibly want to find out a bit more. I offer these thoughts to address that albeit vanishingly small possibility!
Christians often don't remember what it was like not to be one. Very often, they can't be expected to remember, because they always
have been. It's fairly fresh in my mind, though, and I wouldn't want to forget ...
possibly want to find out a bit more. I offer these thoughts to address that albeit vanishingly small possibility!
Christians often don't remember what it was like not to be one. Very often, they can't be expected to remember, because they always
have been. It's fairly fresh in my mind, though, and I wouldn't want to forget ...
Try a Book
We think a really good book for someone who doesn't mind
reading a bit is our friend Michael Lloyd's Café Theology - you
can find a link to Michael's site on the Links page. Michael was
Doctrine Tutor at St Stephen's House in Oxford, where I studied,
and is now Associate Vicar of St Andrew's Holborn in the City as
well as working at the new St Paul's Institute of Theology attached
to Holy Trinity, Brompton. Café Theology gives you an overview
of Christian doctrine from somebody who understands doubt and
depression. It even has the odd joke.
We think a really good book for someone who doesn't mind
reading a bit is our friend Michael Lloyd's Café Theology - you
can find a link to Michael's site on the Links page. Michael was
Doctrine Tutor at St Stephen's House in Oxford, where I studied,
and is now Associate Vicar of St Andrew's Holborn in the City as
well as working at the new St Paul's Institute of Theology attached
to Holy Trinity, Brompton. Café Theology gives you an overview
of Christian doctrine from somebody who understands doubt and
depression. It even has the odd joke.
Try the Bible
The Bible isn't a magic text. It's a collection of ancient documents - myth,
history, poetry, letters, biography - that tells the unfolding story of God's
relationship with the human race. Most Christians believe - in a weaker or
stronger sense - that God speaks to us through it, that is, he has made
sure that what he wants said has been said. He's revealed himself to us
primarily in Jesus Christ, but the Bible is the witness statement about
Jesus. It's a fascinating story, if nothing else.
Have a read of it. Cover to cover, if you can. It seems a bit daunting, but
at a couple of chapters a day (and there are bits that it does you no harm
to skim through) it'll take you 18 months or so. Much of people's Bible
reading these days comes through books which provide little excerpts and
reflections for the day; but that doesn't bring you a sense of the story of
humanity's developing awareness through history of what God is like. I
found the Bible was a wonderful landscape to be discovered, and far
richer and more complex than I'd imagined.
The Bible isn't a magic text. It's a collection of ancient documents - myth,
history, poetry, letters, biography - that tells the unfolding story of God's
relationship with the human race. Most Christians believe - in a weaker or
stronger sense - that God speaks to us through it, that is, he has made
sure that what he wants said has been said. He's revealed himself to us
primarily in Jesus Christ, but the Bible is the witness statement about
Jesus. It's a fascinating story, if nothing else.
Have a read of it. Cover to cover, if you can. It seems a bit daunting, but
at a couple of chapters a day (and there are bits that it does you no harm
to skim through) it'll take you 18 months or so. Much of people's Bible
reading these days comes through books which provide little excerpts and
reflections for the day; but that doesn't bring you a sense of the story of
humanity's developing awareness through history of what God is like. I
found the Bible was a wonderful landscape to be discovered, and far
richer and more complex than I'd imagined.
Try a Church
People often say, 'You don't have to go to church to be a Christian'. I
think there's something deeply suspicious about someone who claims the
faith of Jesus yet doesn't feel the need to express it in worship with other
Christians. Our relationship with God isn't just as individuals enjoying his
company wherever we happen to be. We aren't complete without other
people; God calls us into community, and the Christian community is
where we learn how to love and act lovingly, because none of us has the
resources to understand everything on our own.
So, find a church. Don't do what a lot of people do, and continually shop
around to find one that suits you perfectly, because there won't be one.
Don't turn up at a church and continually have an eye on the one down
the road which might suit you better. Every church will have liturgy which
occasionally makes you cringe, people who you don't like or who clearly
don't take the faith they profess on board at all, or just sour coffee after
the service. You won't get everything you want. (And God may rather
want you there to start providing for that church the very thing it lacks!)
The important thing is to find a community of Christians who are
attempting, probably quite inadequately but in hope and faith, to follow
Jesus Christ, and become committed to that community. I hope that will
be your local Anglican parish church, but it may not be. Don't worry if
you don't believe it all at first. God calls you and wants you there no
matter how strong or weak your faith is. If you're baptised, you've every
right to be there even if you're a heretic; and if you're in England, your
Anglican parish church is there for you to use. You can join in with as
much or as little of the services as you feel able. For most people, we
find, belonging comes before belief.
People often say, 'You don't have to go to church to be a Christian'. I
think there's something deeply suspicious about someone who claims the
faith of Jesus yet doesn't feel the need to express it in worship with other
Christians. Our relationship with God isn't just as individuals enjoying his
company wherever we happen to be. We aren't complete without other
people; God calls us into community, and the Christian community is
where we learn how to love and act lovingly, because none of us has the
resources to understand everything on our own.
So, find a church. Don't do what a lot of people do, and continually shop
around to find one that suits you perfectly, because there won't be one.
Don't turn up at a church and continually have an eye on the one down
the road which might suit you better. Every church will have liturgy which
occasionally makes you cringe, people who you don't like or who clearly
don't take the faith they profess on board at all, or just sour coffee after
the service. You won't get everything you want. (And God may rather
want you there to start providing for that church the very thing it lacks!)
The important thing is to find a community of Christians who are
attempting, probably quite inadequately but in hope and faith, to follow
Jesus Christ, and become committed to that community. I hope that will
be your local Anglican parish church, but it may not be. Don't worry if
you don't believe it all at first. God calls you and wants you there no
matter how strong or weak your faith is. If you're baptised, you've every
right to be there even if you're a heretic; and if you're in England, your
Anglican parish church is there for you to use. You can join in with as
much or as little of the services as you feel able. For most people, we
find, belonging comes before belief.
Try Praying
Get started talking to God. Try to say in your own words whatever's on
your mind. It doesn't have to be eloquent, and it doesn't have to be
overflowing with wonderful sunny feelings. God wants to talk to the real
you, not some assumed identity based on what you might think you should
be like. If this is a bit much for you at the moment, start with the Lord's
Prayer or something else hallowed by tradition: that'll free you up to pray
through the words, rather than worrying about coming up with something
impressive. As you go on, a mixture of the structured and the spontaneous
is a good idea.
Try and get a rhythm going. Discipline in praying - praying something
whether you feel like it or not - is really helpful in the long run. So say a
prayer when you get up and before you go to bed, and try not to let
anything else interfere with that time of contact with God, however short it
is. Later on you may like to try some sort of Office (a structured time of
prayer with Bible readings).
As you go on, things will change. Sometimes you will feel overwhelmed
with a sense of God's presence; sometimes nothing will happen at all.
Sometimes you will feel so miserable and desolate the words will hardly
come, let alone any Godly thoughts or feelings. Sometimes (if you try
meditating for a while) you'll be tired and nod off. That doesn't matter.
Talk to someone who seems as though they might know what you're
going through, and keep going. God's still there and still loves you,
whatever you feel. 'I know that my Redeemer liveth'!
Get started talking to God. Try to say in your own words whatever's on
your mind. It doesn't have to be eloquent, and it doesn't have to be
overflowing with wonderful sunny feelings. God wants to talk to the real
you, not some assumed identity based on what you might think you should
be like. If this is a bit much for you at the moment, start with the Lord's
Prayer or something else hallowed by tradition: that'll free you up to pray
through the words, rather than worrying about coming up with something
impressive. As you go on, a mixture of the structured and the spontaneous
is a good idea.
Try and get a rhythm going. Discipline in praying - praying something
whether you feel like it or not - is really helpful in the long run. So say a
prayer when you get up and before you go to bed, and try not to let
anything else interfere with that time of contact with God, however short it
is. Later on you may like to try some sort of Office (a structured time of
prayer with Bible readings).
As you go on, things will change. Sometimes you will feel overwhelmed
with a sense of God's presence; sometimes nothing will happen at all.
Sometimes you will feel so miserable and desolate the words will hardly
come, let alone any Godly thoughts or feelings. Sometimes (if you try
meditating for a while) you'll be tired and nod off. That doesn't matter.
Talk to someone who seems as though they might know what you're
going through, and keep going. God's still there and still loves you,
whatever you feel. 'I know that my Redeemer liveth'!
Many religious houses provide places for people to 'retreat' and think about life spiritually. I have been several times to the Anglican
Benedictine convent of West Malling in Kent - click here for a write-up of this beautiful, peaceful place.
Benedictine convent of West Malling in Kent - click here for a write-up of this beautiful, peaceful place.
