Last week I attended the Byberg Preaching Conference in Oregon, where theologian Douglass John Hall presented a series on "What Christianity is Not." One of the take-home nuggets: Christianity is not a religion. This could be shocking to some, welcome to others. Your take?
In a series of lectures, Hall articulated that Christianity is NOT: 1.) culture religion; 2.) a religion of the book; and 3.) A system of morality. Rock on DJ Hall, I say.
Again, his main point is that Christianity is a FAITH not a religion. I like this. I like remembering that the early followers of Christ were a movement, not an institutional system of regulations. Sure we need good order (I'm a Myers-Briggs J myself) but the heart of the good news is God's deep love for us and our call is to share that with a passion.
I have pages of notes from Hall's lectures, but another nugget I liked was when he played with Karl Barth's notion of God hating religion (just ask the prophet Amos). Barth describes religion as unbelief, as grasping, as taking a grasp at God. Hall adds, "If a religion is grasping, it will be competitive, exclusive...desire for certainty and absoluteness...this leads to violence."
On the other hand, authentic faith allows one to be grasped by God. A Lutheran spin might add: we don't have to DO anything, God comes to us, wooes us, loves us just as we are.
As a sidenote, I used DJ Hall's "Why Christian?" for a sermon series last fall and it really captured imagination/interest in my congregation. Seriously recommended for those on the fringes of Christianity or those willing to give it a second, open-minded and at times critical look.
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