Monday, 7 October, 2002

From "The Hauerwas Reader" - Stanley Hauerwas



What does it mean to be Christian?

Being Christian is a way of life; it's being part of God's story. To be Christian is to appreciate what God has done for us through Jesus of Nazareth. Being Christian doesn't mean following a set of rules or principles; Christianity depends on the character of people's lives. The Gospel has no meaning unless it can be lived out and embodied in people's lives. That's why the live of the saints are so important.... When Christians try to look the same as everyone else, they find themselves in all sorts of quandaries.



I suppose there will be some who will argue that the character of a person depends on how they follow some set of rules. When our character is determined by a set of rules that we either keep or do not keep, life can be quite like following a recipe. Follow it closely and "viola" a Christian character! But as Hauerwas notes, if we look at the lives of the saints...the followers of Jesus who have lived before us...many of them are held up as models of strong character and faith because they broke the "rules" and did not pattern themselves around what was said to be "right." Our character is formed out of a vision. That vision may conflict, at times, with the very rules we hold close to our lives and community. For example: the character of the Christian community is not the same as the American dream. We may live within the "empire" but we may find ourselves needed to resist the ways of the empire when it conflicts with the way of the cross. That may be why it is so dangerous to call ourselves a "Christian nation"...for we are not...we cannot be aligned and identified with any one country. We are a part of a way.



Connection: How is the character of the saints alive today contrary to the prevailing rules and character of one's homeland. Sometime we need to focus on the very core of what calls forth our allegiance and what we then follow. The ways will often look very different and we must be very aware of the vision of the reign of God as we look around us.



Lord of New Life, be for us the light that leads us into this day boldly living as followers of Jesus. Keep us aware of the cost of discipleship in every time and place and empower us to live within the character of your reign. Amen