Christian Atheism?

David Hayward, aka @nakedpastor, is a cartoonist with whom I often seem to be on the same wavelength.  His cartoons often lampoon the collision of what Christianity has come to mean in our society as opposed to what it’s supposed to mean, which is “Christ-like.”  He often talks about the process of extricating oneself from fundamentalist thinking, which, if you’ve been there, you know can mean losing friends and family members.  He refers to it as “deconstruction.”

So this cartoon was posted this morning.  What followed was a lot of cheering that this is so accurate.  His comments were reasonable, which is basically that one should never say never.  I don’t have a problem with what he was saying, but I did kind of resist what seemed to be happening in the comments, which felt to me to be a statement that once one gives up on the literalism of Christianity, one loses Jesus.  So I’m asking why?

I think it’s human nature to want to cling to the idea of a divine creator/protector/father. It’s really beyond our capacity to understand a vast nothingness that just existed for eternity before us, then exploded into the world we know, and will continue to exist for eternity after us.
“Believing” gives us a sense of control. We want to believe that our prayers are heard and when we are afraid, it brings us comfort.  It also gives us a sense of immortality.  If there is a god and we have souls, we’ll continue for eternity.

Letting go of that is too scary for most people, which is, I believe, why most people claim to believe in “a higher power.”

Call it a gift or call it a curse, but I have the creativity to imagine the beauty of a god, while also possessing the capacity for logic that allows me to see religion for what it is: training wheels.  But letting go of the strict rules and fantastical stories doesn’t have to mean letting go of Jesus!
Jesus’ teachings are what bring us comfort; not his “magical powers,” or some complicated mix of commands and demands from a God who loves us so much he can’t look at us without a human sacrifice!

Jesus serves as an example of how humans should treat one another. That love for one another is the true miracle. Honestly, if we think about the times that we feel our prayers have been heard and answered, hasn’t it always been through someone’s love? I love Jesus in the way I love my grandmother who passed away when I was a very small child. I don’t know if she sees me from where she is now, but the idea comforts me. I carry myself in a way that I believe would make her proud. Not because I’m afraid of her wrath, but because she loved me, and this is how I will continue to honor her memory.
And that’s how I still have and will always have Jesus. 💝