Have you ever wondered what Christian’s believe in their
deepest recess’ about God, Jesus, the Universe, and the applicability of the
Christian religion to today’s complex issues? Do Christians have something
solid to live by and to give them encouragement, a reason to wake up every
morning and smell the roses? Have we somehow lost the connection of the
Christian religion to its true message and work-ability to help us through some
of these complex issues, or is the religion itself flawed in some way that
prevents it from giving us hope in a sea of discouragement and pessimism? The
Unity movement is called “Practical Christianity”. How can it be practical when
its numbers are diminishing and there seems to be such little continuity from
church to church and minister to minister?
Practical Christianity means I can use this Christian belief system to
help me in my day to day walk. It means I don’t have to search outside my belief system for answers to life’s dilemmas, and the answers are right in
front of me, in our theology. Practical means “usable, taught from experience,
inclined to action rather than theory”; and in that sense, is the Unity
Movement practical? It would seem that perhaps other denominations are more
practical, and that we are more “theoretical”. But back to my first question, “what
do today's Christians really believe about their religion?” I think the
certitude which we discussed in class is constructed around the idea that Jesus
died for your sins and you don’t have to worry about much, except accepting Him
as your Lord and Savior. This idea is not unlike the Hindu relationship of
devotee to Guru. In all situations, questions, and complexities of life, FOLLOW
YOUR GURU’S TEACHINGS. You don’t have to think for yourself, just follow the
lead of your Guru. Now, doesn't that make life a little simpler? Try and find a
flaw in it theologically. Your Guru, in the case of Christians, Jesus, has
experienced your same difficulties, your same problems, your same circumstances
in life. In fact, He existed to show you the Way to Freedom. The truth is, I
believe, we all need some power beyond our selves to lean on, to rely on, to
cry to, to shout to, to play with, to love and to follow, yes, to follow. The
Jesus of today might say something like, “follow me and I will show you the way
to the God of your own understanding, the One Presence and One Power in the
Universe. I am not that Power; however, I can show you how to discover it within
yourself.” Now that is something I can rely on, that is indeed Practical
Christianity.
