I am Christian because...

May 12, 2024

In today’s first reading, taken from the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we are told that the Ascension of Jesus took place 40 days after Easter  Yet, the writer of this book, who is also the author of the Gospel of Luke (we know this from the introduction to both books) informs us in the Gospel that the Ascension took place on Easter day itself or immediately after that (Luke 24:36-53). This is one of the many obviously contradictory facts in the Bible. Besides this, in the Gospel of today we hear Jesus telling his disciples that they will not be hurt even if they pick up snakes in their hands, or drink poison, - and we know that this is not true of us today and probably wasn’t true then.

While I have already given an overview in an earlier blog as to how scripture scholars generally deal with such texts, (March 10, 2024, Who will tell me what the Bible really means?) the question we could ask ourselves today is”: How do we normally react to such difficult texts?  Do we ignore it, ask questions or assume that these questions are not for the likes of us, and we might as well leave it to the priests and religious scholars to deal with them.   

The Russian author, Dostoevsky, in a savage indictment of the institutional Catholic Church in his famous Parable of the Grand Inquisitor (from the novel, The Brothers Karamazov), suggested that the vast majority of Christians (and this applies to other religious followers too, I guess), are those for whom submitting to mystery, or miracle or authority is preferable. There is a truth to Dostoevsky's claim. When I look around at the world today I see that a vast majority of religious followers subscribe to their religion either our of fear, desire or guilt - a fear that God will spite us if we are not loyal to Him, a desire for some favour, or the guilt of not following all that was taught to me in order to be a practising Christian.  Fear is often about the mysterious unpredictable and unknown, desire is that which makes us look for miracles, and guilt often looks to be assuaged by obedience to authority. For  many of us then, it is these motivations that make us look for mystery, miracle and authority when we read the Bible, perhaps preventing us from hearing the simple message of love.

But there are other kinds of followers. These are those whose primary motivation is to develop a relationship  with God. The relationship itself is the reward. Such a person would want to experience God, would want to know more and more about God and therefore may use the Bible as a guide, but wouldn’t really be troubled if the Ascension happened on Easter or if the disciples could drink poison or not, or even if s/he learns about God through some other religion, because such a person is only looking for clues/aids to know about God, to experience God. And so, whether the Bible is perfectly in sync or not would only affect them to the extent that it guides them on their pilgrimage.  Consequently, they could comfortably ask difficult questions of the Bible or of religious authorities.  Still again, there are those who, like the mystics, are just absorbed in God like a drop of water in an ocean. They do not even see God as a separate being because they are part of God and God is part of them. These people, who are often seen as mystics, have experienced God in a manner that could probably give us insights that go beyond the Bible and our understanding of it. Thus within the Christian community there are different ‘types’ of followers.

This reality that within every religious group there are a variety of types of followers, was spelt out for me by Dr. Radhakrishnan, the first President  of India and a Hindu religious scholar of note, when he proposed the idea that within Hinduism there were different types of ‘worshippers’ when he wrote:

“The worshippers of the Absolute are the highest in rank; second to them are the worshippers of the personal God; then come the worshippers of the incarnations like Rama, Krishna, Buddha; below them are those who worship ancestors, deities and sages, and lowest of all are the worshippers of the petty forces and spirits.”

His categories seem to correspond to the story of the religious pilgrimage of human beings in general, as we moved from animism to mysticism.  But these categories can also be seen in contemporary Christianity. There are many Christians who live in fear of God, and of the devil, and they spend a major portion of their lives appeasing these powerful realities/spirits. Then there are those who choose to live their Christianity through mediators, whether these are saints, Mary the mother of Jesus, holy people, or even priests. The next type, parallel to the ones Radhakrishnan offers, are those Christians who live in a relationship with a ‘personal’ God who is Jesus.  And finally there are those who go beyond all these and relate with the ultimate reality in silence and spell-binding awe.

What is perhaps consoling to note, and must be remembered, is that none of these different ‘types’ are mutually exclusive, as one individual may belong to more than one type simultaneously, or even belong to different types at different points in one’s life. After all our pilgrimage to God is not always uni-directional, we go back and forth, sometimes side-stepping, sometimes falling, and often trying to get up, and so on and so forth.

I say this because if one looks at how Jesus dealt with his followers, we get the impression that perhaps Jesus understood this back-and-forthing of our spiritual journey.  And so he would work miracles for those who came to him in faith, and he would allow 72 of his disciples to go around and work miracles in his name.  And yet in his heart Jesus knew that this was a very inadequate form of religion, for when these seventy two come back in triumph, he tells them that it was not the wonders that they did that made them special, but only the fact that they were special to God (Luke 10:19-20).  In fact at another time, when crowds thronged him because he had worked miracles for them, he bemoans the fact that they come to him only for the miracles he can do for them by saying: “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill” (John 6:26). But still he continues to work miracles for them despite knowing how inadequate or superficial  their following of him is. Or again, when he is faced with a question by the Apostles in today’s first reading where, after all that he has taught them and shown them, they are still worried about whether his earthly kingdom will come soon, and are more interested in knowing who will have the higher places in this new kingdom (Mark 10:35-45). Yet he is gentle with them and tells them that one day they will understand when they are filled with the Spirit. To take other examples, he knows that the boasting Peter will deny him, and yet he accepts him.  He knows Judas will betray  him, and yet accepts him. He knows all his disciples and apostles will run away from him when he is arrested,  but he still accepts them.  He knows that  he cannot change them completely, and that they must each walk their own pilgrim path till they finally find God.  

And so, if gradually and over time, our relationship with God becomes less and less out of fear, or desire or guilt, and we gradually begin to let go of mediators between us and God, then perhaps we can say that we are genuinely moving forward in our pilgrimage.  It might be helpful then for us to reflect on the kind of religious follower we generally are - so that we will know that we need to make attempts to move forward, stumbling and falling perhaps, but always getting up and trying. 

First Reading: Acts 1: 1-11

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.  On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.  They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

 

Second Reading: Ephesians 4: 1-13

I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high, he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?  He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)  He himself granted that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,  until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

 

Gospel: Mark 16: 15-20

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied