This blog is for those attracted to Jesus but not to the traditional baggage often attached to his message, so it has two large centers of focus.
The first center of focus is learning who Jesus is and what he has said about how we should live and how we should understand the Father. The second is examining major baggage issues that often detract from following Jesus freely.
I grew up a fundamentalist and then became an evangelical. Along the way, as I examined my beliefs, I discarded a lot of baggage that had been added to the good news of Jesus. I hope to help and support others who are on the same journey.
Who might be interested in this blog?
- Do you struggle with traditional baggage that seems to make no sense and are perhaps afraid to question it?
- Are you already on a spiritual journey away from traditional baggage and would like confirmation or conversation from a friendly co-traveler?
- Have you abandoned traditional baggage but have abandoned Jesus along with it and feel the loss?
- Are you interested in Jesus but not the traditional baggage often associated with him?
- Do you just enjoy discussion and interaction on these important topics?
If you are concerned by the unreasonable baggage (rules and beliefs) often associated with Jesus, then this blog is for you. It is a message of Jesus without baggage.
Objectives
Let me make a clear statement. Many conservative believers and many atheist will disagree strongly with my views, but my purpose is not to persuade anyone to accept my perspectives on Jesus, the Father, or the Bible.
My objectives are:
- To offer for your consideration a foundation for following Jesus without baggage
- To offer support and conversation for those interested in Jesus without baggage or in the concepts involved
If my understanding of Jesus without baggage makes sense to you and is helpful, then I am happy. If you do not agree with my understanding, it does not bother me in the least. I respect your right to your beliefs even if you disagree with everything I believe.
To access blog posts, see Recent Posts and Archives in the column to the right.
What is Baggage?
Since the death of Jesus’ earliest followers, certain views have become accepted as ‘truth’ and those who disagree with these traditional ‘truths’ are often excluded from the Church and are no longer considered part of God’s family. This is baggage.
I was raised a fundamentalist, which is an extreme form of evangelicalism, and I fully embraced fundamentalism at a very early age. I accepted Jesus as my ‘Lord and Savior’ and accepted a lot of religious baggage along with that choice.
Over time, I discovered that much of that baggage I had accepted was not legitimate. I first abandoned legalism–the keeping of religious rules, and I also dealt with other baggage that came as part of my religious tradition.
What about Jesus?
However, I did not abandon Jesus. I still find the person of Jesus, as described by his earliest followers, intensely compelling. He resolves my alienation from the Father, myself, and other people, and he provides eternal life in his death and resurrection. Jesus is the most important thing in my life.
He included me in his invitation
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
I accept his invitation, and the invitation comes without baggage.
What Baggage Do I See?
What elements of baggage do I see among Christians today? Some of the more prominent include:
- The belief that the Father is an angry, capricious God
- The concept of eternal punishment and torture in hell
- An over-emphasis on rules and doctrinal requirements
- An insistence that the Bible is somehow inerrant in every word
- Insistence on a literal approach to creation in Genesis
- Promotion of end-times mythology
We will discuss these and many other issues here. To all the groups listed above–and more, I invite you to explore Jesus without baggage.
~Tim Chastain
Hey Ken. Great post. I also have left my baggage behind, and it has freed me to truly worship from my soul. Please include a RSS feed on your site so I can follow your blog. Blessings.
Hi Linda, I am glad you left your baggage behind! I enjoyed reading your blog. Also, I just want you to know that the RSS subscription button is in the column to the right.
Have a great day! ~Tim
Came across your blog via another blog. Matter o fact I believe you responded to a comment of mine but I haven’t responded back simply because I am doing my own research on the topic. I too am pushing away baggage and with your bullet points the only one I see that I don’t agree is baggage is the issue of hell.
The end times mythology is creative lingo. I have no opinion on that matter except to tell those who are in hysteria about it to balance themselves otherwise they will turn into nutcases.
Hi JW! Thanks for stopping by! I have notieced you in other blogs and read some of your comments. I wondered whether you were perhaps a Jehovah’s Witness, but if you DISagree with my views on hell I suppose you are not.
I hope you look around the blog a bit and I welcome you to comment wherever you feel like it. I will be sure to interact with your comments. Have a great day!
Hi. I’m not Christian, I don’t believe in the bible but I stubbled across ur blog via another. What exactly do u believe in. Are u not associated with what u could call mainstream Christianity. I’m a curious person and wish to understand ur belief I have my own which I’m happy to share if ur interested. Thx. Nikko
Hi Nikko,
I am not much for creeds, but people ask me this question from time to time since it is expected beliefs that I don’t have that sometimes catches people’s attention. So, here are some things I believe:
1. I believe Jesus is unique, that he conquered death in his resurrection, that his resurrection assures our eventual resurrection, and that all of us can look ahead to a time of peace, wholeness, and eternal life.
2. Because Jesus tells so much about the Father, I believe the Father loves us and that our good is his desire for all of us.
3. Since Jesus tells us so, I believe behavior is important. However, behavior is not measured by static rules but by our genuine love and concern for ourselves and others.
Yes, I am associated with mainstream Christianity; I do not promote something other than the Jesus of the Bible as described by his earliest followers. I consider myself and evangelical believer, though some evangelicals might disagree with that.
Thanks again for your question. I hope this helps and I am interested in your beliefs if you wish to share. I am also happy to clarify further any questions you have about my beliefs. ~Tim
Hi Tim, thx for replying. From what I have read, you seem to accept people for what they are. One thing that disturbed me about Christian view was the angry and hateful god and all the threats about hell. It seems u disagree with that, which is good.
My belief is pagan. I am not sure if ur aware but there are a lot of different pagan belief systems. Some are atheist and some are theist views. I guess u could say I am atheist as I don’t believe in a god being per say. Although I do view the sun as a god (masculine) symbol and Mother Earth As a goddess (feminine) symbol. Basically i have a nature based belief, I follow the seasons etc etc. i treat everyone as equal no matter there beliefs, sex, race or sexual orientation. My view is as long as ur not hurting anyone then believe what u want.
Hi Nikko,
I did a lot of reading on paganism in the 1970s. At that time I was most familiar with Gardnerian Wicca, Druidism, Anton LaVey’s Satanism, and Aleister Crowley. However, I have not kept up with it much since then, though I am aware of some developments. What system do you follow or associate with?
It appears that you have just started a new blog; good for you! What topics do you plan to address there? I might be interested in reading some of it when you have more content.
You are right about the Christian view of an angry god and hell, but that does not represent all Christians, and more Christians are rejecting those views all the time. I agree that as long as you are not hurting someone you can believe what you want, but I also contend that a proper understanding of Jesus (without baggage) is different than any other belief. But you know that already since you have read a number of my blog posts.
I hope you continue visting and commenting here, and be sure to let me know when you have written something on your new blog. Have a great day! ~Tim
G’day tim, my belief system is unique, as I don’t follow any particular tradition. I just follow what nature does. I live in the tropics so many of the traditional sabbats do not apply here. So I do full moon rituals, solstice, and equinox ones but other then those, I just perform other cerimonies when the need arises. Eg, blessing a new animal I the household to protect him or her.
Yes even though I don’t believe in Christianity, it is good to see more are becoming like urself. We need less hate in this world. To much hate and pain is caused due to what I call religious control. The kinda thing that involves threatening of hell etc.
My blog, I’m not sure what ill write about as yet. Perhaps my opinions on certain topics. Plus I’m very much in to science so I may give my opinion on aspects there. Just see where my inspiration takes me. I just need to find time to sit down and right.
I will say I am not a fan of mr Crowley, he was a disturbed man, not the best example of pagan faith hahaha. I cannot say I agree with sex Magick and orgies. I also did some reading up on satanism and it was nothing like I expected it to be. It’s an actual peaceful belief. Very interesting. Pop culture represents it as evil and menacing but in factors quite the opposite. I would assume as with all religions ur have the good and bad side to it.
You are so right Nikko: “We need less hate in this world!” Religious difference are important, but we don’t have to attack each other over them. It’s not a war…
I am no Crowley fan eaither and you said it–he was a disturbed man. I agree that LaVey’s satanism was not what most people think; it was weird but not as scary as one would expect. It was more show than substance, I think.
I enjoy our interaction. Come back and visit! ~Tim
Tim, I think you are on the right track. The Platonic and Gnostic influence that gave traction to the concept of a natural immortality, and hence the concept of eternal torment is really bad baggage. The corruption of Holy Orders in the Church by the State coercing bishops and presbyters created a clericalism separating those called to Holy Orders into a priesthood somehow more worthy that the priesthood of the laity, and is bad baggage. Making an idol out of the Holy Scriptures is very bad baggage that causes ever increasing sectarianism. Retaining beliefs that are refuted by the weight of revelation that includes sound science is also bad baggage. If one really wants to understand the truth, one has to be prepared to repent (change your mind) and turn away from those concepts that are not true, leaving the bad baggage behind. This is a painful process, yet it can bring great blessings if one remains humble and willing to be led by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth.
Wow Marc! I agree with all your definitions of baggage: natural immortality, hell, priesthood vs. laity, Bilbliolatry, and anti-science. And you are right, it is a painful process to work through the baggage, but it is well worth it! Thanks!
We think a lot of the same things. If you are so inclined, feel free to tell others about the blog.
Thanks for your response Tim. In an effort to understand more fully the revelations that were available, the early Christians developed an apophatic approach that eliminated what was not true (the baggage). They relied on a conciliar consensus guided by the Holy Spirt to develop understanding and dogma about what is true. Without some reliable authority providing criteria for discerning what is true, aren’t we in great danger of throwing out the baby (truth) with the bath water (baggage)?
Man! You sent me to school on this one, Marc! I had to learn what ‘apophatic’ means. And I like the term. I think my concepts of God fit quite well within the definition of apophatic, but it seems you apply it more broadly than just to ideas about god. I will have to study this more when I have time.
Regarding reliable authority, I am not sure our views are the same. I read as widely as I can and I respect a lot of the work that has been done. I share much of what I believe in common with other believers both past and present, but I cannot appeal to authority. I follow Jesus and would accept his ‘authority’ if I knew his position on things, but I do not. The best I can do is draw careful conclusions from the memories of his earliest followers as presented in the Gospels.
What reliable authority do you accept and what truths do you think we might have thrown out with the bath water?
You ask some very important questions Tim. You are correct in accepting the authority of Jesus as the criteria of Truth. I believe there is a great weight of evidence to indicate that this authority, Holy Tradition, has been preserved in the Church through conciliar Church governance. No one individual can decide these matters, only the collective leadership of the Church guided by the Holy Spirit. This has been normative since the first Council of Jerusalem held in c. AD 49 to decide whether one had to become a Jew before becoming a Christian. The Great Schism of 1054 happen because the bishop of Rome rejected conciliar governance because he thought he was above it. The reformers were mostly inclined to follow the papal model rather than embrace the conciliar governance of the early Church. This is why we have thousands of denominations and sects today. I believe the Ecumenical Councils of the first eight Centuries speak with the authority of Jesus, so the dogma of the Holy Trinity is settled.
The Church Councils were important and I have respect for them, but it seems that most of their work had to do with the nature of Jesus and his relationship to the Father and to the Holy Spirit. They did not do much detailed work on other issues. In addition, they were influenced by the currents of the times that included philosophy and politics, so I do not see how that leads to ‘tradition’ being authoritative for our time.
I do not consider the councils authoritative; they were men trying to make sense of things that were unclear. One negative aspect was the lack of consensus. The majority was not satisfied to go on record with an agreement; they went further to declare the minority heretics and drove them from the church.
As I work through my beliefs, I consider tradition, but I cannot subject myself to tradition. I don’t think I mentioned the trinity, but I will say that I disagree with Rome’s move to insert filioque into the creed. I enjoy this excellent discussion. Thanks!
The traditions of men are often baggage as you have pointed out Tim. However Holy Tradition is the continuing presense of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and the Church is the pillar and ground of the Truth (1 Timothy 3;15). Even though the leadership of the Church has often included scoundrels as well as saints, by maintaining collective conciliar governance the errors and tyranny of an individual leader have been avoided.
You said, “Holy Tradition is the continuing presense of the Holy Spirit in the Church.” How do you support this? It does not bother me for people to think this, but it does not seem persuasive as an argument; it is an appeal to authority without substantiation as far as I can see.
I support this Tim because in Matthew 16:13-20 our Lord Jesus Christ explains to His Disciples that they will be given authority to build and lead His Church. This was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the Disciples became the Apostles as the Holy Spirit empowered them to lead and build the Church established on that very day. This Apostolic authority has been preserved in the Church by the same Holy Spirit that established it. It is often referred to as Holy Apostolic Tradition.
I understand and I respoect your belief about this. No matter how similarly two people think, there is always something they think differently
I am ok with this Tim. I respect your love for our Lord Jesus Christ, and firmly believe that we will enjoy communion with Him and the saints in the Heavenly Church either when we repose, or when the Lord returns. I think the focus of your blog regarding the baggage that so many are saddled with is a very sound endevour. May God bless you and guide you as you grow in grace and knowledge.
Thanks Marc, my respect for you is mutual! I always enjoy your comments.