Part Three: Moving from Toxic Beliefs to Transforming Ones

Deconstruction is necessary

I understand the antagonism directed at oppressive, harmful belief systems because I have had my share of that resentment. We may not even be able to become more compassionate without first becoming more angry — angry enough to deconstruct all or parts of previous belief systems that no longer appear truthful or loving to us. That’s the serious message of the cartoon above.

After deconstruction is reconstruction, moving to more expansive and compassionate beliefs.

Loving God with your Mind

Jesus reminded us to “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength” (Mark 12:30). Paul encouraged us to “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds” (Rom 12:2). This kind of transformation is a change in what one believes, not a rejection of believing.

Behind any authentic encounter with beliefs and theology is the essential practice of loving God with our minds. Beliefs have a place at every stage of Growing Up. The “spiritual but not religious” tend to claim they are tossing out all religious dogmas, doctrines, and definitions. The idea that “all religious beliefs are bad” is in itself a belief! Deconstruction and reconstruction are quite different than rejecting all beliefs.

Followers of Jesus cannot get away from belief systems because any reasonable inquiry shows that he taught and practiced certain liberating beliefs.

Some widespread “Christian” beliefs are less than Christ-like — even toxic! Life-giving beliefs give us “truth guides” and open space for spiritual experiences. These help to propel us into the greater awakening of more evolved stages and deeper states of awareness.

However, don’t overdo the whole belief thing. When you find yourself more fascinated by the belief systems of Jesus than the mystical experiences of Jesus, it may be helpful to spend more time exploring the mystical life.

Divisive Conflicts

The historic focus on beliefs has led to three broad divisions of Christianity today: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. Within Protestantism, there is a vast number of divergent denominations, each with its own set of beliefs — around 42,000! Another way to look at it is there are probably as many belief systems as there are Christians!

I write about my beliefs all the time in our weekly writings. However, they are usually framed in ways other than “beliefs.”

I do not write here about my beliefs with the intent to convert you to my way of thinking — well, maybe a little bit. But I do not write to imply that those who believe differently are inadequate or unthinking. We are all limited and can only see what our worldview allows us to see, including me. However, I have come to believe that some conventional beliefs are harmful and do not produce healthy followers of Jesus.

Why This Series?

I have found that most Christians have a creed or collection of beliefs that are not usually written down or even conscious in a clear way. This system of beliefs is often a somewhat random assortment they have collected about the spiritual life from many sources. If one is a part of a church, often what that church community or denomination believes is a part of that assortment, if not the whole thing.

However, talking about beliefs in some circles, particularly conventional ones, can be exhausting, emotion-filled bickering, seldom producing change when deeply held beliefs are challenged.

I hope this series can be helpful as an opportunity to model and practice the integral approach of valuing all perspectives. As others share different or similar beliefs in our discussions, we can listen with curiosity, genuine acceptance, and delight in our diversity!

I am sharing some of my beliefs for four more reasons. Some have asked me about them, and I want to be upfront about what I believe. Perhaps even more importantly, I want to clarify what I don’t believe. You may have suspected I was a heretic, and now you can prove it.

Next, if others find any resonance in what I write, then it may be helpful for articulating your own beliefs, even if quite different from mine.

And finally, my hope is to invite others to system of beliefs that makes us more selfless, integrated, and socially responsible.

I remind us again that participants in ICN cover a wide range of beliefs and nonbeliefs about Christianity. We have no official statement of beliefs, and no particular ones are required to be a part of ICN.

At ICN, we lead with spiritual practice and experience rather than a system of beliefs. However, we often offer certain optional beliefs or “frameworks of understanding” that we think can help us with entering into mystical experience and practice.

The Beliefs of Christianity Down Through the Centuries

The search for understanding led the early Christians in the Greek world to concentrate on ideas. Christian leaders met between the second and ninth centuries to develop their conceptual statements of faith, confessions, and creeds. The focus on Jesus narrowed to concepts — beliefs about intellectual doctrines rather than Jesus’ practices, teaching, and values.

The first widespread “official” collections or statements of beliefs came about from attempts to answer the burning theological questions of the day. Later on, down through the centuries for traditional stage Christianity, these statements served as a theological core around which a particular community would gather.

These are usually called creeds or statements of faith. They are the shared beliefs of a Christian community. Many Christians regularly recite the Nicene Creed or the Apostles’ Creed in their church services. Roman Catholics usually do so in Sunday services but not weekday Mass.

The Apostles’ Creed comes closer to being universally accepted among Christians than any other. It is the oldest statement of faith in the Christian Church, written sometime in the second century AD. Numerous denominations still use some form of the Apostles’ Creed as their statement of faith, including Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Reformed, and Congregationalists. However, Baptist, Nazarene, Pentecostal, and Charismatic churches do not use creedal statements. They usually believe what’s in them — they just don’t consider the practice of reciting a creed “biblical.”

The Apostles’ Creed, along with the Nicene Creed, brought unifying clarity to the theological issues of the fourth century, although increasingly not as much today, where they invite deconstruction. They defined the relationship between “God the Father” and “God the Son,” which is still accepted by most traditional churches today (Click here for a well-done summary of early Christianity, Christian beliefs, and history).

However, what is not true about these historic credal statements are such claims that they are “the high points of New Testament teaching” and are “based on the Christian understanding of the four gospels and the letters of the New Testament.” They are not.

The Apostles’ Creed established what we now call the Trinity, with some extras added at the end. However, I understand it does so with much today that is not helpful, even harmful. How does it appear to you as you read the following?

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
      who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
      and born of the virgin Mary,
      suffered under Pontius Pilate,
      was crucified, died, and was buried;
      He descended to hell.
      The third day he rose again from the dead.
      He ascended to heaven
      and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
      From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the holy catholic church,
      the communion of saints,
      the forgiveness of sins,
      the resurrection of the body,
      and the life everlasting. Amen.

If you are not familiar with the Apostles’ Creed, it may sound strange, even weird. That’s because in today’s world, in many ways, it is!

I heard about one pastor that had a “stand up or sit down” Sunday where, as they recited the creed, each person in the congregation remained standing for parts they believed and sat down for parts they didn’t. There were lots of ups and downs.

Hans Kung, a prominent Catholic theologian, was asked, “When you confess the Creed do you make any mental reservations, and on what parts of the Creed?” Kung replied boldly, “Yes, on every part of the creed. And any thinking Christian does the same.”

Three of seven beliefs in this most common Creed I will be addressing in this part and the next are what I call limiting beliefs, and four of them I consider toxic.

God the Father

Let’s start with one that I consider highly toxic in the world today. “I believe in God the Father . . .” Calling God “the Father,” based on Jesus’ practice of calling God Abba or Father, made sense in a patriarchal society where the father was the almighty corporate personality of the family and included the mother.

When Paul and Silas were in prison, and an earthquake freed them, the jailer, fearing for his life, asked what he must do to be saved. They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” But the jailer’s household was not present. How did they know the whole family unit would believe”? Because whatever the father, as head of the household, decided, the entire family was expected to also do so, too.

However, that is not true today. Social scientists have documented dramatic changes in gender inequality in the last half century, sometimes called a “gender revolution.” Christians continue to contribute to this gender gap in a powerful way by, in public worship, teaching, and writing, using only masculine language for God, such as “father,” “he,” and “his,” while excluding feminine naming such as “mother and “she,” and “her.”

Using gendered names for God in private prayer should always be based on our personal needs. I had a missing father in my life, and I call one of the Faces of God Beside Us “Daddy”— always a very warm, healing experience for me. Others find it meaningful to call God “Mother” or “Momma.”

Remember that the Koine Greek words “abba” and “imma” mean “Daddy” and “Momma,” respectively, and were often the first words spoken by little ones, just like today. They continued in Jesus’ day into adulthood as names of warmth and respect for parents. Yes, in prayer, Jesus called God “Daddy,” the same name he called his human daddy both as a child and an adult!

In my writing, I use Jesus’ experience of God as a mother-like father and other biblical references to God as mother (Isaiah 42:14; 49:15; 66:13) as two of many metaphors for God. At my church, the congregation voted to rewrite all our songs and hymns to make them gender-inclusive or gender-neutral — even Christmas hymns! Not bad for a bunch of Baptists.

Language is not tame. Exclusively masculine names for God are toxic to both men and women. It opens the door to men believing they are more like God than women and should be in charge. It continually reminds women they are less “god-like” than men. That can reinforce the violence against women that continues down through the centuries and today.

Patriarchal language does not make a person or group more selfless, integrated, and socially responsible. It does the opposite.

In personal prayer, I believe we should use the gender language most meaningful to us.

However, in conversation, using gender-inclusive language is more difficult for the average person, and I can only encourage us to do our best. I wrote an entire book on it, and I still stumble around in conversation with others about God. Pronouns for God are tricky since they conventionally come in “he,” “him,” and “his.” For the last twenty years, I have usually used “she” and “her.”

Recently, in recognition of the equal plurality of the Three Faces of God, I sometimes use “They” and “Their” as pronouns for God.

In public language, such as worship services, civic meetings, and writing, we can move from toxic, exclusively male names and pronouns for God by including female and gender-neutral names. This is more inclusive, socially responsible, and loving. According to Jesus, love is the main point anyway!

Only Son?

Next is the statement, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son.” The early Christians were so excited about Jesus that they made him God’s only child, ignoring the insistent biblical stance that we are all sons and daughters of God. Calling Jesus “his only son” damages the acceptance of our own divinity. There is no difference between Jesus’ divinity and ours, except that he realized and expressed it so incredibly!

It’s time to take out the toxic trash in the Creeds, the Bible, and Christianity. We can move from the toxic “God’s only son” to the sacred and deeply spiritual truth that we are all God’s divine daughters and sons!

Trinity

I believe the traditional Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is no longer a helpful way to describe God in today’s world. Instead, I think the classical Trinity is more faithful to Jesus when expressed in the fuller, more truthful, and helpful way as the Three Faces of God. For a fuller exploration of this profound framework for understanding and experiencing God, see my book Is Your God Big Enough? Close Enough? You Enough?

The Three Faces of God

I believe in the Infinite Face of God Beyond Us,
experienced as Being Itself, the Ultimate Source of all that is.

I believe in the Intimate Face of God Beside Us,
the presence of God as a loving mother-father, the Living Jesus, other spiritual presences,
all sentient beings, and nature as the Intimate Face of God.

I believe in the Inner Face of God Being Us,
the experience of God as awakened-spirit-breath consciousness

The Infinite face of God Beyond Us is not God as a being but God as Being Itself, revealed to Moses as “I AM” (Ex 3:7). The Apostle Paul describes this as God, “in whom we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). This is the bliss of pure consciousness, awareness itself without an object.

The Intimate Face of God Beside Us is represented by Jesus, Mary, St. Francis, many other spiritual guides in the cloud of witnesses, all humanity, nature, animals (Thomas Merton called them “our four-legged saints”), and Mother/Father God.

The Inner Face of God Being Us is spirit, the human-divine breath of awakened consciousness, allowing us to be aware of our divinity and humanity, our True Self, and live from that reality in today’s world. As co-creators with God, we are God’s hands, feet, heart, and voice in the world today.

THE THREE FACES OF GOD AS THE EVOLVED TRINITY

With the Integral Trinity we see God in all of creation, great and small. Embracing and experiencing the evolved, expanded, integral trinity, the Three Faces of God, helps us become more selfless, integrated, and socially responsible as the heart and mind, hands and feet of God in the world today.

For Reflection . . .

1. What parts of the Apostles’ Creed would you sit down for?

2. Do you find the Three Faces of God a helpful understanding? If so, how?

3. Which Face of God is most helpful to you? Most challenging?

The Snags & Solutions in Beliefs: Problems in the Creeds