Why Should I Care What the Gospel Says?
I have never been able to connect to Christianity despite coming from a very religious background. At a young age I was being suffocated by the same religious beliefs my parents had been raised by. I attend a private Christian school in my home country. As I grew older, I felt more and more disconnected from my religion. As I began to discover who I was as a person, my beliefs shifted. Suddenly, my parents’ prayers fell on deaf ears, my bible sat on my desk gathering dust, and my feelings got the better of me at the dinner table. I don’t consider myself as a religious person anymore, I don’t think I ever was. So, when I saw John Lewis preaching to the baby chickens as a child, I couldn’t help but sigh. I went into the book with a very negative view of Christianity, but to my surprise I didn’t find myself rolling my eyes.
“He applied the principles of the church to what was happening NOW, today. It was called the social gospel and I felt like he was preaching directly to me.”
This is what John Lewis mentioned when he first heard Dr. Martin Luther King on the radio. The social gospel is a more modernized version of the biblical gospel. One that’s more focused on the liberation of others. More often than not it was used to silence minorities, used to protect injustices, and even encourage the mistreatment of others. Even if that wasn’t its intended purpose, that’s how a lot of people used it. One of the ideas that struck me the most was of social evolution. It stuck with me the most because of the idea of moving forward in society. Being seen as everyone’s equal, no matter the color of your skin, is something we still struggle with to this day. It’s why I think this gospel is one I could get behind, despite my past.
When you mention that religion, even some forms of social gospel, are used to “silence minorities . . . to protect injustices . . . and even encourage the mistreatment of others,” I couldn’t agree with you more!! People often misuse beliefs, being it Christian or otherwise, to do more harm than good. I consider the reversal of Roe Vs Wade as one prime example. I firmly believe that politics does not have the right to tell anyone what they can or can’t do with their own body. And making these decisions be about Christianity does more harm than good. You can believe that abortion is wrong without pushing those beliefs on others. And if we are talking about social justice, than it’s the exact opposite. They want to make women have babies, but not provide support for the the single mother or the parents of children who have severe disabilities.
What are the odds of finding someone else with such a similar backstory when it comes to religion? Skimming through all the articles, I came across Nicolle’s and I instantly clicked with her story. Like Nicolle, I went to a private school. I attended private catholic school from Pre-K to the twelfth grade. In early elementary school the main things that were taught in religion class were simplified biblical stories, prayers, and the teachings of right or wrong. Middle school was the transition period of the more in depth teachings the church had and enforced. I found myself not agreeing with all traditional values of the Catholic church. I was not alone in the opinion, amongst my friends we all felt we were unable to express our opinions and ask our questions. A common question we had was simply “Why?”. It would always cause tension in the classroom whenever the questions came about. We felt it was seen to be “all or nothing” with Catholicism.
This took a big toll on my relationship with the church, how could it not? I felt so restricted in the old traditional beliefs. I decided to accept that I just don’t agree with all the teachings of the church.I came to that realization in my first year of highschool. I continued to attend the same school despite it but it meant I still had to be involved in it. Like Nicolle, I had a negative perspective on Christianity. At the end of the day, I think the Catholic church has many faults when it comes to modern day scenarios, which has created a lot of controversy throughout recent years but I genuinely don’t believe the church will ever change because of their pride and honor in tradition. Till this day I have accepted the fact that I won’t ever see eye to eye with the religion I grew up in.
What you wrote about really spoke to me. I didn’t grow up in a Christian household until I was about in the sixth grade. My mom, my sister, and I would go every single Sunday for years. Until one day we just stopped and I never knew why. I still believed in God but wasn’t a “hardcore” christian. I love the gospel of jesus and I believe everyone should love one another just like jesus did. Since coming to college I’ve join a nondenominational church and a small group with some of my closest friends. I would love to tell everyone about jesus and how great He is but I have to remember that I can’t just push something on someone like that. Especially it being so controversial nowadays. I do not believe that any religion should be push onto anyone or appear in politics at all. Back then when John Lewis was growing up, I feel like it was more normal for the entire town to go to church on Sundays and pray regularly. I loved the way in the story that it incorporated that John Lewis was preaching to his chickens. Although it seems a bit silly, I truly believe he knew what his purpose in the world was supposed to be. John Lewis was fully stuck on the idea that everyone should be treated equal under the grace of God. Of course, this meaning that everyone follows the social gospel. My understanding of it, is that people try to apply christian ethics to social problems which I don’t think is right. Not matter the religion, some people still may not agree and bringing it into politics won’t make it any less messy. I love how you mentioned the idea of social evolution and everyone moving forward as a society. No matter your beliefs, race, or gender I entirely believe that everyone should love one another.
I relate to this post because I also grew up in a very religious household and went to a private school from Pre-K to eighth grade. I also always felt disconnected from what my parents told me. I felt that same feeling when teachers at my school would talk about religion constantly. I was always preached at by everyone in my life constantly yet I never cared enough to understand what they talked about. It was not until I had left my private school that I realized people who truly believed did not have to force themselves to care about Mass or roll their eyes when someone would make a comment about God or Jesus. What had really solidified the fact that religion just was not for me was when people who I knew would use religion as a scapegoat to be mean and hate people just because they have different beliefs.
I had the same reaction when reading March and seeing him talk about preaching to his chickens. I assumed it would be a very religious book after reading that but found myself still enjoying the book because it gave a new perspective on preaching. I was so used to the same old anecdotes you would hear during Mass about what was just read yet they never made sense because it was not something I was interested in. When Nicolle talked about people using the social gospel for negative aspects, it reminds me of people who still use the Bible for spreading hate and just all around negative messages to people. People back then and today used their religion to spread hate to specific minorities.