Can you be a Christian if....

My fifteen-year-old son is getting confirmed this year, which has raised many questions. I had delayed putting him in confirmation class. He seemed pretty unaware of religion and confused about the Episcopal church, which raised some alarm bells in my mind. It wasn't like he hadn't gone to church for many years and Sunday school. However, it was confirmed that he didn't seem to connect with what was taught. I learned a vital parenting lesson in his middle school years, just because one attends something doesn't mean they are present. So despite a run at the boy's choir and youth group meetings, he just didn't get it.

Then as a freshman in high school and in a new role as an acolyte, things started to gell. He was also blessed with clergy who stepped up to teach confirmation in an exciting and fun way. Now I have a new problem. All this instruction led to many questions he wanted to know my take on. He had some ideas, but he wanted to know what I thought. I started honing in on my own sense of faith and being an Episcopalian through this process. I must say it has been both a challenge and satisfying.

The first question started with a rebuke. I had mentioned that my son had at one point expressed a belief in reincarnation. He immediately expressed disbelief that I should say such a thing. He assured me I did not remember correctly that he had never believed in such a thing. "Mom, I could never have said that," he assured me, and I, of course, asked, "why not?" The answer was startling. "I don't believe there is anything after death." So it would seem he did not believe in heaven.

Can you still be a Christian if you don't believe in heaven? It raises an interesting question. So much of the gospel focuses on Christ's promise of a better life when we come to the Father through him. How many prayers end with the world to come, amen? How much of the church's teachings are based on the notion that you behave a certain way so that you will be worthy of heaven? So, if you don't believe in heaven, does that mean the teachings of the faith have no meaning?

Next question, if you don't believe there is a God, what is the point of religion? In some ways, this is the same question as above except for more real-time. In other words, is there a supreme being who looks out for us until we die and don't go to an afterlife? If you don't believe in God, can you be a Christian?

Our whole faith is built on God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The operative word here is God. This is even tougher than a question about heaven. If you don't believe in God, what do you believe in? Being a Christian without God seems like a stretch.

The last question from my son recently was did you have to believe in the bible literally to be a Christian and an Episcopalian. Fortunately, the answer to his one is no. You don't have to believe in Adam or Eve or Noah's Ark. If you see the bible as a spiritual guide, an allegory that teaches, you can be a Christian.  

This freedom to interpret and study the bible for clues on a Christian life may answer all of the above. My son told me his one goal was to be a better person. He always wants to work on being kinder and more giving. We discussed this at length regarding what it means to be a Christian. I think the answer to all his questions is yes, you can be a Christian without certainty or belief in an after light or a supreme being.

Perhaps this notion will strike you as controversial, but it makes perfect sense if you think about it for a moment. Christ's teaching was all about being a better person. Is there any better instruction on how to be than the Sermon on the Mount? In the beautiful content of that sermon, we are taught to be humble and peacemakers. Throughout the bible, there is lesson after lesson on how to live a life that makes one a better person. If there is nothing else but what we are experiencing now, shouldn't we try to be the best person we can be?  

The new testament doesn't corner the market on this sentiment. Consider Moses and the Ten Commandments. Through the ages, this has been a guide to living the life God said you should live. The rules to follow to be a better person. I do not know how one person comes to believe in heaven, Supreme Beings, and other manifestations of faith. Still, I do know that if you follow the teachings of Christ, you will be a better person.  

So to my soul searching, faith seeking son, I say you can be a Christian as long as you strive to be a better person. You can be a Christian if you follow the teachings of Jesus and, perhaps most importantly, you follow the great commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. If you work on this, the great mysteries of faith may open to you and give you a new perspective. Then again, you may be a seeker your whole life, but I believe you will have walked in the way of the Lord, and you will find peace.

‍