by Elaine Lindridge.
Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.’ He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
John 6: 66-71 (NRSV)
Ian Cron’s book Chasing Francis tells the fictional story of the Pastor of an American mega-church who lost his faith in God, the Bible and evangelical Christianity. After a breakdown, the church elders ask him to leave so he went to Italy to visit his uncle, a Franciscan priest. There, he was introduced to the revolutionary teachings of Saint Francis of Assisi and found an old, but new way of following Jesus that heals and inspires.
Echoing Francis’ approach of living out his faith in the way that felt right for him, Brian McLaren argues in his book that staying and leaving are not the only options: ‘I don’t have to choose between staying Christian compliantly or leaving Christianity defiantly. I can stay defiantly.’He goes on to say: ‘I can intentionally, consciously, resolutely refuse to leave … and with equal intention and resolution, I can refuse to comply with the status quo. I can occupy Christianity with a different way of being a Christian.’
This defiance need not be angry or judgemental, but it can be problematic for the Church. How can those who ‘remain defiantly’ live in community with those who are content with an inherited faith? It can be exhausting for everyone, and studies of Church leavers show that such exhaustion can be the reason many choose to depart.
The Methodist Conference statement in 2016 on living with contradictory convictions was designed to help conversations around same sex marriage, but the principles have wider application. They speak of engaging openly, honestly, prayerfully and graciously, treating each other with respect and dignity, recognising the sincerity of the faith of those who may see things differently, seeking to learn from one another as we travel together as fellow pilgrims and renouncing all language and behaviours that attempt to coerce others to change their views or beliefs.
We know that it does not always prove possible for everyone to remain within contrary convictions, and in leaving or staying it is worth pondering the question of who the remnant is. Some will say the remnant are those who remain faithful to orthodoxy as passed down from the Church Fathers, but what if the remnant are those who are doing the reimagining – the questioning? What if the remnant is made up with some who ‘remain defiantly.’ What if the remnant is made up of some of those who have left the inherited church but still long for community … and are finding ways to ‘be’ a faith community in other spaces?
For reflection:
How do you respond to Brian McLaren’s suggestion that ‘I can occupy Christianity with a different way of being a Christian’.
How do those who are not re-imagining faith view those who are? And vice versa? What role do both groups have in looking out for and supporting each other?
What can we learn from the exchange between Jesus and the disciples in John 6: 67-69? How might it play out today?
This year’s SPECTRUM Conference, What role for the Remnant Church? was held at Swanwick in mid-May and was led by Michael Wakelin and Elaine Lindridge, two speakers who have both written publicly of their growing conviction that some long-held beliefs and practices of Christians and the churches are in urgent need of close scrutiny and critique. Articles are in the form of discussion papers based on their session notes, with editing by Keith Albans – we are sharing them periodically on Theology Everywhere. Also see Time for a New Reformation , Reimagining Faith and What are trying to say to the world?
Theology Everywhere 
Great way to start a new week, Elaine. Good questions. When Neil, my husband, adopted barefoot running style about 16 years ago – before it became fashionable – some of the strongest reactions against him were from other runners. Some of them saw his taking up of a alternative approach to running footwear as a direct critique of their own choices. I think there can be similar dynamics at play.
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Thanks for this, Elaine. I wish I had heard for the Spectrum Conference last year. I would have come. I live 20 minutes away!
As one who is of the re-imagining group and a Circuit Local Preacher Tutor I try and remain true to where I am in my thinking at the moment, while acknowledging the historic value of traditional church but it’s not an easy path. But my beliefs are changing all the time and I still long for community.
I find that loving others where they are comes before any specific beliefs. Love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Fortunately, I am a member of an inclusive church which is growing as it engages more with the wider community. But I could not tell you what people really believe about their faith. That remains a mystery.
Perhaps we just try to love and remain working together.
Best wishes
Susan Johnson
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Thank you Elaine. I await with extreme interest responses from the two groups you mention, but I’m also very interested what the reaction of a third group (of which I am a member) is and indeed the reaction to that group in this context. I describe it as ‘traditional liberals’, for want of a better title, but I suspect many would not find that helpful. It is of course no more homogeneous than the other two groups and there will be considerable overlap between the groups and movement across the groups.
The group is very much a part of the ‘inherited faith’ (and in my case at least, in many ways very traditional) but its members do not (in my case have never) held literal beliefs in the way those who feel the need to leave or remain defiantly seem concerned with. I found the mention of the Franciscan Priest interesting. In my case it is not particularly the Franciscan approach I have inherited, although that and many other traditions over the centuries have shaped my faith.
My personal view of the other two groups is to some extent bewilderment. Any criticism implied by that word is entirely aimed at me. There are so many levels on which I do not understand more ‘literal belief’; but also because I have been in the Church all my life I don’t really understand why people would feel the need to leave (again, any criticism is aimed at my lack of understanding, not that their position is in anyway inexplicable). The second view is a great deal of respect for both groups. Although at times I have been very antagonistic to conservative literal belief, I have, almost without exception, found the individuals I have been in fellowship with to be supportive and even spiritually enlightening; they have often been at the forefront of local community action and such things as peace and climate action too. Many of the questions asked by the ‘should I stay or should I go’ group are those I ask and I suspect many of ‘the answers’ will be very similar too. Both groups seem to have a much better appreciation of those outside the ‘inherited church’ than certainly I do, with both providing excellent advocates and ‘pioneers’ for ‘new places for new people’ and the like.
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An excellent article. I think people should stay; many in our congregations have had challenging experiences but don’t have the educational background to challenge historic views. That can be a bridge too far for them. – Geoff. Charlton.
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