We sometimes call this life a "journey," a path we're traveling that is unknown to us in advance. And sometimes we use the word "journey" to talk about a change we've made over time in this life. It's the second kind of journey I want to address today.
See, I wasn't always a Christian. I was raised one. I am one now. But in the middle, there was a time when my faith was shattered and my life consumed by this world.
My upbringing was definitely Christian, although we attended several different churches throughout my childhood. I was baptized in the Presbyterian church. We attended a Methodist church for a while. I spent my junior high and high school years active in a Disciples of Christ church.
It was when I went to college that I had a crisis of faith, and over a decade later when I rejoined the Christian church.
That's the part of the journey I want to talk about today.
Because sometimes I see Christian people who are judgmental about those in an earlier place in their faith journey. But if we are maturing as Christians, we should be supporting and guiding those who are new to faith. And
guiding doesn't mean knocking down all of the ideas and beliefs of a new believer.
I remember when I was leaving the church during college. I desperately wanted to believe and to keep my faith. I had a ton of questions! I attended Christian Bible studies and asked those questions, only to be shut down with an attitude of "If you're a Christian, why would you even be
wondering that?!" I thought the only way to be able to explore my questions was to leave the Christian community. So I did.
I married a previous-Christian who was also questioning lots of things about faith. We began to attend a Unitarian Universalist "church." I met lots of really good people there! I'm still friends with many of them. It was a wonderful place to explore spirituality, but it wasn't Christian.
I was still seeking answers to my religious questions, and I was realizing that deep-down, I wanted
Christian answers to those questions. I didn't feel like I was getting them at the UU church, and by this time there were children to consider. My then-husband had quit attending with us, and so I began to attend a local Disciples of Christ (DoC) church with my children.
I didn't feel like I belonged at the UU church because I was "too Christian," and I didn't feel like I belonged at the DoC church because I wasn't Christian enough. But here again, I was on a
journey, and this time I was accepted by the DoC church without the judgment of my college peers. This group of Christians, new and mature alike, accepted us without question. This acceptance is what I would encourage as a model of supporting new believers. I wasn't ready to participate in everything. I didn't take communion for over a year. I didn't pray aloud. I couldn't recite an affirmation of faith. But I was in church, hearing God's word! It would have been easy for a mature believer in this group to judge my faith as lacking or my theology as heretical, but no one did. And so I stayed.
And one Sunday, as I was passing on the communion tray, God spoke. He said, "Just take it. Let me do the rest. Just trust me." And I did.
See, on my journey,
God was in charge. He never let me go! He knew that I was on a journey and would make it all the way into His loving arms. The Christians who surrounded me at that time were accepting and supportive, and they taught me every day. They walked alongside me in my faith journey and taught me new things about this God I was trying to follow. No one judged my previous or current beliefs as invalid. They just kept pointing me back to God.
From those days till now, my faith has ever increased, ever deepened, ever matured. I look back on some of the beliefs I had at various times along my journey, and I almost laugh! But I'm really glad that there were strong and loving Christians along the way to support me through my questioning times, without judgment. I'm really glad that they also gently pushed me toward the God of the Bible.
And I pray that I, as a pastor's wife, can recognize those who are earlier in their faith journey than I am. And I pray that I can encourage them, support them, and gently guide them toward the amazing, almighty, and eternal God of the Bible that I am coming to know more and more each and every day. And also that those Christians further along the faith journey than I am can encourage me, support me, and gently guide me even closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Do you ever know a Bible story so well that you stop listening to yourself read? That's what happened this morning; the story of Saul's conversion is well-known to me. I kept reading Acts 9, but I wasn't paying too much attention.
