I am asked frequently, “What kind of church are you?” To answer this question, I have decided to put together a five-part essay that might help our family to communicate our beliefs a little easier to those who ask.

We are a church that takes seriously the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

A Christian is someone who is devoted to the kind of life Jesus led. The Gospels are full of stories that speak to what was important to Jesus. An image of God as parental was something that he fearlessly proclaimed even though the notion was alien to his audience. Our church seeks to understand God through the teachings of Christ by using a father / mother metaphor. This shapes our view of the kind of support and nurturing we might get from God as

we grow through the journey of our life. Justice was important to Jesus as well. His ministry recognized that the powerful and impoverished existed together in his generation. Realizing the natural suspicion of these two groups he taught the radical diplomacy of love. Though there is much work to be done, we hold that the best justice is always rooted in the hope of reconciliation.

Jesus was a true egalitarian. His treatment of every social, political and economic class was consistent. When he invites all of humanity to his banqueting table it teaches us that there are no second class citizens. Life is more than gender, class, race or religion. Life is what is generated when our love (i.e., search) for God is manifested through our love (i.e., service) for humanity.

Please note what is missing. Though we are a church that believes Jesus is the Son of God, and through the sacred texts say this was accomplished through the incarnation, we don’t pretend to understand it. A strict adherence to such a mystery is not as important as following the example of his life. For example; proving beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus was or was not God does not affect my commitment to his life and teachings. Our faith does not stand alone upon the apologetic of Christology.

We have seen and tasted the good fruits of his life. There is much more that could be written on this subject. Let me sum it up by affirming that the best of Christianity is found not in dogma, but in child like obedience to the Nazarene.