Which Flavour?

 Mmmm … Love tastes great says Wayne Rumsby

 

Who knew that there were so many flavours of Christianity? Growing up I was taught that there were really two, us and them. Then as a teen I became aware that the others could be divided into a few groups like Pagan Catholic, Lost Protestant, Flaming Baptist (different than the LP’s, hell bent), and so on. It wasn’t until I was in my mid thirties when someone asked me if I was a Calvinist or an Aminianist. I was busy trying to develop my career and raise my kids, I had no idea and was pretty sure I didn’t care. Then it occurred to me, there are a lot of different groups all vying for that spot at the center of the truth stage. If it was confusing to me who grew up with my own collection of Bibles (gifts from grandparents), imagine the rest of the world. 

Since that time I have traded in my career as a graphic artist for that of an inner city missionary. Today I walk with people who dropped out of school in grade three to become runners for their drug dealing uncles. I often wonder how they know who their uncles are because in many cases they have no idea who their fathers are. Mother’s brother I suppose, because they all know who their mama is. Now in their mid-life, with a criminal record that fills a filing cabinet, and a trail of sadness, they’re searching for a better way. Some turn to the church, but rarely through the front door. Most come through the side door, the soup kitchen, or the drop-in. They often connect worship services with early childhood memories, before the trauma. Some connect it to other bits and pieces of religious experiences and fashion their own theology. For many, church is like the ice cream store that boasts so many flavours. Like a child, they gaze wide-eyed through the frosty glass at the tubs of promises: health, wealth, and a new identity. For many who are illiterate, the colourful label is more helpful than the words. They watch the preachers on TV who can make cripples walk, just like Jesus did. They hear about denominations that offer opportunities to make right the many wrongs they have committed. Like the kid in the ice cream shop who can’t make up his mind, they order a mix by embracing a little of everything.

Today I still wrestle with who’s got it right and whose got it wrong. The difference I suppose is that for some of us with a little more training, our choices are being made based on the little label on the back side of the tub. This is the label that is in tiny black print that is so condensed that you can hardly read it. There, the twelve letter words tell us exactly what the promises are made of. However, unless you are a theologian you probably don’t know what it really means, so you rely on other peoples explanations. But who to listen to. Often the people who are explaining the pros and cons of the various choices, have a little fine print label on their backsides too. More twelve letter words that stand for obscure theological constructs that you’ve never heard of. You turn to someone else for a further explanation. This leads to more tiny labels and so on and so on. 

Recently I had coffee with a friend who leans to the right.  He warned me about the dangers of the emergent church movement. I wasn’t very familiar with the movement, but when he started naming names I realized that I had read books by most of them. These are the people who I’ve turned to for help me with the label reading and now I’m told that they contain nasty ingredients with negative side effects, like polyethylene glycol. My friend went on to tell me all kinds of terrible things about what these guys have added or taken away from the recipe. I went back to the books and reread some of this stuff and it still didn’t set off alarm bells for me. Then I wondered if my friend had ever read any of these authors himself.

Another friend, this one left leaning, gave me some podcasts from a Word/Faith preacher. Now I didn’t need the small print to know that this was a radically different flavour. I listened anyway. He went on and on about raising people from the dead and praying with authority and talking to your headache instead of talking about it. After a taste I knew there were some extra ingredients in his recipe. 

What still troubles me is that some of the contents on the small print label are the same for all the flavours. All or most of the tubs in the freezer marked Christian have common ingredients. They all say, “Jesus”, even the Mormons. Most say there is “no other name by which we are saved” (maybe not the Mormons). Some add, and some take away. It’s all important to pay attention to, but what about my street friends? I guarantee that they don’t even read what’s in the can of beans that they’re dumping on their hot dogs. And, let’s face it, nobody wants to know what the hot dogs are made of. 

I’m offering more questions than answers, because in the end this blog is not about who has it right and who doesn’t. It’s about the girl who is having trouble accepting the Gospel of Grace because she murdered her unborn baby with a coat hanger (having been raped be her own father). She has trouble with the idea of God as Father, who so loved her that He gave His only Son… She has trouble with big words like ‘forgiveness” and ‘propitiation’. She can’t imagine a sacrifice that is adequate to cover her sins. She can’t read the fine print, while we’re all too busy arguing about it whether Hell is a place or a condition.  

How do we get back to that single flavour of ice cream that my Grampa churned on the front porch on Sunday afternoons? I was very young but I remember asking what was in it. He would just wink and say, “Love”. There were no labels required, and once we’d tasted the love, not very many questions either.

  

 

Writer: Wayne Rumsby is at least a fourth generation follower of Jesus Christ. In his late 30’s Wayne responded to an invitation to visit an inner city mission in the heart of Toronto. At the time he was working as a graphic designer. It wasn’t long before he left his job in the fast paced ad business, in the glass towers, to become a full time missionary on the streets and in the alleys. The focus of his mission was to help the marginalized discover God through meaningful work. For most of the past decade Wayne was helping people discover who God had created them to be, by teaching them to make beautiful furniture in a woodworking shop. Today Wayne and his wife Linda are working with the team at 614 Regent Park with the very same vision, helping people discover who God has created them to be, and more.  

4 Comments to Which Flavour?

1. Thanks Wayne. a beautiful piece. moved me to tears. I’m convinced that God just really loves people . We need to learn to as well. God help me to get the Jesus Creed / mantra in my heart everyday and live it. Love God with all your heart your soul your mind your strength and your nieghbour as yourself. ( apparently for Jesus all law rules dogmas and theology boils down to this. ) Bless ya friend.
brad culver on February 2nd, 2010

2. Well put. I’m pursuaded discipleship is not just classes integrated with reflective practice as part of a mission team. It also needs to involve being accompanied by a soul-friend while the scaffolding of the disciple’s inner life is constructed. Discipleship is heart, mind, and hands.
Eleanor Burne-Jones on February 2nd, 2010

3. Thanks, Wayne. I do think we have seemingly lost the crux of Christianity and what it is in the variety of expressions we have. The essentials as I see it come down to God created, Man Sinned, God provided a way to heal that relationship and bridge the Gap that exists between sinful man and God–the healer being Jesus. Accept the free healing Jesus provides and try to live following Him.

   Everything else is baggage as far as essentials go.

   While I personally may be labelled as a conservative evangelical arminian ( and some would say-fundamentalist) that does not mean that a practicing believer who is Catholic is not my brother in Christ.

   We need to savour the flavour of what is common among the different flavours and brands that are out there. We need to be able to recognize when one of the flavours is a bit off in its theology or practice and address that but we need to revel in the common flavour–Jesus loves.
John Stephenson on February 3rd, 2010

4. Thanks for your interesting post, Wayne.

   Working with your analogy of ice cream, it seems to me that another big question alongside ’Which Flavour’, is, ‘Is It Actually Ice Cream?’ There are indeed many ‘flavours’ of Christianity, but are each of the ‘flavours’ which claim to be Christianity in actuality true representatives? I think this may be where your friend might be coming from regarding the emergent church. (Personally I would take the view that there is much to learn from, together with much to be cautious of, regarding emergent church emphases.)

   I’m sure that Love is an essential ingredient of ‘Ice Cream’, but I would suggest that there are a number of other essential ingredients which must be present to ensure that the ‘Ice Cream’ is truly ‘Ice Cream’. For example, there are times when Love has to walk hand in hand with Truth (Ephesians 4v15).

   To ensure our ‘Ice Cream’ is truly ‘Ice Cream’, we need to put in all the ingredients as found in the Makers instructions (the Scriptures). Our flavours may indeed vary somewhat due to a multitude of reasons, but at least they will be as near as possible to what ‘Ice Cream’ should be.

   Thanks again for the thought provoking post.

   Regards.

   Bernard Martin
Bernard Martin on February 7th, 2010

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