My faith

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I am saved"
I'm whispering "I get lost"
"That is why I chose this way" ^†

Summary

I believe that ultimately, the key to human life is in the hands of Jesus Christ and in the Judeo-Christian writings called the Bible. What I perceive is subjective: God sees objectively and has come in the midst of my blindness to set me free.

God is revealed in the Bible as someone who wants to have a loving relationship to every one of us. However, He is also righteous and holy. Our life is filled with imperfection and, if we look closely, outright evil (which damages ourselves and our loved ones). That is why we all need Jesus to restore the connection to God and thereby to those we care about. We need God to really live in the first place -- never mind just existing.

Personally

Jesus Christ is my life. He has given me freedom and seems to let me discover more of it continuously. If I can someday say that I spent my life with Him, then I will have accomplished everything I need to.

However, when I look at all the Christianity around me, as they call it, well, umh. I am frightened to talk about faith much, since there is so much captivity in the name of freedom, and so much judgement in the name of mercy, going on. And I don't have the answers to all this trouble Christians are causing, except, well, that I guess many indeed are lost.

When I sometimes manage to take a look at myself, then, it is clear that I am lost, too. But, strange as may seem at first, it is OK. Thanks to Jesus, we do get to be lost in this world, we do get to be searchers. And since we have this permission to really be what we are, it also allows us to safely take a real look at the things in us that are not good. I do believe living close to God will help you become what you were meant to be in the first place.

From a believer's point of view, it is strange some call it religion. Faith, understanding your relationship to God is something deeply personal. Still, it is important to have someone to share one's faith with, and to pray with.

Living with Christ should not restrict your thinking in any way. Whatever we do, we need stay honest to ourselves. The Bible encourages gaining wisdom and faith is all about setting you free in everything that is really you.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 14:21)

• If you wish, I would love to have a chat with you on the subject.
• If you would like to study yourself, Everystudent.com might prove helpful.
  • Väinö.fi in Finnish (other languages)
• Also Rick Warren's speech about Purpose-Driven Life in the Technology Entertainment Design event might shed a little light, did for me anyway.
• About God's existence: thoughts in my journal

Kumbaya in the photos part of the site