Guest Post by Mike Koolen:
I was inspired by a friend’s post about his journey and his mentor. It made me start to think about my theology and my beliefs and just where they come from. While normally this would be a Facebook post, this felt like more.
You may ask, who is this guy—why should I care? And those are valid questions.
I’m a middle aged, middle class, Canadian guy with a marriage, a mortgage and a minivan. Add two kids and life in a small city and that’s pretty much where I’m at. I’m nothing special, but I’m also very special.
I believe that we are created in the likeness and image of God and I don’t think anyone is any more special than anyone else. What/Who that God is however and, what that looks like, is a much bigger question.
I’m not a Bible scholar by any means and have had no formal theological training. To be honest, I don’t know that I have the right to be writing this right now. Those who are passionate about the word are probably not going to invite me to their study. I’m not able to quote chapter and verse the things I’ve heard or learned and if I’m truly being honest here…I haven’t read the whole Bible! (Where’s the Heresy button when you need it?) I believe the bible is a guidebook pointing us toward the truth and toward love but not a textbook to be followed to the letter. We can get into that more another time…
What I am is passionate about Love and Kindness and I believe that that has brought me to Jesus. I’ve never questioned my faith but in the last half decade I’ve certainly strengthened it. I’ve opened my eyes to a world beyond the black and white, right and wrong, in or out, mentality that permeates everything we do. Why can’t we have discussions without there being a winner at the end or someone who comes out on top? Why are we always coming from the side of “convincing” rather than “understanding”? Who are we to try to exclude from seeking Jesus or an understanding of God?
I’m not in a de-constructing phase or a re-constructing phase because unlike many, I was never scarred by the church and hold no ill will toward my upbringing. I would call myself a Constructing Christian in that I don’t feel the need to tear down anything in my own history but I do feel the need to build on it. I was raised Catholic and I feel that what I learned in my youth provided a cornerstone (see, I know some Biblical stuff) to my faith today. Now I work daily to learn and grow and understand more and more from all around me and I am trying to understand and learn from other faiths and the history nerd in my wants to find out where things split and the why.
I’m a man who is heavily influenced by the likes of Thomas Jay Oord, Bruxy Cavey, Keith Giles, Greg Boyd, Brian Zhand, Peter Enns, Barbara Brown Taylor, Rachel Held Evans and Steve Austin. I enjoy listening to the homilies of Richard Rohr as well as podcasts like Can I Say This At Church, The What If Project and the Messy Spirituality Podcast; the voices of Seth Price, Glenn Siepert and Jason Elam have become the soundtrack to my commute. These people have introduced me to ideas and world views I hadn’t previously thought about. They’ve introduced me to authors and musicians that I would have never uncovered on my own.
Becoming stronger in my faith and pursuit of understanding has given me a much more liberal view of the world and for some reason, I feel compelled to share that. I have no idea where this journey will take me but I’m excited to find out.