Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 16hThe Bible becomes much more interesting when we stop asking, “How do I make all these voices that don't agree look like they agree?” Scripture preserves a centuries-long argument about God, humanity, power, justice, and what it means to live well. Because it's unsettled, we get to participate. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 22hWe usually think boundaries are the opposite of love. But love without boundaries can become possession, control, or self-erasure. A boundary can say: "I will not destroy myself to love you." And, "I will not destroy you to protect myself." It's spiritually healthy to have boundaries. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 22h𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙. It could have been your time, attention, help, or maybe money. And then something inside you said, “Wait.” What exactly is happening in that tiny space between generosity and hesitation?eclecticmass.substack.comThe Moment You Felt GenerousIncarnation: Realizing Faith 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 04/10/2026𝘼 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨. It needs permission to change. That’s doesn't mean faith has to die. That's just how faith stays alive in the real world. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Much of Christianity has spent a lot of time asking people to believe extraordinary things about Jesus. I'm more concerned about whether following Jesus produces extraordinary human beings. Eventually, a religion is going to be judged by what kind of people it helps us become. 030
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Fundamentalism offers a powerful bargain: Give up the burden of uncertainty, and we’ll give you the certainty you crave so you can feel safe. The problem is that this certainty comes with a heafty price. Someone else gets to decide which questions you’re allowed to ask. Is it really worth it? 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Deconstruction doesn’t always destroy faith. But it does destroy the version of faith that required you to distrust your own questions. What comes after may be less certain. But it will also be more honest. 030
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Christianity’s future doesn't depend on convincing people that heaven and hell are real. It depends on becoming a way of life worth choosing when nobody is frightened into choosing it. If fear of hell disappears and the gospel has nothing left to offer, that says something about the religion. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 03/10/2026What if fundamentalism isn’t really about stupidity? What if it’s about development, belonging, and fear? Or, what happens to us when the world we’ve built feels threatened? That changes the question from: “What’s wrong with them?” to... “Could I be doing the same thing without realizing it?”evolvingchristianfaith.substack.comWhy Smart People Become FundamentalistsHow We Build a World of Faith, Watch It Fall Apart, and Learn to Build Again 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Theology can become dangerous when it gives us a way to avoid responsibility for harmful behavior. "God said it" can justify anything and end critical conversation necessary for discernment. Newslflash... Life is messy. Discernment is messy. And we (not God) are responsible for our behavior. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Theology can become dangerous when it gives us a way to avoid responsibility for harmful behavior. "God said it" can justify anything and end critical conversation necessary for discernment. Newslflash... Life is messy. Discernment is messy. And we (not God) are responsible for our behavior. 001
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I no longer see prayer as sending words somewhere. For me, prayer is what happens when we become present enough to notice what our ordinary consciousness keeps editing out. -Pain -Beauty -Longing -Another person Prayer changes the world by changing what becomes impossible to ignore. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"Salvation" comes from the Latin word for "healing". If salvation means healing, I think Christianity needs to refocus from "Who gets saved?" to... What needs healing? -in us -between us -in the world we share That reorientation changes how we embrace salvation and give expression to it. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠-𝙖𝙣𝙙-𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣? It turns out there may be a psychological reason for that. And it reveals something uncomfortable about fundamentalism that we often overlook... Or just don't want to see.evolvingchristianfaith.substack.comWhy Smart People Become FundamentalistsHow We Build a World of Faith, Watch It Fall Apart, and Learn to Build Again 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Maybe we’ve been asking the wrong question about fundamentalists. Intelligence isn’t the problem. Something much more human is going on... And it gets uncomfortable. Article drops tomorrow, 7 a.m. Subscribe tonight. evolvingchristianfaith.substack.com/ 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I don't need the Bible to be perfect to take it seriously. In fact, its contradictions demand more from me than perfection ever could. A perfect book could tell me what to think in a life of faith. But it takes a complicated one to force me to learn how to think in a life of faith. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026One of the strangest things about deconstruction is realizing how much fear used to feel like faithfulness. -Fear of hell -Fear of doubt -Fear of being wrong -Fear of leaving Losing that fear may feel like losing God. But it isn't. It's healthy to let it go. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Ultimate Mystery isn't a theological problem waiting to be solved. It's what remains after our answers reach their limits. I don't think a mature faith involves learning enough to codify Mystery. It's learning how to live meaningfully without eliminating it. Embrace the adventure of faith. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Maybe the question after deconstruction isn't, "What can I still believe?" Maybe it's, "What kind of life is worth building now?" Beliefs matter. A lot. But eventually reconstruction has to become more than just adhering to a new set of ideas. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 29/09/2026We usually ask whether a belief is true. But here's a better question: What kind of relationships does this belief facilitate? You see, every theology creates a social world. Some teach power-over. Others power-with. Pay attention to that. The difference is more important than any doctrine. 001
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026This is odd... We hope spiritual growth will change us, Then we avoid the things that actually change us: -practice -failure -reflection -adjustment -repetition Spiritual transformation isn't something we discover, Or something that happens because we read about it. It's something we rehearse. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I think treating resurrection as the reversal of death is a mistake. What if it's what becomes possible because something has actually died? -An identity -A certainty -A God-concept -A former life Maybe resurrection begins when we stop trying to resurrect what really needed to end. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨. A conversation wakes you up. An idea gives you energy. A possibility makes you lean forward. What if those surges of aliveness are clues?eclecticmass.substack.comA Surge of Energy Out of NowherePassion: Flowing with a Higher Purpose 011
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 27/09/2026𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙢 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮. You can change every doctrine and keep the same need to be right. The deeper alternative is learning to hold convictions without needing everyone else to be wrong. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Christianity isn't dying because the world has somehow become less spiritual. It's dying because too many people discovered they could become more compassionate, curious, and more fully human outside than inside the church. That's not a evangelization problem. It's a spiritual formation problem. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Sometimes the faith we lose was never really ours to begin with. It was inherited before we were old enough to question it. Deconstruction can feel like losing faith because, for the first time, we're actually discovering what it is that we actually believe. 030
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 26/09/2026The church spent centuries teaching people how to believe the right things about Jesus. Meanwhile, it seems to me that Jesus kept asking people to become more fully human. Maybe Christianity's real crisis isn't one of belief. Maybe it's a lack of ability to promote spiritual transformation. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Christianity doesn't become irrelevant when people stop believing its metaphysics. It becomes irrelevant when it offers nothing worthwhile to the way we actually live. So, the question isn't really whether what Christianity says is true. It's... What truth is it manifesting in this world? 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026𝟭 𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣: 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣, 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙪𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙚𝙘𝙝 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝. Saying God is love is easy. Believing love is important is also easy. But loving the person who irritates, disappoints, frightens, or misunderstands us is where a theology of the cross becomes embodied. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜. Theology should make reality larger (not smaller), which mean... -More wonder -More questions -More people worth listening to. Not fewer. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙩-𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣? More than either side would probably like to admit. And it’s one reason I stopped arguing with fundamentalists.evolvingchristianfaith.substack.comWhy I Stopped Arguing with FundamentalistsSome Conversations Simply Aren’t Worth Having 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨, "𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚?" Eventually reconstruction asks a harder question: "What is worth giving myself to?" One dismantles a world. The other begins building a life. If you're there, what are you rebuilding? 001
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I don't think doubt is the enemy of faith. But indifference might be. Doubt... -keeps asking -keeps wrestling -keeps caring enough to wonder whether what we believe is worthy of our trust That's not the absence of faith. That can be faith doing the work it's meant to. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026What if God isn't a factual claim to prove or disprove? Maybe "God" is the word for whatever actually commands your life. Then the question isn't merely: "Do you believe in God?" It's: "What has become Ultimate for youand what is it transofming you into?" 110
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚. Not because I’m afraid of disagreement. Because I’ve learned that some “conversations” aren’t conversations at all. And once you see why, it’s hard to unsee.evolvingchristianfaith.substack.comWhy I Stopped Arguing with FundamentalistsSome Conversations Simply Aren’t Worth Having 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 23/09/2026𝘼𝙩 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙪𝙢 𝙚𝙭𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩. If a tradition is vital and alive, every generation receives it, wrestles with it, changes it, and then hands it on. Preserving a Christian tradition unchanged wouldn't keep that tradition alive. It would merely preserve its corpse. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 23/09/2026𝙄 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄 𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙮. I don’t anymore. Tomorrow I explain why. Subscribe tonight and it’ll be waiting in your inbox tomorrow morning. evolvingchristianfaith.substack.com/ 001
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 23/09/2026We talk about "losing faith" as though it's an object we misplaced. But sometimes what disappears is really just an outdated belief structure that can no longer sustain us. Maybe the question isn't how to get it back. Maybe it's... What can grow in the space newly opened by this transformation? 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 22/09/2026You don't need your life to have a cosmically-assigned purpose for your life to matter. Making someone laugh matters. Showing up when they're grieving matters. Making one person's day less lonely matters. Finite meaning is still meaning. You can still have a deeply meaningful life. 020
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Prayer does not require believing someone supernatural is listening. It can be what happens when we become quiet enough to listen: -to ourselves -to another person -to suffering -to beauty -to the moment we're actually living Attention is sacred. Attention 𝘪𝘴 prayer. 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Deconstruction and faith transitioncan leave you carrying questions you can’t talk about with anyone around you. You don’t have to carry them alone. Spiritual Pathfinding gives you a place to be heard and process what’s happening. Pay what you want—even $0.evolvingchristianfaith.netSpiritual Pathfinding Session - Evolving Christian Faith NetworkStruggling to find meaning in it all? Sign up for a Spiritual Pathfinding Session to help rediscover a sense of direction and purpose. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Maybe salvation isn't really about eternally separating the saved from "the lost". Jesus keeps telling stories in which estranged people are restored to one another. Perhaps salvation looks less like escape from "those people" and more like reconciliation of all in the Spirit of Love. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Your God-concept lives somewhere in your imagination. That matters. The God you imagine shapes what feels holy, dangerous, shameful, possible, and worthy of love. Even if we can't settle what "God" is, we can pay attention to what our ideas of God are doing in and through us. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Sometimes the thing you’re afraid of isn’t happening. It may never happen. And yet your body is already living there. What if fear is telling you something—not about the future, but about what matters to you now? This week’s journal practices are ready for you. Time to dive right in.eclecticmass.substack.comSomething That Could HappenEmotions: Feeling Deeply 010
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 20/09/2026𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚. Others survive because we're afraid of what might happen if we stop believing them. Deconstruction helps us learn to tell the difference. 011
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 20/09/2026A theology can give you meaningful answers and still form you into someone who is afraid, defensive, and cruel. At some point, "To what extent is it true?" isn't the only question. We also have to ask: "What is it doing to us?" Because that effect is part of the (false?) truth of the theology. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 20/09/2026𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜. Some just need to end. Let's be clear... A faith that survives only through fear, exclusion, certainty, or control isn't being persecuted when people leave it or openly reject it. That's just human beings refusing to be crushed by it. 000
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The Bible gets easier to defend when you flatten it into one voice. It gets harder to defend (and much more interesting) when you let its writers disagree. Maybe scripture isn't supposed to end the spiritual conversation. Maybe it's supposed to teach us how to have spiritual conversations. 021
Evolving Christian Faith @evolvingchristian.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The most radical thing Christianity could do might be to stop trying to make everyone Christian. Instead... -Feed people -Welcome people -Forgive people -Liberate people And, what if they never join us? Love them anyway. Otherwise, it shows our "love" was only recruitment with better branding. 020