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 Are you tired of an irrelevant faith? An antiquated set of beliefs that are embarrassing at best, and a menace to society at worst? 

I have good news then. A new Christianity is coming. In fact, it is already here. 

For me, it all started when I realized that what the Bible taught about monogamous heterosexual sex was increasingly out of step with what my friends and I knew to be true. I have many same-sex attracted friends that are pristine examples of true love and civility (way more than my church friends, to be honest!), so I knew there was something awry with the many straightforward verses that taught against homosexuality. Or perhaps, my interpretation of them. Either way, I did what any sensible person would do: I ignored the scriptures and followed what was right in my own eyes. After all, love is love, right? No one can disagree with that. 

At first I felt guilty about rejecting the black and white teachings of my youth. I wondered if I would have to ditch Christianity altogether (because obviously it was out of the question to let these strange and bigoted doctrines inform my own preferences). That was when I was hit with good news: my friends and I could do whatever we wanted sexually and keep our faith! Talk about a breakthrough. 

I'll never forget the time that I realized that the so-called "message of the cross" was, in fact, cosmic child abuse. A father in heaven sending his son to be tortured and die a humiliating death on a cross--right, that is really going to fly with my coworkers. If you're a dad, would you do that to your son? No way. So I chucked that piece of old-fashioned religion out the window as well. I now understand (with a smidgen of superiority and pity towards the fundamentalists, I admit) that Jesus came to preach peace and love to the masses, not as some kind of barbaric sacrifice. I read The Non-Violent Atonement in college and my mind was blown. While some churches still ignorantly celebrate the horrific abuse of a son, I'm smiling and praying and laughing my way to the utopia on earth that Jesus REALLY came to offer us. 

Speaking of the Scriptures... Why in the world are we still listening to words written down 2,000 years ago (at least) that have undoubtedly been tampered with by the patriarchy anyway? As my new hero Kevin Max, formerly of DC Talk fame, says, "I don't think the God I believe in is going to just all of the sudden ignore me because I don't believe every single thing that's written down somewhere." Amen to that, I say. Who needs ancient words "written down somewhere" when we have ever-evolving cultural norms and subjective feelings? 

The point is that you can have your cake and eat it too. It is indeed possible to follow Jesus and be friends with the world. In fact, I now call him the "Universal Christ" because it's way more ambiguous and detached from said scriptures. You don't have to count the cost of Christianity anymore because the cost is massively minimalized. When you tell your friends over a beer that you're a Christian, they may raise their eyebrows for a brief second, but when you immediately follow it up by clarifying that you are "pro-choice, pro-BLM, pro-utopia, pro-poor, pro-equality," and etc., they will smile and wink because you have just communicated to them in "woke code." For good measure, throw in a disparaging comment about evangelicals, and they will know for sure that you are a safe place and not at all a threat to their current lifestyle. 

I'm not afraid to ask questions about my faith, and I'm certainly not afraid to make supremely confident and conclusive assertions about this faith to thousands of people on social media in the midst of my personal wrestlings and wonderings. 

That's the beauty of this new kind of Christianity. It's more about questions than answers. Why? Because answers necessarily carry with them that sticky and uncomfortable reality known as "accountability." 

Don't get me wrong: I have high ethical standards. Not when it comes to what I do in secret, or with my body, or my language or habits (there's grace and freedom there, thank you very much); but when it comes to what I say publicly, you better believe I speak out against all the right injustices in the world. 

When my other hero, Joshua Harris, deconstructed his faith a few years ago, he made this pensive and thought-provoking comment online: "...I am not a Christian. Many people tell me that there is a different way to practice faith and I want to remain open to this, but I'm not there now." Well, that is why I wrote this post: to let you know, Josh, that I've found the way! It's been popular among the heretics of Christian history, and now today, it's popular again. So Mr. Harris, follow me as I follow my feelings. 

True, I may deconstruct again in 2 years with a completely different belief system, and following me will look quite different. But that's part of the fun of it, right?