Open Source Christianity

I have been struck recently, by the seeming convergence of some interesting developments in the secular culture and Christianity. Often times, such a convergence creates suspicion and skepticism, as we are called as Christians to be in the world, but not of the world. However, I believe that this is often misinterpreted into too broad a fashion.

What I have noticed, and experienced, is a desire for a more active role on the part of communities, in determining the framework of systems that affect them. We live in an age where networking has become an integral part of many of our lives. I realize that I am speaking from a relatively privileged Western circumstance, but please permit me, if you will, to speak from where I am able.

The advent of Open Source mentality seems to be finding its way into the Christian community. By this, I mean that many Christians are contributing to the discussion of redefining what Christian faith looks like. Perhaps this is a pendulum swing back towards the reformation era, where the laity is more directly involved in progressing their own faith and developing a deeper understanding of biblical truth.

There can be a tremendous benefit to creating an environment that fosters all its members to be not only learners or followers, but active participants the development of their own doctrine or framework. There have been numerous successful models in the secular arena, that are challenging the widely accepted, closed, top-down models that dominate our current culture. One benefit to a more transparent and open system, is that people with diverse backgrounds can bring additional insight into the nature of mysteries seemingly unsolvable to someone without the other’s particular background.

One might think that this might create an unstable and chaotic environment, but many are finding the opposite to be true. Through distributed thinking, bad ideas are weeded out, and beneficial ones improved upon. Generally, the participants gain no compensation for their devotion other than a satisfaction of contributing to the cause they are pursuing. This seems a reasonable safe-gaurd to the possibility of straying off the course, or corrupting the kernel of truth, or impetus for the program being developed.

What I am suggesting is not an invitation toward relativism, where society creates God in their own image. Rather, what I am suggesting is that there are a lot of areas of faith, and practicing faith, that need not be static. It is appropriate to make the communication of our faith relevant to our time and circumstances. Similarly, we should always be investigating, and testing our understanding of our faith. We have more resources at our disposal than any other time in history. We should build upon the knowledge of men who came before us and also not be afraid to challenge it and ask questions that may be buried deep within our hearts. We should be confident that truth will prevail, no matter how difficult the questions become. What we should fear is the possibility that our faith contains elements that are founded more on general acceptance or man-made teaching and rules, rather than God’s teaching to us.

So, I feel that God wants us all to tinker around with the “source-code” of Christianity and offer any contributions to the community that we may make. Let’s not simply rely on someone else to determine these types of issues for us. God will lead you to truth when you seek it.