Christ is Risen!
In other news, former Episcopal Priest the Rev Dr Ann Redding, like Cat Stevens before her, saw something attractive in Islam, and surrendered to Allah.
And yet, according to the Christian Post, "convinced that her new Muslim faith did not contradict her beliefs as a Christ follower, Redding declared she was both a Muslim and a Christian".
The news this week is that she has been 'defrocked' by the Diocese of Rhode Island.
On one level, this is not surprising, since the religions say opposing things on vital matters. And yet it is pleasantly surprising, since The Episcopal Church in America is not known for taking disciplinary action on, well, pretty much anything.
Since today is Easter Day, I have one observation about her being a 'Christ-Follower'. I don't know if 'Christ Follower' is her preferred nomenclature, but it got me thinking.
The 'Christ Follower' label has been popular now for many years, especially in America. It became well debated in the blogosphere after the popular Mac Vs PC parodies, Christ Follower. It was supposed to be a bit of fun, but I find interesting how the 'Christ follower' in that series describes how he lives: "I just try to follow Christ in the way I live my life."
It struck me that a Muslim might be able to say similar words (as long as he holds Mohammed as Allah's final prophet); or an episcopal priest who wants to be a Muslim-Christian; or anyone who wants to live in a gracious way. Of course, they'd have to squint at the Bible to make this claim, and go with 'vibe' of the gospels, rather than Christ's actual words.
But the message of Good Friday is that the followers of Christ didn't.
That is the point.
The city that welcomed Jesus, yelled 'crucify' within the week. The followers who had declared that they would follow to death either betrayed him, ran away or denied him. Christ journeyed to the cross precisely because we wouldn't follow.
And the message of Easter, as the Archbishop said this week, is that ‘hope was born in Christ’s grave, when he broke from it’. Christ rose so that we non-followers could be redeemed.
Whatever else we say, 'following Christ' it is not the complete picture.
As Dr Timothy Keller from New York City often observes, we don't need another 'Teacher' to follow (and to reconcile with other teachers, like Mohammed), we need a 'Redeemer', who will save us from our sin.
The trouble for Dr Redding is that her new faith strikes at the very heart of the one redemptive event that matters: Christ's death and resurrection.
At least Cat Stevens moved his allegiance completely.
