Rebecca Matheson on Amateur Theology

About Rebecca Matheson

Rebecca is a 21 year old communication design student who gets forced to post on amateurtheology.org as a condition of her marriage to Geoff. She leads a youth girls small group at Yarra Valley Vineyard and has been blogging about God stuff for almost 3 years.

Rebecca's site: http://allsaidanddone.com

suburban christian

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Rebecca Matheson 
Filed Under Church, Emerging Questions | 1 Comment

I was having a conversation with a friend recently about her mum’s thoughts on being a Christian in middle class suburbia and how both natural and difficult it is. (Some of these are my extended thoughts).

The Church and Christian events such as conferences are exceptional at preaching the ‘go get out there’. There is nothing acclaimed what-so-ever about living to your fullest from your house in the suburbs in your everyday job. We uphold these ‘Christian’ Heroes as those who have gone long and far and done big things.

I am not saying that there aren’t individuals that should wind up as overseas missionaries - because I grew up in a household where that was precisely the case and it’s something that has deeply influenced who I am now. There is a need for cross cultural mission. And it’s not as glamorous as it sounds.

Likewise, we shout the praise of working in a church, as a pastor, youth pastor, as someone who runs some enormous ministry. And we jump on the assumption that many church ‘attendees’ are just that. Attendees on Sunday. And many of them are.

I would like the encouragement put there for the majority of Christian suburbia. To actually be effective right where they are.

Yes I help lead a youth group. A very strangely small youth group for the size of our church, but it’s not the role that I love. Geoff tells me that I fluctuate a lot in how much I like leading youth. There is usually several times a year I swear not to be involved any more and hate rocking up on Friday nights. But I love, I love the kids I’ve gotten to know. I love seeing their growth and maturity. It’s so much more important.

Just be interested in people. Just love Jesus and what he’s on about. What more is there to being a Christian? The collective claim positives on fame, but individuals don’t give a rats at position really.

And position is so far from the point, church is sometimes a scary place.

Take risks at home.

(This post has is an edited extract from “Suburban Christian” at all said and done)

modern crusades and the story

Posted on November 20, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson 
Filed Under Culture, Emerging Questions | 3 Comments

I’m not a great fan of the whole ‘pass the email petition along’ but I was especially disturbed when I received one about the author Phillip Pullman (of the controversial series: His Dark Materials) and the soon to be released movie of The Golden Compass. Pullman is controversial in his anti-C.S Lews, anti-Christian/Religious themes. What disgusted me, was not that these books were now ‘a bit more public’, but that emails like this are sent with ‘all the information needed’ for an individual to create a certain opinion.

People’s naivety is conducted into some kind of modern crusade. It becomes a propaganda of distrust of perhaps even hate, which doesn’t seem very Christ-like to me! I understand the concern, but I think there are limits as to how far we can jump moral our hobby horse and ride it.

We claw at the few often minor imperfections in light of our often ridiculous ‘Christian’ moral positions and forget to search fiction such as this (or Harry Potter) for it’s redemptive themes, it’s story and the why of the story. Why are things like this written? Why don’t we bravely engage the debate rather than sulk from the sidelines? Why don’t we tell the story we know.

Following on from this, but less related directly to crusades, I was reading an interview between Phillip Pullman and the Archbishop Rowan Williams. Williams says the following,

“You can’t communicate Christianity simply as a set of ideas. At some point you’re going to have to sit down and tell a story. And tell a story which, because it’s a story, is bound to have some loose ends, some awkwardnesses. As it is we have four versions of the story of Jesus in the New Testament, because of that sense that a story can always be retold. And that introduces a bit of this irony in the narrative, which is very important in reinforcing the sense that this is something mysterious. I think there is something in that fundamental characteristic of Christianity which helps to enable a particular kind of storytelling.”

His words ring brilliantly true after a discussion I had with a guy this week about why I believe in this Christianity stuff. Anything of worth that I said (and I said more that was not valuable than was) came from a personal narrative within God’s broader narrative and not the relaying of facts.

I would like to see an approach of beginning to understand Christianity coming from more of a narrative than set of ideas.

pick and mix

Posted on September 12, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson 
Filed Under Emerging Questions | 6 Comments

Real scenario (19yrs old) edited for grammatical reasons

“I hear a lot of people talk about finding Jesus, or getting saved. I am a person who is really questioning a lot of things in her life and also wondering if religion can be a new part of my life? How do you know what’s right?

A question I want to ask and I know it may sound silly, but how do I know if Christianity is right for me?

I sent away for a New Testament- it should come in 4-6 weeks hmmmmm - I think I may go buy a Bible tomorrow morning. I feel this kind of rising feeling in my chest even as I write. its as though Something is bursting inside - OK that probably sounds crazy - but its almost like this overwhelming sense of hope - I don’t know where it came from hmmmmmm. Sorry that probably sounds weird.

My main question is: how do I know this is right for me?”

I was fairly stunned when this cropped up on a Christian youth discussion board that I follow, excited yes, but baffled. How do you answer to such a very post modern search for right?