Just the Bear Necessities

Look for the bare necessities,
The simple bare necessities,
Forget about your worries and your strife,
I mean the bare necessities,
Of mother natures recipies,
That bring the bare necessities to life.


Lyrics from “Bear Necessities” in the movie, Disney’s The Jungle Book.

Diglot and Brian LePort have posts on what consists of the “bear necessities” for Christian fellowship. Indeed, in order to avoid the traps of legalism and religious hegemony [under the guise of some abstract form of Christian unity], perhaps the best approach is to go with the canon, since it is the object that all Christians share and have in common (by choice, ideally).  There will be some theologians, scholars, and bloggers alike who will set themselves up as the guardians of the faith, insisting on the ecumenical councils and this doctrine or that doctrine, this apostle or that apostle, but I believe that the apostle Paul said it best,

¹²What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ ¹³Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴I thank God^* that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.

1st Corinthians 1:12-17, NRSV

I do believe that Paul here does an excellent job of examining barriers within Christianity, those who would be gatekeepers, the doctrinal enforcers, the mega-church pastors who relish in being worshiped as God’s own right hand. It’s not really clear what Jesus means by his followers being as one as he and the Father are one; the hypostatic union is a mystery, and thus Christian unity remains just that, for it eludes us. Is Jesus referring to our being one together as we all sing kumbaya and bake casseroles, or is he referring to being one in Christ? John 17:20-26. Verse 26 seems to suggest the latter.

What makes our union with Christ possible is the death and resurrection of Christ, the power of the cross. In fact, in Paul’s letters, it is this theme that unites his pastoral theology. Everything outside these events of God’s reconciliation with humanity to Godself are religious objects that Christians are free to choose to accept or reject. It is God’s work that is the bear necessity, for God is all sufficient (2nd Corinthians 12:9, NRSV).

RodtRDH

Formerly known as Rod of Alexandria, Rod the Rogue Demon Hunter Preacher of Hope | Black Scholar of Patristics | Writer for Nonviolent Politics. Destroyer of Trolls. It must be that angry puppy.

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