A believer without beliefs?

"Aren't you a believer?", my friend asked while we were having a conversation about my perspectives on Christianity. "It depends on whether one can be a believer without beliefs!", I replied. 

As I have become older, I have realized that I no longer believe in many of the beliefs that are traditionally associated with Christianity. More importantly, I feel that beliefs are not so important and that some of the beliefs can be limiting or a hindrance in one's spiritual journey. Sometimes, 'knowing about someone' can be an impediment in 'truly knowing someone ' and any sort of belief can limit one's experience of God.

To me, the essence of Christianity ('Christian faith') is faith in Jesus Christ. Here, it is most appropriate to use the word 'faith' in its original meaning of 'trust' (from Latin 'fides', meaning trust or confidence in a person) and that implies an ongoing relationship with and living in the presence of Jesus. As long as we don't view Christianity essentially as 'a particular set of beliefs' or as 'a closed community', it might indeed be possible to be a Christian without subscribing to all the beliefs that are traditionally associated with Christianity. 

Yes, it is almost impossible to function without some sort of a worldview and beliefs do get embedded in that worldview. So, I am not claiming that one can function or pursue the spiritual journey with some sort of 'latent theories' or 'convictions' (beliefs?). I guess, the key point here is if one is open to those theories' or convictions or  beliefs evolving as one goes along. 

In my case, I do 'know' that Jesus is 'my' God. I have experienced Christ fleetingly though intensely. But I can't  make any generalization based on those experiences on 'how Christ really operates'. Yes, there are parts of the Christian belief system that resonates with me - 'Christ being fully man and fully God at the same time', for example. I do think the goal of Christianity is to be 'more like Christ. Of course, I don't fully understand what that means and (mercifully!) my understanding keeps evolving. Maybe, it just means that God can only be experienced and not understood!

What is Christianity to me?

Of late, I have been doing quite a bit of thinking on the way I am looking at (or defining) the concept of 'religion'.  This evolving understanding of the concept of 'religion' also led to the question "What is Christianity to me?".

Now, a religion can be looked at at multiple levels (that might not necessarily be mutually exclusive). For example, religion can be looked at as 

1. a set of rituals (e.g. baptism, holy communion etc. in the case of Christianity)
2. a set of beliefs (e.g. as captured in the Nicene creed in the case of Christianity)
3. a community that worships together (e.g. the congregation in a church in the case of Christianity) 
4. a set of core values (e.g. 'love' in the case of Christianity; remember, Jesus said 'God is love' and not just that 'God is loving')
5. a personal experience (i.e. the religious experience like that coming from a personal relationship/ongoing interaction with and 'trust' in the living Jesus in the case of Christianity)      

What I have found is that, over the years, my understanding of Christianity has shifted from being focused more on 1, 2 and 3 in the above list to being focused more on 4 and 5 in the above list. 

I am not saying that there is anything wrong with the first 3 levels. It is indeed possible to find a lot of comfort at those levels. However, it must be noted that exclusive focus on levels 1, 2 and 3 might (often inadvertently) pull people apart on the basis of religion. 

At the level of values, there is hardly any conflict between religions, and, indeed often they are complementary (e.g. 'love' and 'oneness' in the case of Christianity and Advaita Vendanta school of Hinduism respectively). Similarly, if we all look at religion as a highly personal and hence unique experience, we won't be tempted to argue on the relative validity of these experiences! 

To put it more broadly, if we look at the 'lower' levels in the above list in the context of the 'higher' levels, there is a very high possibility of integration, harmony and appreciation (see 'Celebrating Onam in the Church' for a specific example of this integration). It would also help in avoiding unfortunate situations like trying to communicate (or sell) the message of the religion without being (living) the message (or trying to communicate the gospel/'good news' without being good news to the others, in the case of Christianity).  

Any comments/thoughts?