Look, no one ever gets involved in a faith they think is wrong.

We’re passionate about growing spiritually and specifically becoming more devoted followers of the teaching and life of Jesus. We think being part of a community of faith helps us in this pursuit and we invite others to join us on this journey. However, most of our friends in San Jose have negative reactions to the words ‘church’ and ‘Christian’ so we have made it clear ‘no church experience’ is required to come and explore faith with us.

At The Journey, we give each other the space to have ideas about God that not only differ from each other but which also grow and change over the seasons of life. We don’t expect everyone to have the same ideas about God.

God

We think God is the Initial Cause that spun the universe into existence and who has guided its adaptation over millennia. We think that God is personal and that he is thoroughly good. We believe that he has unlimited ability to interact in the universe and our lives, and that he is present in every place.

The Bible

Though we can’t always explain the hows and whys of the Bible, we believe the stories it contains are true. Some of the stories are not literal in how they convey the mechanics of what actually happened historically or how things happen now but the stories are still trustworthy. We feel what the Bible has to say about God is relevant to our lives.

We read the Bible with curiosity, to ask questions of it because in those questions, we learn how to know God and each other better. We also read it with humility and without much dogmatism because the Bible articulates perspectives on life, God, and human relationships. Since we all know how complex those three topics can get, we realize there’s room for discussion. Reading the Bible with humility also means we put our most vigorous energy into applying it to our own lives and rarely using it to expose faults in the lives of others.

Our World

Oh, and here’s something that seems pretty obvious: life is seriously messed up.

There’s a lot of things wrong in the world and part of being human involves trying to come to terms with the disconnect between how life actually is and how we intuitively know it should be. We know we hurt the ones we most care about and are inconsiderate to strangers we cut off on the freeway. We also see the limitless capacity of people around the world to bring suffering on other people, creatures and the earth. The word “sin” pretty much sums that up.

God’s Plan

He had a plan from the very beginning. The plan is kind of whacked: God enters the human race and becomes a human boy who grows up into a man. That man talks in puzzles and stories about his kingdom, which is very different from the kingdoms of men. He heals people and feeds them while teaching them. He raises people from the dead. He builds into the lives of 12 working class guys and calls them to follow his example. A religious life is no longer an option, now it’s about a relationship, now it’s personal, now it’s a calling.

This man’s name is Jesus

Jesus’ teachings challenged the religious status quo. Which eventually led to a brutal death on a cross. And by the way, that whole crucifixion thing was part of God’s plan too. It wasn’t Plan B or Plan C. Try wrapping your mind around that one.

The death and resurrection of Jesus did something that subverted the messed up systems of the world and specifically broke the grip that sin had on human souls. Jesus’ command to his followers launched a worldwide movement.

His followers have gathered together in groups for centuries doing our best to live by day the life of faith. We learn s…l…o…w…l…y how to forgive each other. We learn what it means to love, to suffer the injustices of life, to have passion and joy, to fail, to have hope in a bigger story…God’s story.