This Sunday has been dedicated to the doctrine of the trinity. A doctrine that in many ways is at the center of the Christian Church: God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. This core doctrine however is a creation of the church, and is not biblically based. It’s creation was a means of better explaining the different facets of God. In other words: God the ultimate eternal being from whom comes the son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that binds all together. Jesus, who by Christians is believed to be the Christ, and is the human form of God in our world. Finally, the Holy Spirit, who comes from God and connects all beings including Jesus to God.
While the traditional form of the trinity was Father, Son and Holy Ghost, there have been more modern versions: Mother, the Daughter, and Holy Spirit; Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer (noting the attribute of each character). These updated versions of the trinity I think have been a great improvement on the original version of the trinity.
One issue that I think is of significant problem for the Church is that we rarely seem to hold these three attributes in tension, expect on Trinity Sunday. Often we focus on either Jesus or the Holy Spirit and lose God completely, or at the very best we do hold all three in tension and lose the supremacy of God. While all three aspects are important, and the trinity is a great way of examining those aspects. The whole is still one incomprehensible being, and as Christians I think we tend to follow Christ, or we follow the Holy Spirit (we certainly have denominations who fall in varying degrees of this) and neglect that we are following one and the same God.
In times of dwindling church attendance and finances, I wonder if there are ways that we can begin to focus on our similarities of God, and less of the distinction of following the Holy Spirit OR Jesus Christ. Ultimately in the Trinity there has to be room for all.