Wednesday,
June 23, 2021
Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19
In the interest of full-disclosure
I’ve found a way to anger just about anyone.
It’s been said (too often), if you want to start an argument, talk
politics or religion. Adding to that
time-tested maxim, if you want a nuclear-blast kind of argument, combine the
nitro of politics with the glycerin of religion. Ok…so, here goes.
The conservative-liberal spectrum actually does
have a center. Those on the fringe far left or right are rarely those who
manage to achieve anything resembling harmony or even civility. A foaming-at-the-mouth-right-conservative
and a foaming-at-the-mouth-left-liberal will never even agree
that they disagree. The only topic will
ever be just how awful the other thinks and behaves. One is steeped in the politics of CNN, the
other worships on Fox. The only meeting
of the minds is that the other deserves to be drawn and quartered just long and
painfully enough to give his opponent time to think up something really nasty
and hurtful to do next.
The fringe probably amounts to less than 20% of
the population, but, as in squeaky wheels, they have the larger audience. For the other 80% who tend to think a little
more clearly (as in allowing for grace and humility), I tend to think of those who
have a baseline theological understanding of political bent, but leaning
(gracefully) towards the other side; at least to hear and try to understand, if
not accede a change of heart and mind.
In this model, for instance, the LEFT-based person believes in affirming
LGBTQ++ as normative, but is willing to hear (without dissing) the
Biblical/conservative rationale for God's judgment on same. The Conservative-based-with-liberal-leaning
(of which I admit) is the mirror image. I am an orthodox construct in
historical Christianity as a base, interpreting progressive neo-Christian (meaning
LGBTQ++ affirmation is ungodly and thereby inviting judgment). At the
same time my "liberal-lean" will cause me to listen with compassion
and respect, even if it rankles my doctrinal anchors. And I do so because
the soul of the one to which I listen was created in the image of God - the
same God Who created me.
How does that look in street clothes? I want you to meet Douglas. Back in the early 1980’s while attending
seminary, I worked as a drive-up teller in a bank. Douglas was a young, single man who worked
the same shift. The bank drive-up lanes
were open until 9pm, so we had a lot of time to talk in-between customers. Douglas was open about his sexuality, and the
struggle with which he lived, just wanting a normal life. Normal seemed an
unreachable, and it wasn’t hard to see the tortured, bruised soul that longed
to be accepted and genuinely loved. But
there was also an admirable bravery about Douglas opening-up to a very
conservative seminary student, someone from the enemy camp. In that I saw the possibility of true
dialogue, a common ground of human compassion.
Other than those long discussions, spurred mostly
by Douglas’ questions about God and faith, one forty-year-old memory stands;
Douglas came to our home on campus (enemy territory) because we invited him to
share a meal together. It was a holiday,
and this very alone young man needed some family
time. It was not a liberation seminar,
or condescending normal family throwing the poor gay guy a bone…it was just a
few human souls sharing a holiday meal.
Time and circumstances, combined with different
life paths took Douglas out of our lives, but the memory remains. Somehow after the family meal on a warm Fall
afternoon, our differences between gay and straight, politically left or right,
theologically conservative or progressive,were not the highlight of
conversation anymore.
For You Today
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
