A few days ago I was taking a look at a book recently published by a ministerial colleague. I found his marketing blurb both interesting and disturbing. He wrote of his book: “An insightful and inspiring look at the Christian vocabulary through the eyes of a 21st-century progressive religious leader. This book may well infuriate Christian fundamentalists. Baffle evangelical Christians. But for those open-hearted, open-minded people who long to love God with their whole being, this insightful book will provide the language to say "yes" to a living faith.”
What struck me about the description is what a haughty, snotty attitude it exuded. And he is not the only Christian I have noticed displaying such a “better than thou” attitude. I hang out with Christians from all across the theological spectrum. I understand that this is something that most Christians don’t do. We seem to be inclined to cloister ourselves in our theological ghettos. This is unhealthy behavior for many reasons. It causes us to be limited in our understanding and acceptance of those who think differently than we do. We allow ourselves to be unchallenged in our thinking. And we become prejudiced.
This happens on both ends of the theological spectrum. My more conservative friends fail to be open to new and different ideas – especially if espoused by “liberals”. They exude an attitude of righteousness and being the only ones who truly understand what God is up to. They often present themselves as self righteous and holier than thou. On the other end of the spectrum are my progressive brothers and sisters. They tend to be as close minded as the fundamentalists. In many ways they are in greater danger because they have convinced themselves that they are open minded when they aren’t. I often refer to these friends as fundamentalist liberals. So far none of them have appreciated my observation. They present and often see themselves as more intelligent than their more conservative brethren. As they peek at each other over their theological divides, the conservatives see the liberals as godless and the liberals see the conservatives as mindless.
As I have said, it is my joy to interact with folks from both sides of the great divide. Unfortunately, because I do mix with the unwashed others, both groups of friends and colleagues view me with some measure of mistrust. But I find it interesting and well worth the distrust it brings. Here is my take on things. Some of the most intelligent people I have ever met are conservative Christians and some of the dumbest statements I have ever heard uttered were made by progressive Christians. And some of the most unholy people I have been around are theologically conservative and I have been in the presence of some very godly liberals. Neither side is running short of mean, stupid people. All I can say is, progressive or fundamentalist, thank God for the gift of grace.
And what am I. Many years ago, while working in the Iowa juvenile justice system, one of my co-workers described me as a fundamentalist cynic. I can live with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment