The recent political hoopla has me thinking about opinions. Everybody has 'em. And everybody wants to share theirs with you. And you are an idiot/leftist/fascist/not-a-Christian/misguided sop if you don't think like they do. Why is it that we think that if the other person doesn't think like me, they must not have thought carefully about their beliefs? It is possible for thoroughly committed, Bible-believing, thoughtful Christians to come to entirely opposite beliefs about the same issue. The most discouraging thing about it is that people accuse each other of being stupid at best, and anti-Christian at worst, if they don't think like "me." Allow me a moment to whine: I am tired of attending a church or reading on Facebook or being in a conversation with someone (who assumes they know my beliefs) who dogmatically claim that theirs is the only Christian belief. Do they not realize that their assertions, by their very nature, exclude me and erect a barrier that keeps me from fully participating in community with them (because of how unwelcome I feel)? Do they not realize that others, who haven't spent their whole lives in the church, might turn around and walk out the door and never come back when they hear the exclusive, condemnatory, smug, judgmental tone they use? And then... and then... I hear myself using the same tone, and realize I have once again turned the Kingdom of God into the Kingdom of Me.
Because, after all, who of us has a corner on the truth? Who of us so fully understands the mind of God, and all the implications of Scripture, so thoroughly that they can judge and condemn others? I would not want to set myself up as judge, jury, and executioner. God holds me accountable for my actions, and I would rather be known for being merciful than being judgmental. Is there absolute truth? Absolutely. Can I take part in that and share in that knowledge? Yes. What truths did Jesus hold as absolute? Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself. Well, guess that makes it awful hard to judge him/her. Also makes it awful hard to let him/her go hungry. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving, even as God in Christ forgave you. Makes it hard to justify mouthing off to them, no matter what I think. What if I instead listened to them? What if I instead found ways of working really hard to understand them, to love them? What could the world be like?
And Mom said it best: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. And that's all I have to say about that.
