Unpacking Ideas

There are moderate Jews, and violent extremist Jews. There are moderate Muslims, and violent extremist Muslims. There are moderate Christians, and violent extremist Christians.

We love growth. We love more. We love big. In church, we especially love more and big. But is more and bigger always good if it means the Christ we end up following is not the Christ of the Gospels?

What’s wrong with flourishing opinions? A flourish of opinions would be fine if we’re talking about real opinions. Too often, however, my opinion is really not an opinion at all but an assertion — as if fact.

I pass on to you the Sojourners Peace And Civility Pledge because it is a reasonable and biblical response to Arizona’s grief. This is a reasonable and biblical response to the grief upon grief we experience when people of good will struggle to get along.

Mr. Phillips’ visceral attacks in response to this advocacy, by contrast, reflect neither American values nor the Christian faith. But as a committed Christian and United Methodist who follows Jesus, I am committed to praying for Mr. Phillips.

The United Methodist Council of Bishops offers bold encouragement for all of us to “model respect and kindness and extinguish the fires of animosity…and to engage in genuinely honest dialogue and respectful conversation, such that others who observe the action of our lives might declare, “See how they love each other!”

I’ll tell you how to vote on Tuesday.[1] One Of Us Should Decide, And It Should Be Me  We could solve this political mess and save all kinds of money and time, if we assign one person to make the decisions. One person chooses the winner, and tells the rest of us how to vote.  [...]

Ethnic (or moral or cultural) diversity seems to frighten us. We can debate — as we have here — the reasons for this root fear. Regardless of its reason for being, it exists. Our need for sameness gurgles like a belch waiting to be released from the dark under-belly of our collective soul.

My simple conclusion as a Christian was this: The policies that our Church endorses publicly ought to look a bit like the Jesus we read about in the Gospel of Luke (or Matthew, or Mark, or John). The policies we endorse as people of faith ought to protect our widows, care for our orphans, and welcome strangers in our land.

I have hope. Sure, the log is huge, and I might be blind to the crud about me I have ignored for so long. But the dark shadow of Lent will receive the bright side of Easter. This is the power I mentioned earlier. Think about this. It’s hard to honestly examine myself, especially given all my flaws and limits. But the tough truth-telling of honest self-examination washes (think spiritual Windex!) the window, safely revealing more about myself, and safely revealing more about a loving who God already knows everything anyway!