I used to tell people—back in the roaring nineties—that I
was a liberal with conservative values. I mainly said this because I was a
card-carrying member of a bunch of hippie-esque/pre-vegan (we really weren’t
talking gluten or green smoothies just yet)/human
rights-promoting/vigil-holding organizations, AND I didn’t want anyone to think
I was a racist or uncool. Plus, I lived in New York. Being a Christian?
Uncool. Being a conservative Christian? Really uncool.
Even though it’s painful to say it, I think Pastor Vermon
said it right when he noted the cultural trend is to be embarrassed by the
Bible. I’ll just be honest: I was
embarrassed by the Bible. I’m sure I’d couch it in pretty ways: “It’s not
Christianity that I have a problem with; it’s Christians.”
Excuses, excuses. (Though sometimes Christians still freak
me out.)
The problem has more to do with the authority of Scripture,
something this radio show did a good job of affirming. While I think other
shows have dealt with similar themes, it warrants repetition. Much depends on
how one views the Bible. Is it the inspired Word of God, or is it of human
inspiration? Is it inspiring, but not
inspired? Basically, when one is
thinking of liberal Christianity versus orthodox Christianity, one is
identifying a position on the Bible: it is either a human testament or it is
divine revelation.
So what about this embarrassment issue? I guess it has to be
identified for what it was: cowardly. In essence, I think, we are ultimately
called to define our worldviews, to come clean with our convictions, to take a
stand. It might have been Vermon again, but one of the Backpack guys pointed
out that Liberal Christianity offers something “culturally palpable” at the
expense of something intellectually substantive. Do I have this right? I think
that’s true. We choose between the culturally palpable or the intellectually
substantive. Say it one more time.
In other words, there comes this time—it’s not always an
easy time—when you’ve gotta let your yes
be yes, and your no be no. It sounds
harsh, but liberal Christianity may allow “embarrassed” types to have their
cake and eat it too, so to speak, by allowing for a flimsy or wishy-washy
intellectual life. One doesn’t have to think too hard. One doesn’t need to
really bother with thinking about creationism or gender roles or other tough
subjects. One gets to say things like, “There is a God, but he doesn’t really .
. .” Get involved in our day-to-day lives, interfere in our sex lives, etc. Noah’s
Ark? How fun was that? What a great idea for decorating our baby nurseries:
animals with a little catastrophic flooding that wiped out mankind! Good times!
Liberal Christianity is more
culturally palpable, indeed. It is not, however, intellectually demanding. It
does not require much consistency.
Speaking for myself, it did come down to the rigor thing.
Liberal Christianity, it seemed, gave me a flimsy God. He wasn’t really
omnipotent or omnipresent. He didn’t really know what was going on. Yet he was
called God. The intellectual
dissonance was unsettling. I found it
tough to live with the theological dissonance. I had to give up the “I’m a
liberal with conservative values” routine. I’d rather have to work on how God
views gender, how we should think about origins, etc.
It isn’t easy, I admit it. I struggle with some of this
stuff. I’m pretty good on creationism. And I don’t really want the God of
Deism. But what’s this headship business? What does the Bible say about gender?
Are you kidding me?
The bottom line is that we’re rational beings. We just can’t
live any other way.
Jennifer Bell is mostly a writer, but she's
also an English teacher. The author of two books of fiction, she lives with her
husband and two kids in Phoenix.
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