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Conservative and liberal Christians, in many ways, see themselves as being as far apart as night and day. I think it would surprise people in both groups, therefore, to have the suggestion made that both groups may have the same fundamental problem, and just be experiencing it in different ways.
The problem, then? It's simply that, instead of allowing God to define us, instead of recognizing that He has created us in His image, we, the people in both groups of Christians, insist on creating God in the image of ourselves we have created.
For conservatives, it's a question of selective legalism. These people believe God has an agenda, and by a startling coincidence, it just happens to be their own agenda! They take the issue that gets stuck in their craw, and they assign it and its importance to God. They may say, "I hate because God hates ." Or maybe, "I insist that people do this or that because God insists that people do this or that." The reality is exactly the opposite. They hate the group of people, or demand those particular actions, and to justify that, they decide that God, too, considers the group in question detestable and the specific action absolutely essential. It's kind of like cellphone companies charging a "system access fee" and saying the government made them do it, when in reality the government made them do no such thing. Meanwhile, actions, thoughts, or beliefs that aren't important to them get totally ignored. Their hatred, a violation of God's command to love their neighbor, somehow slips by the wayside. They have, convincing only themselves, redefined their God in their own prejudiced, hateful, hurtful, selectively legalistic image.
Before liberal Christians get too smug, I contend that they are just as guilty, and of a variant of the same problem. They also define their God according to their own image. To them, God is not a holy, powerful, mighty God worthy of our submission, loyalty, obedience, ore even belief; rather, they see God as a heavenly pet owner, maybe smilingly chiding His pets for being "naughty", but ultimately indulging their every whim and action. Even as some owners jokingly feel their pets really own them, so too these liberal Christians envision a God that demands nothing of His creation, to the point of letting them run over Him or even denying his very existence. They recognize the unconditional love of God, for the most part (though they can often be every bit as hateful as any conservative Christian), but have a complete disregard for His holiness, His worthiness, His might, His expectations.
Not all conservatives, and not all liberal Christians fall into these categories. While no one can truly grasp the immensity of God, least of all me, there are many people in both camps who truly try to balance their view of Him, try to allow Him to be defined according to His terms and not their own. There are conservative Christians who do not show prejudice and hatred; there are liberal Christians fully aware that God is more vast and more holy than they could possibly imagine; and there are people in both camps who truly try to live, talk, walk, and think in accordance with God's will.
I have often said, loudly for anyone who will listen to hear, the enemy is not conservativism, it is not liberalism, it is extremism. The very nature of an unfathomable God dictates that our interpretations of Him and His word will vary, it's inevitable, and God understands this. But it's when we go to extremes, whatever extremes these might be, that problems start. Neitehr extreme liberal Christianity nor extreme conservative Christianity is any better than the other, and when one realizes the surprising similarities between the two, the image changes from that of a line with conservatives on one end and liberals on the other, to a circle with the two extremes camped out right next to each other on one side.
Maybe all Christians need to ask themselves how they are being selective in their interpretation of Scripture. Are they allowing their own prejudices, their own desires, their own values to dictate the God they want, or are they allowing God in His fullness to determine the values, ideals, and beliefs that govern their life?
The problem, then? It's simply that, instead of allowing God to define us, instead of recognizing that He has created us in His image, we, the people in both groups of Christians, insist on creating God in the image of ourselves we have created.
For conservatives, it's a question of selective legalism. These people believe God has an agenda, and by a startling coincidence, it just happens to be their own agenda! They take the issue that gets stuck in their craw, and they assign it and its importance to God. They may say, "I hate
Before liberal Christians get too smug, I contend that they are just as guilty, and of a variant of the same problem. They also define their God according to their own image. To them, God is not a holy, powerful, mighty God worthy of our submission, loyalty, obedience, ore even belief; rather, they see God as a heavenly pet owner, maybe smilingly chiding His pets for being "naughty", but ultimately indulging their every whim and action. Even as some owners jokingly feel their pets really own them, so too these liberal Christians envision a God that demands nothing of His creation, to the point of letting them run over Him or even denying his very existence. They recognize the unconditional love of God, for the most part (though they can often be every bit as hateful as any conservative Christian), but have a complete disregard for His holiness, His worthiness, His might, His expectations.
Not all conservatives, and not all liberal Christians fall into these categories. While no one can truly grasp the immensity of God, least of all me, there are many people in both camps who truly try to balance their view of Him, try to allow Him to be defined according to His terms and not their own. There are conservative Christians who do not show prejudice and hatred; there are liberal Christians fully aware that God is more vast and more holy than they could possibly imagine; and there are people in both camps who truly try to live, talk, walk, and think in accordance with God's will.
I have often said, loudly for anyone who will listen to hear, the enemy is not conservativism, it is not liberalism, it is extremism. The very nature of an unfathomable God dictates that our interpretations of Him and His word will vary, it's inevitable, and God understands this. But it's when we go to extremes, whatever extremes these might be, that problems start. Neitehr extreme liberal Christianity nor extreme conservative Christianity is any better than the other, and when one realizes the surprising similarities between the two, the image changes from that of a line with conservatives on one end and liberals on the other, to a circle with the two extremes camped out right next to each other on one side.
Maybe all Christians need to ask themselves how they are being selective in their interpretation of Scripture. Are they allowing their own prejudices, their own desires, their own values to dictate the God they want, or are they allowing God in His fullness to determine the values, ideals, and beliefs that govern their life?
