Recently, I was told by someone, who heard from someone else, that somebody had told her, that they talked to another person, who said that they had heard that I have a particular theological position. Apparently, at no point in this chain of discussion, did someone say, “Wait a minute, I ought to check and see if he actually believes in X before I pass on this juicy tidbit of information.”
However, had they asked me if I believe in X, I wouldn’t have had a simple yes/no answer. More likely, I would have qualified my answer, spoken in nuances, agreed in some ways, but disagreed in other respects. The problem is, people want a simple yes or no answer to questions, that in my opinion, take deep thought, long conversations and require sustained thought & discussion.
I loved this post this morning from Seth Godin – one of the blogs I subscribe to. He talks about why understanding quadratic equations is an important skill, and then goes on to praise the TED conference, that is happening right now. I wish there was more space for this kind of thought in the evangelical Christian community – more willingness to question, to engage in abstract thought, to discuss ideas before simply dismissing them. However, in my experience, practicing abstract theological thought for any period of time, get you quickly branded with labels like “liberal,” “emergent,” “heretical,” or “unorthodox” and written off faster than you can say “epistemological arrogance.”
I’m not grousing. I’m writing this post to say, that I’m thankful for a host of people in my life, that aren’t afraid to ask, “what if.” I’m thankful for my “heretics” reading group. I’m thankful for my atheist friend who writes me long emails. I’m thankful for my friends that refuse to get their panties in a bunch when I ask “what if?” I’m thankful for my reformed friend who lets me bounce things off of him, and isn’t afraid to tell me what he thinks. I’m thankful for a local ministry leader, who engages me in passionate discussion. I’m thankful for a host of writers who aren’t afraid to be branded, labeled and written off by theological bullies. I’m thankful to lead a church where I’m not expected to have all the answers, and it’s okay to say, “I’m still in process,” and “I have some of the same questions.”
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Here here! Love this post.
Tags: epistemological, grousing, and yes,… panties.