I put “progressive” and “conservative” in quotes because I’m afraid that terms like that may communicate more than it actually intended, as labels often do.  Nonetheless, there are obviously very different groups within the Church of Christ, and the less traditionally-minded often dismiss the more traditionally-minded without really addressing their arguments in a respectful, loving way.  So I’m glad that my dad is participating in this, and I pray that it helps lead the church to a greater understanding and more unity.

On a slightly related note, sometimes it bothers me when progressive Church of Christers insinuate that the root cause of the conservative’s disagreements is that they take the Bible or Scripture too seriously.  They don’t necessarily say this directly, but I’ve heard it as the thrust of various arguments.  The word “legalism,” for example, can connote this in certain cases.  If the issue at hand is a lack of mercy, love, and unity, that is NOT from taking the Bible too seriously, or too literally, or too authoritatively, or from a hermeneutic that interprets every verse of Scripture as a binding law.  It can’t be, because so much of Scripture is dedicated to precisely those things.

“No, it’s all about relationships,” said the excitable youth minister.

“No, it’s all about spiritual disciplines,” said the contemplative pastor.

“No, no, it’s all about what you actually do,” said the volunteer.

“No, it’s all mission, about having a purpose,” said the goal-directed Type A personality.

“No, it’s all about what God did for us,” said the struggling sinner.

I would suggest God isn’t interested in having us all have identical personalities, gifts, talents, and struggles – that one person’s way of looking at things is the most important.  God separated these things into different people, the same way he separated sky and sea, light and dark, land and ocean.  That separation was an act of creation, and its result was good.  Before, everything was the same – “formless and void.”  God breathed difference into the world – contrast, separation – and things suddenly got more interesting.

The fight for unity should be not become a fight for sameness, that is, entropy, eradicating what God created.  The same way he made people male and female, he made people have different kinds of personalities and gifts — and not equally proportioned either.  (Is it unfair?  A useless question.)  We should join together as parts of a body, not as bricks in a wall, or drops in an ocean.

Said the cynical intellectual-type person.

General disclaimer – These thoughts are not fully formed.  Please let me know if something seems off or not right, and I’ll do what I can to correct.  Wisdom from God is “open to reason,” says James.

Therefore, I think it would be healthy for me and possibly useful to others to express, once again, my thoughts here, with the understanding that these things are still being worked out.  This is a blog, after all, not a compendium of finalized conclusions (even if I write as though they are sometimes).

At a recent Bible study I shared some thoughts that I had been keeping bottled up for a while, and folks seemed to appreciate them – even jotting a note down or two.  So expect some reasonings – unfinished, tentative, “open to reason,” but at the very least, there.