Inconceivable

"Inconceivable!" One guy says.

"You keep using that word." The other guy from Princess Bride says. "I do not think it means what you think it means."

Conservative Christian... I keep using that phrase, but I do not think it means what I think it means. Or maybe I don't think it means what you think it means. 

con·serv·a·tive

kənˈsərvətiv/

adjective

holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion

.

noun

a person who is averse to change and holds to traditional values and attitudes, typically in relation to politics.

Chris·tian

ˈkrisCHən/

adjective

of, relating to, or professing Christianity or its teachings.

"the Christian Church"

noun

a person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Jesus Christ and his teachings.

We frequently put those two words together, so I Googled “Conservative Christian”... and Ronald Reagan's picture popped up. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe a picture of Jesus, maybe a picture of me? Nope, I got a picture of the 40th president of the United States. That's what threw me off, I didn't expect a picture of a person. 

A friend pointed out to me the phrase Conservative Christian is oxymoronic. 

ox·y·mo·ron

noun

1.     a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. 

An oxymoron may produce a dramatic effect but does not make sense. 

Examples:

o    Open secret

o    Tragic comedy

o    Seriously funny

o    Awfully pretty

o    Foolish wisdom

o    Original copies

o    Liquid gas

Shall we add * Conservative Christian?

There was nothing conservative about Jesus, neither was he liberal. He did not espouse traditional religious or political views and he held in contempt those who did – calling them white washed tombs full of dead bones. He brought change. He didn't abolish the Old Testament Law, He fulfilled it. He brought a religion of love, mercy, and grace. And those who follow him do well to emulate him. Jesus lavished his love on us with complete abandon, showed unlimited mercy, offered inconceivable grace. He was radical! To be like Jesus we’ll have to be radical.

rad·i·cal

ˈradikəl/

noun

a person who advocates thorough or complete political or social (Shall we add religious?) reform

Jesus 

What a guy! What a God! And to think, He didn't exploit his position. 

That's truly Inconceivable! 

Conceivable or not, we ought not to exploit our position as his followers by being politically, socially, religiously conservative or liberal. Let's go for radical, offering radical love, radical mercy, and radical grace one to another. Jesus did it, why can't we? Oh right, He was God and we're not. 

So, we'll just have to try harder. 

It's not like he didn't show us the way. Perhaps those are the verses in the Bible we're to be concentrating on. Ways to be like Jesus and what God wants of us...here's one for starters, Micah 6:8. .. 

            (God has shown you...what is good)

                      And what does the Lord require of you?
                     To act justly and to love mercy
                            and to walk humbly with your God.

It's not complicated, it is conceivable -- obey the two greatest commands: Love God and Love your neighbor... and you're off and running. 

On a side note. My son, Aaron, has a sermon series called "The Deeper Life". It's inspirational and helpful and full of love, mercy and grace. 

Take Up Your Cause and Try to Be Nice

I learn by doing. I do what I enjoy. This time of year I'm learning a lot about skiing, reading, and writing. Housework -- not so much. I tend to housekeeping chores out of necessity, which involves lots of doing that doesn't fall into the enjoyable category. If I must clean, and I must, I try to re-organize so the next frantic run through will be quicker. Frantic because -- I clean when company is coming. Man, I'm good under pressure.

As you may know from a previous post, we're under construction here. When everything is in a state of disarray I have a hard time getting at the things I enjoy. I consider all the things I should do and all the things I want to do, both vying for my attention. It's paralyzing. And as the minutes and hours tick by I get a panicked feeling that I'm wasting my life.

It's the same with social issues and causes. I don't want my life to be a waste, but I get paralyzed by all that is sad, hurtful, wrong in the world. As a Christian, I want to take up my cross to follow Jesus. But there's a fine line between taking up my cross and taking up my cause. Either way, I want to do it in a godly fashion.

A friend of mine posted a quote from Billy Graham. Apparently he was asked, "If Christianity is valid, why is there so much evil in the world?" Graham replied something like...with so much soap in the world, why are there still dirty people? And he made that relative by adding that in each case they must be personally applied to do any good.

Yeah, okay, although that sounds judgmental, I get it. But I get it more for the soap than the religion. I think it's not a very good answer in that it's a terribly flippant answer to a very serious and valid question. It's distressing to me that the premise of Christ's way, God's law, the basic tenet of the religion called Christianity is love and grace -- and yet there is little peace among believers let alone in the world.

If you hadn't heard there was a debate this week. Ken Ham the creationist guy and Bill Nye the science guy debated the foundations of the earth. They were fairly respectful of one another, all things considered. I have to admit, I love Bill Nye: the way he dresses, talks and thinks. I believe God loves him too, though for whatever reason he hasn't yet gifted him with faith. (He's probably letting Bill come to faith through science. That's an epiphany I look forward to hearing about on one side or the other of eternity.)

And Ken Ham? Well I love him as a brother in Christ, but (and anything you say after the "but" discounts what came before) the very first time I heard him speak he was disrespectful of other famous Christian authorities who disagreed with his opinion on the age of the earth. He called them out by name and said if you don't agree with me and the Bible, you're doomed. Yep, that's how he spoke about his brothers in Christ. I don't believe he mentioned any women, which is another topic altogether -- an extremely relevant topic. Sorry, Ken, but I still love you. (Whatever comes after the "but" discounts what came before.  I guess I'm not all that sorry, Ken. I repent.)

There was one question put to Ken Ham that caused me to stop listening. He was asked if anything could change his mind about his stance on the age of the earth. He didn't answer the question. It has a very simple answer, but no, he went on and on "proving" his stance and didn't answer the question.

The answer is -- only God could change his mind. That, I would have respected. It would have presented a modicum of humility and submission to his higher authority.

As Christians we've got this personal relationship with a God who loves us so much he gives us a long leash, but he doesn't let us go. He lets us have our way and our opinions, ever reminding us to be humble and come to him, which we don't always do even though we  know he is the final authority and he knows everything. So the correct answer to the question about what could change our minds about anything and everything is GOD. But he won't if we don't want him to. He rarely interferes while we're still on our high horse using and misusing his Word to prove a point to which we we've married ourselves, forgetting completely that His ways are higher than our own.

Ps. 51:17 A humble and contrite heart God does not despise.

1 Peter 5:6   Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God

And this is what the Lord requires of us:

Micah 6:8b That we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

And with that, I must get off my high horse. A friend of mine posted a blog this morning which calmed my anxious spirit. She spoke of seeking common ground, and not missing opportunities to make the world a better place. I'm going to go read Yvonne's Midpoint Musings again. Then I'm going take my anxious thoughts to God in prayer knowing that the peace of God transcends understanding -- yours, mine and ours -- His peace transcends our understanding.

And look! Once again he's sprinkled my yard with diamonds. I'm off now to do the next enjoyable thing on my docket. And before I go, I want to remind myself, there is a lot right with the world: Good things and good people, happy times and loving people. The chief end of humankind is to glorify, and enjoy God. I'm on it!

  
Can you see the sparkle?