Boisterous Bad Religion Blog
I am the ultimate optimist. The glass is always half-full. See a basket of lemons? Let’s make lemonade. And there is always a silver lining, or something to learn from a difficult situation, even when there seems to be no hope at all. Some may call me naïve or an idealist, but I pray to be a reflection of the Light and shine His love and hope on all, even in the bleakest of times. As you can probably guess by now, I had a little trouble with this week’s reading selection. Ross Douthat, author of Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, is a self-proclaimed pessimist. Indeed, he writes in the conclusion, “This book has been written in a spirit of pessimism…”[1]
Yes, our American society is suffering from a bit of moral decay. Yes, our officials and our leaders, including many pastors, have made bad decisions and suffered the consequences of fallen humanity. Yes, many American Christians are their own worst enemies, as they try to spread the love of God with tongues of hate and hearts of judgment. But instead of doom and gloom, there is unearthed beauty to be discovered from every wrong turn. With every bad decision comes a teachable moment. When a door closes, a window is opened around the corner. Though the author did identify his pessimism as provisional, or perhaps temporary, we are living testaments of how good things can come out of even the worst of situations.
Ultimately, God does not leave people. He has not left American culture. He has not left individual hearts. He has not left the world. Even in biblical times, there were those who spoke untruth and lived venomous lives, but God did not leave them. Instead, He taught them, and ultimately, He sent His Son to show them the grace and peace that had never been so abundant. So even in our day, He sends light in the darkness. He sends kind leaders. He does not leave us with only bad choices. This reminded me of a children’s song about the Pharisees and Sadducees…
“I don’t want to be a Pharisee, I don’t want to be a Pharisee, ‘cause they’re not fair you see, I don’t want to be a Pharisee.” The next verse continues, “I don’t want to be a Sadducee, I don’t want to be a Sadducee, ‘cause they’re so sad you see, I don’t want to be a Sadducee.” (And just for fun, the final verse concludes, “I don’t to be a hypocrite, I don’t want to be a hypocrite, ‘cause they’re not hip with it, I don’t want to be a hypocrite.”)
This concept of people preaching things that are not true is not a new concept. We have learned God does not let untruth win. Ultimately, back in the day when the Pharisees and Sadducees were speaking the untruth, there was salvation, and today, we see the same thing. The more I read through this book, the more I perceived the author observing and describing the loudest American voices, and not the individual communities of believers. We cannot see into the hearts of all people. I wonder about the hearts of those that are fervently exploring Christianity quietly and consistently away from the public eye. It is easy to over look these believers, although their presence and significance is every bit as real as that of the loud heretics. Despite the people with the loudest voices and the largest Twitter accounts, there are spiritual leaders and passionate Christians making a difference in their communities, one life at a time. I am optimistic because I know God is alive and active and working in the hearts of believers and unbelievers, despite negativity and division creating lines drawn in the sand and upheaval in the halls of government.
This led me to contemplate my recent travels – to Haiti, to Ecuador, to Uganda, to Russia. I have a responsibility to visit countries, converse with missionaries, drop in on the work at project sites, and tell the stories. Like this book, I may have a generalized, predisposed sense of the culture and community of a particular place. In my heart, I may have stereotyped the group based on what an article has told me or what another leader has already observed. However, I have the responsibility to observe first hand, to tell the story, and to get to the root of the person or community.
Hearing an individual story and not labeling based on generalizations is vital. It is about knowing the people, telling their stories individually, and not clumping them together as a group. In any society, America included, one’s experience with an individual or a small group of people, may be vastly different from the general public perception. So how will we change the “bad religion” to the good, especially in America? What are partnerships and missions teaching us all over the world? One word – relationships. Let’s even go with two words – authentic relationships. We must be aware of who and what we are promoting. I have to know if I am promoting a false Gospel or the true Gospel, false leaders or true leaders, inadequate projects or exemplary missions. And the only way to know this is to listen, observe, and create authentic relationships.
Call me a heretic. Perhaps I am a product of the bad religion and a heretical society. Whatever the case, I have a heart filled with hope. I know God is bigger than any of our own personal faults. He uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and while those ordinary people may not be the loudest or have the biggest headlines, with the strength of Christ, they can do all things.
[1] Ross Douthat, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics (New York: Free Press, 2012), 278.
About the Author
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.