Another Compliment
Another compliment I received last week, the same day as the "grandfatherly" one was:

It's good to meet a laidback Christian.

Huh? He then added:

Before I became a Christian I didn't like Christians.

Another Huh?

We had a chance to sit down and talk later in the day and it seems as if there were a couple of issues involved. First was the stuff that happened when he was younger and not yet Christian. He had not really appreciated the approach of many Christians he had met. But that was not what struck me about what he said. We have all heard from many non-Christians and former non-Christians about the obnoxious behavior that some Christians take toward others. What interested me more was what he said about what has happened since he has become a Christian.

He is of the more conservative, evangelical approach. While not a full-blown fundamentalist, he kind of leans in that direction. His personal experience in different settings, he explained to me, has been that those from the more mainline traditions get downright defensive (if not offensive) when dealing with him. He finds that they get uptight and argumentative and dismiss him out of hand. He said he was all ready for that to happen with me, but that I was "laid-back" and just accepted his views as they were.

I didn't point out since the conversation was civil and friendly, that one of the reasons that mainline Christians tend to respond that way is because we have often been on the receiving end of that very behavior from the fundamentalists who, with very little regard for opinions or feelings, tell us that we are not truly Christians because we don't believe their inerrant positions. There has been no room for dialogue.

In some ways such dialogue IS difficult. If middle-of-the-road Christians concede the right of the fundamentalists to have their opinions, we call into question the possibilities of our own, broader views. What if THEY are right? That means that we are wrong. Which is the same thing that drives the other side to say we're wrong.

All of a sudden we find ourselves in slippery places of uncomfortable opinions and disconcerting feelings. Better to put up the walls, keep the defenses strong, and just be plain obnoxious. I guess what makes me "laid-back" is that I try (with some moments of success) to keep these things in perspective. I am willing to admit that I do not have all the answers and that I can learn great things from all kinds of people, even those with whom I have strong disagreements.

I learn from fundamentalists to keep the Bible central in my faith.
I learn from evangelicals to never forget that we are to live as witnesses to the Gospel.
I learn from mainline, moderates the value of roots and tradition and keeping balanced.
I learn from charismatics the joy of passionate involvement with the Holy Spirit.
I learn from liberals the challenge of living the faith in social justice and openness to people.
I learn from Roman Catholics that we are all branches of a very old, and richly watered tree of faith.
I learn from traditional worship the beauty of liturgy as a means of experiencing grace.
I learn from contemporary worship the need to speak in the language that people understand.
I learn from the emergent church that we must engage the culture.
I learn from my Orthodox brothers and sisters that "western" culture isn't the only way and hasn't ever been.
I learn from Christians in persecuted countries the true costs that following Jesus can bring.

If I lose sight of any of that, I will be poorer for it. I will lose connections with brothers and sisters who, while having new (or old) and different opinions from mine, are still brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. The church, The Church, is what we are. Jesus is who we are about. There is only one confession of faith:

Jesus is Lord!

All else is commentary.