I’ll be honest, I follow quite a few outspoken bloggers and writers in my day-to-day reading. I’m always interested in their takes on culture, current events, and whatnot. And yes, most of them lean towards my thoughts in several areas. I enjoy the challenge of thinking about difficult problems of life and faith.
But so far I’ve resisted the urge to post my own thoughts on “left” and “right” and right and wrong in the never-ending Culture War. Is this because I don’t know what I believe? Is it because I don’t want to offend anybody?
No. It’s because I don’t feel I need to proactively defend what I think, or try to convince others what I think is right or wrong. I know from personal experience that it’s very difficult to change someone’s mind unless they are willing to consider alternatives. And frankly, in today’s internet environment, it’s just easier to find a group of people that thinks like you instead of actually trying to defend your beliefs.
Should I be actively throwing my beliefs on social issues out there? Should I be overwhelmingly vocal about things that other people feel passionately about? I guess that depends on my reason for having a blog in the first place. Some things I am vocal about; some I’m not. Some things I just am not interested in discussing, and some things I need to learn more about before I would even consider it. Ultimately, I get to decide what I want to discuss because I feel it’s relevant. Is that selfish of me?
Maybe if I were trying to hide what I believe, it would be selfish- some sort of defense mechanism. But the truth is, I just don’t have much to contribute to those heated arguments, and I don’t really like arguing in the first place. I don’t feel the need to constantly prove everybody wrong, or myself right. If I believe something is true, it doesn’t really matter if you believe it or not. It doesn’t matter if I believe it or not, it will still be true.
I’m reminded that I don’t have to comment on everything that’s wrong with the world. God knows there’s plenty of things I have issues with, and even more things that God has issues with. But it’s not my calling to throw down the gauntlet and answer someone else’s call to arms. If I make an issue of everything, then I will lose focus on the things that I really care about. One only has to look around to see what a mess our world has gotten itself into.
Therefore, I focus my efforts on things that I think everybody could use to dwell on. Charity, Simplicity, the Arts, Compassion, the meaning of a successful life. These are all things I care deeply about. That’s not to say I don’t care about anything else, but these are things I struggle with on a daily basis, and I feel qualified to speak on. This is what I’m most passionate about. I’m not condemning people. I like to think I’m encouraging people to think outside themselves, to ponder on things of faith that really matter.
Sure, I’d like it if everybody that read these pages would come to a knowledge of God the same way that I have over the years, but I don’t expect everyone to be open to that. (Does that make me Calvinist? Lol.) I wouldn’t want to tailor my writings to a very small minority of readers when I have so much more to say.
There will always be guys like Matt Walsh and Vox Day who will unabashedly (and successfully) beat people over the head with logic and facts, and a good bit of theology. I applaud their efforts, and I appreciate their candidness as the Culture War ramps up. They excel at apologetics and exposing logical fallacies, and I see no reason to try to emulate what they already are doing quite well.
I am the type of person who will simply make an observation (lob a truth grenade, as it were) and them calmly walk out of the room, leaving the recipient to sort things out for themselves. I’m not going to argue, I’m not going to plead, I won’t fight if you get angry. Once the hot potato is in your lap, you need to figure out what to do with it.
Jesus wasn’t Left or Right… when we try to confine God to our puny definitions of “right” and “wrong” we realize that everything we do on our own initiative ends up coming out wrong. The poor and needy don’t care if you’re Conservative or Liberal. The Kingdom of God isn’t separated into Red or Blue.
Get right with God. Do what Jesus called you to do.
Everything else comes second to that, especially political ideology or socio-economics. If you’re Liberal and you show love to everyone but Conservatives, you’re a hypocrite. If you’re Conservative and you don’t show compassion and mercy to Liberals, you’re also a hypocrite.
What I write here is meant to enlighten and encourage, not to destroy or attack. I will defend my beliefs if I feel it necessary, but under no circumstances am I required to do so. The Culture War will rage on, whether I am an active participant in it or not. I have simply chosen not to fight every battle that comes along.
We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands. Whoever says “I know Him” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him: whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.
– 1 John 2:3-6