LRC, Houston - the weekends-free church in Houston, Texas

Why is it so difficult to have an open, tolerant, and civil discussion with most Christians? Do we blame it all on Martin Luther? Is it a “protestant spirit” of division? I know that I used to be LESS tolerant in my early Christian walk which was a combination knowing it all and being a fundamentalist. Seriously, everyone I ran with just KNEW WE WERE RIGHT! What we couldn’t figure out was why so many other people couldn’t get it.

But, the older I get the LESS I am convinced I know anything for sure.

I’m not trying to convey to you that I’m just a reed in the water or a tumble weed on the Texas prairie. I have my core beliefs. More than anything I guess, it’s just that I am more tolerant of what others believe. I am not around very many people that lay a guilt trip on me for the salvation of everyone I talk to. I’ve come to agree with Friedrich Nietzsche who said, “All statements about ‘the way things are’ turn into variations on ‘the way I see them’ or even ‘ the way it suits me to see them’.” So why argue? Why do we feel that every encounter with someone with a differing view is looked upon as a chess piece of a different color, that needs to be wiped off the board as fast as possible?

I no longer get worked into a mental frenzy in trying to prove that some story in the Bible really happened. What’s the point? What’s the message- the story behind the story. Why don’t we let the Bible prove US, rather than us trying to prove IT? Maybe it’s because N.T. Wright is right when he said, “We are desperate to prove our opinions right (which are Biblical of course) so that we can go on thinking what we’ve always thought.”

Brickianity!

I was helped greatly when someone many moons ago advised me that the Bible was NOT a rule-book. I rejected that at first. How could I lead my life without RULES? How about following the PRINCIPLES of the Bible. Not the same thing, but close. One of the main differenves is that you have to THINK. And when you commune with the Holy Spirit, well, then you’re really getting on with life. But, it seems that after one has walked the “holy life” (whatever that is) for a few years, have read all the books of the Bible, it’s as though there is nothing more to be learned.

Christians should never be afraid of the truth!

But we should be greatly concerned about a spirit of lethargy, apathy, and famliarity. For the truth is, we’ve taken Kenneth Blanchard’s formula a little too far. A One Minute Student of the Bible simply won’t cut it. But then being literate isn’t an answer to life either. The real question isn’t literacy as much as it is WHAT you are literate in.