Recently in a group discussion, the question was asked, “are we liberal or conservative in asymmetric faith?” after a political issue was brought up to the group.
It was an interesting question.
There is, of course, a difference between political position and theological position on the liberal/conservative spectrum. I pointed this out and also noted that I often found myself feeling a bit like a liberal in some of the conversations about faith/theology based on my perception of the ratings I would receive from certain groups within the institutional church.
Let’s talk about the political portion. It’s important to note that there are many things within politics that I find in a range from troubling to abhorrent. At the personal level, I find it troubling that men and women with good intentions go into political discussion simply parroting the positions that they think they should have with no critical thought of the implications of those positions or research about the truth of the matter. This is not restricted to any one party, of course, (and I am guilty of this in the past). I have worked not to speak on a topic too much until I know a bit more about it so it isn’t just rhetoric when I do. Next, I find it troubling that men and women enter politics and go from an individual with good intentions to power brokers who have lost sight of their constituents. I find it abhorrent that power brokers of power brokers and their useful idiots/fools (a term originating with the Communist regimes) are propagating policies and practices that are outside of the view of people that are designed to control and lead them away from the opportunities of personal relationship with a loving God. The roots on that aspect are deep and wide. Again, this has been felt on both sides of the aisle in the United States.
However, let’s move on to the idea of theological positions. A very liberal perspective would have to be that the Bible is just a made-up book with good stories that lead to moral epiphanies to better oneself…that there is no One True God who desires relationship with us through a saving relationship from Jesus Christ. That would certainly NOT be a perspective that we in the asymmetric movement would support.
However, it would also be quite liberal in many institutional circles to allow the freedoms that we espouse, the main one being the rejection of institutional church models and their control systems. That position makes us “lost” by many definitions or at least very “backslidden.” Without question we would be considered liberal to espouse a supportive position on this.
Intuitively, I want to say that we are not constrained by the concepts of the liberal vs. conservative. God is certainly not. He is not defined by our definitions. He is defined by Himself. As His servants, we, too, should be defined by Him. We can look at His actions and the effects of His work in our world and interpret them through our lenses but that is just interpretation. At the foundation of everything is His purpose and heart. Everything in play in our world is as a result of His efforts to have a relationship with us and from the enemy, Satan, wanting to distort and destroy that relationship. So, are we liberal or conservative? I would have to say, yes and no…only because we don’t see the heart of who God is in every situation. We become, as Paul notes in I Corinthians 9:22, “all things to all men, that [we] might by all means save some.” We’re not about the label, but about the business that God calls us to complete. Some of that will come off as liberal. Some conservative. The point is not to buy into a worldly definition of either “side” or perspective. Rather, we should stay close to the heart of God on the matters before us, tearing away at the labels and working for His purpose.
Comments are closed