Conflicting Christianity

One of the things that I want to do with this blog is to have civil, open dialogue over biblical and theological issues relating to the life of the Christian faith. That will inevitably lead us to conversations, discussions, debates, disagreements, and the like. I think that conflict within Christian circles is completely okay.

In fact I think it’s absolutely necessary and healthy for these kinds of conflicts. The presence of conflict in life is an indication of honest living. If there is never conflict in a relationship, someone is lying–either to themselves or to the other person. When two people are in relationship to one another, they will inevitably differ because they are different people. They are full of different experiences, biases, perspectives, tastes, and countless other things. If these two people are honest with themselves and with each other, they are not on the same page all the time.

So conflict (the meeting and working out of those differences) is a part of life, including the Christian life. In Christianity we differ in our church traditions when it comes to church polity, doctrine, liturgy, music, etc. including our views on each others’ tradition!

The challenge I’ve found is communication–honest communication. We need to be able to honestly say what we think without fear of automatic condemnation.

The next part to this is love. We need to be able to approach conflict with Christian love that is full of humility and patience.

Can we do that? Can we have honest conversation and even disagreement with a spirit of love and patience?

A fair portion of Christianity (especially Protestantism) has been full of disagreements that led to division. This is true so much that many times we are better known for what we are against rather than what we are for. I think this ought not be the case.

I want to change this trend. I envision a Christianity that is able to accept embrace difference, embrace conflict.

That isn’t to say that Christianity should embrace everything that comes its way. I don’t think you have to accept an idea or practice just because you accept the challenge of conversation and debate. The Early Church was rife with conflict (just look at Paul’s letters from the first century or the christological controversies of the following centuries). Yet God still worked in them and blessed them. Conflict and debate (internal or external) have never seriously threatened the existence of the people of God. If you have any idea of what the Holy Spirit is up to, you already know that we will continue on.

So how about it? Can we do it? Can we be one in Christ even in our disagreements? Can we disagree without the “heresy” grenade being tosses around? Can we envision a more generous orthodoxy that has room for many currents and streams of thought? Can we do that without sliding into a bland liberalism where everything goes?

If so, I’d like to chat!