Attitude is a funny thing. A funny, powerful, mysterious, and probably neglected thing. I don’t think I like Mark Driscoll. I haven’t read anything by John Piper, but I don’t like him either. Nor am I fond of Kevin DeYoung (if you’ve heard of him). The whole Reformed thing really annoys me actually. Same with Christian Manhood/Womanhood literature (which I also haven’t read). All this idealized testosterone pumping and jumping around on sharp rocks and stuff is gonna give somebody cancer or something. It has to.
Note that I never said any of these people or schools of thought are necessarily wrong. But oh, it would please us to know and proclaim their wrongness. Yes, we would like that very much, and we will probably keep an eye open and roving for opportunities to do so, even if only to ourselves (that’s the royal we, by the way… though you may join Us in Our Article usage if you wish).
On the other hand, I like people like Rob Bell and Brian McLaren and the Emergent Church. Again, admitting this doesn’t exclude the possibility that I think they have their mistakes, or even that they’re wrong as sin. We’re talking about attitudes here, not sin. I feel understood and resonant with such as these. Predictably, I’m inclined to root for Christian feminists. Theistic evolutionists make me feel at home (probably because I am one). Heck, why just talk about Christians? I have a positive attitude about atheists and look forward to conversations with them. To a lesser degree, I’m partial to Mormons too. I get a warm fuzziness for fringy oddball untraditional people with their fringy oddball abnormal notions—even if I don’t share them.
Sometimes I worry that maybe God doesn’t appreciate what I appreciate in some of these folks (and ideas), and that he might want me to revile them-- at least the unrepentant ones. Sure, Jesus hung out with whores and corrupt IRS agents, but somehow they all got repentant in convenient order when he came around, and that doesn’t seem to happen with me. I’m not even sure I get repentant when I come around. I worry about being an unholy person who doesn’t put up with sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3 being in mind here)—or at least aids and abets others in being that way.
But I digress. We were talking about attitudes. I recall learning of a study that showed how people from opposing schools can watch a sports game between their teams, and when honestly answering questions about it afterward, would render substantially different pictures of what happened. Their different attitudes led them to focus on and notice different stuff, as well as interpret what they saw in different ways.
We also tend to surround ourselves with people and ideas that mostly confirm what we’re already inclined to believe (2 Timothy 4:3 seems pertinent once again). Just think of all those people who listen to conservative talk radio. Or if somehow that strikes you as unbiased pursuit of the truth, think about those of us who soak our heads in NPR. I bet you do something similar with your religious literature. (Or your anti-religious literature.)
I recently attended an Easter celebration with an African community that involved me eating sheep guts. Yes, guts; there were clearly intestines in there (among other exciting novelties). Fortunately the other food was good, so I could honestly express appreciation. But to the point, even before I stopped eating meat in general, I wasn’t a big fan of lamb, let alone innards. Reading some literature (a lot of those conservative Reformed books, say) is like eating that stuff for me. Other people, with other backgrounds, may love consuming the stuff. They may on the other hand, be overcome with irrational terror in the presence of foods I appreciate (like, say, salt licorice, or nutritional yeast flakes). In rare instances, we may even agree on what’s good for us and what’s not. That doesn’t always make it go down without some retching.
To me, it seems like a whole lot of our arguments have to do with our attitudes. See, we really don’t want to give any legitimacy to the things that disgust us. We may try to control ourselves and be reasonable, but our preconceived attitudes tend to express themselves in how we evaluate the other side. If we can draw it up as a battle between good (namely our point of view) and evil, all the better.
This situation isn’t always that bad for something like science, where competing schools of thought can be productive. But it sure does take a toll on things like Christian unity and doctrine. It’s hard to be open to correction by someone who doesn’t seem to understand or respect your values, insights and sensibilities. It can be even harder if they think they do understand and continue to disrespect all that. It’s hard to stand up for sisters and brothers whose flavor makes your stomach turn. We sure do need a lot of “longsuffering” along with gentleness, respect and humility—without sacrificing a bold concern for truth and a (humbly, fearfully careful) willingness to offend if God calls us to it.
I expectantly hope God knows how to deal with my attitudes, cuz I can’t tame them on my own. I hope “knowing how” is gentle and friendly more often than not. I hope he doesn’t have to squash a whole bunch of them like earwigs. I pray he finds a positive use for them.
