Things I think about in the car...

[Another disclaimer, because apparently I like them so well: I’m going to say “our”, “us”, and “we” a lot (meaning Christians in general), but I can’t be entirely sure any of this applies to anyone but me.]

Trying to understand why Christians so vehemently oppose the secular lifestyle, to the point of radical behavior that takes things way too far…

What do we care? you may ask.  Why is it any of our business?  What does it have to do with us?  That’s a good question.  One I pondered on the way home from work, today (deep thoughts for a five minute drive).

Some people use God, the Bible, and the rules therein to justify cruelty, to try to control the people around them.  For some it is about power.  But someday they will have to give an account before God for everything cruel they do in His name.

As for the rest of us: some part of us honestly believes that the people around us would be happier and better off if they followed God’s rules.  Really, honestly, part of this is us trying to help, though I imagine it often doesn’t feel that way.

Part of our opposition comes from feeling threatened, I think.  The more the world (“the world” being anyone who believes differently, I suppose.  Yes, there’s the ‘us vs. them’ mentality) wants us to pry our grip from our beliefs, the fiercer we cling to them.  It feels almost like an attack on our sense of selves to be asked to accept the world as it is, changing further and further from the traditional values we hold dear.

Personally, I don’t like change.  Change is scary.  And the more the world changes (or the more I notice it change), the more out of place I feel.  Things are easier in the little bubble of Christianity I grew up in (meaning Christian friends, Christian values, family-friendly movies, music, books, etc).  Absolutes, black and white values are easier to deal with than trying to slog through the muddy greys in-between.

Even considering other points of view isn’t far off from questioning God’s rules, or the interpretations of God’s rules that we grew up with or were taught along the way.  It feels like betrayal, like the beginnings of doubt.

And that’s frightening.

Try to understand that with our childhoods (in some cases), with the foundations of everything we are settled firmly in Christianity… when those foundations shake, everything feels shaken.  Doubt is a terrible, miserable thing that eats away at every certainty and makes you question everything.

I suppose I’ll rant on that later.  The point (which I seem to have lost somewhere along the way) is that it feels threatening to be surrounded by a world that doesn’t believe the things we believe.  We get a bit of that “us vs. them” mentality and feel like we have to fight against secular beliefs.

I think a lot of times that makes us cross lines we shouldn’t.  We cast judgment, forgetting that’s God’s job.  We treat our neighbors like enemies, belittle their beliefs and their lifestyles because they’re not on “our side”.  We forget that first and foremost, aside from loving God, the most important thing is loving people.