M.J. Chrisman's Blog
February 19, 2018
Fence Traveler (pt. 2) 'Other' or 'One Another'?
Ever been in a situation where you had to defend your beliefs to someone, whether it was a political, spiritual, or social position? Perhaps during a family dinner or over drinks with friends?
It can get frustrating and messy, and yet, it’s through these sorts of conversations that we grow.
Like iron sharpens iron. But maybe that saying doesn’t have to mean we have to be the exact “same” to learn from one another. My hope, fellow fence traveler, is that we learn to see everyone as “iron”—as someone made in the image of Christ, someone who’s spiritual values and opinions can offer a different perspective.
And that’s OK.
When we come to Christ’s table—where there are sinners, sojourners, and castaways alike—we begin to taste, see, and experience his fierce love for humanity and for the world. [Tweet This]
A love that draws all people to himself.
In Brian McLaren’s book, Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed Cross the Road?, he encapsulates much of what I hope to achieve with this Fence Traveler Blog. He writes:
When we increasingly understand who we are in relation to an enemy—whether that enemy is legitimate, innocent, or imaginary—we develop an increasingly hostile identity. Such an identity teaches us to see sameness as safety and otherness as danger. It is characterized by duality: us and them, right and wrong, good and evil, light and darkness. It promotes a mentality of us versus them, us apart from them, us instead of them, us without them, us over them, us using them, us in spite of them, us oppressed by them, or us occupying them, but never us for them or us with them (pp. 62-63).
What McLaren is describing is a posture of the heart. How do we automatically fill in the blank regarding other people's positions? Do we simply default to one side of "the fence" rather than pursue a third way? Do we just assume they are the "other" we must fight against... or could they somehow be part of the "one another" solution in making societal changes?
Simply put, I wouldn’t cherish my beliefs and worldviews if I didn’t truly believe them; however, I only come to cherish my beliefs by their refinement, the process of molding and reshaping over time. Refinement of our values and ideas can only happen if there is friction and tension from other, maybe even opposing, values and ideas. But if we flip the script and approach arguments regarding faith, politics, and social justice from the standpoint of "us for them" instead of "use against them," perhaps we can truly create together.
When we refuse to come to Christ’s table and grapple with these issues of life, we miss out on his grace for the present—for each other. There it is, the linchpin to it all: grace. It’s what holds the universe together, what Christ’s death was all about.
And grace is what we are meant to extend to one another.
It can get frustrating and messy, and yet, it’s through these sorts of conversations that we grow.
Like iron sharpens iron. But maybe that saying doesn’t have to mean we have to be the exact “same” to learn from one another. My hope, fellow fence traveler, is that we learn to see everyone as “iron”—as someone made in the image of Christ, someone who’s spiritual values and opinions can offer a different perspective.
And that’s OK.
When we come to Christ’s table—where there are sinners, sojourners, and castaways alike—we begin to taste, see, and experience his fierce love for humanity and for the world. [Tweet This]
A love that draws all people to himself.
In Brian McLaren’s book, Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed Cross the Road?, he encapsulates much of what I hope to achieve with this Fence Traveler Blog. He writes:
When we increasingly understand who we are in relation to an enemy—whether that enemy is legitimate, innocent, or imaginary—we develop an increasingly hostile identity. Such an identity teaches us to see sameness as safety and otherness as danger. It is characterized by duality: us and them, right and wrong, good and evil, light and darkness. It promotes a mentality of us versus them, us apart from them, us instead of them, us without them, us over them, us using them, us in spite of them, us oppressed by them, or us occupying them, but never us for them or us with them (pp. 62-63).
What McLaren is describing is a posture of the heart. How do we automatically fill in the blank regarding other people's positions? Do we simply default to one side of "the fence" rather than pursue a third way? Do we just assume they are the "other" we must fight against... or could they somehow be part of the "one another" solution in making societal changes?
Simply put, I wouldn’t cherish my beliefs and worldviews if I didn’t truly believe them; however, I only come to cherish my beliefs by their refinement, the process of molding and reshaping over time. Refinement of our values and ideas can only happen if there is friction and tension from other, maybe even opposing, values and ideas. But if we flip the script and approach arguments regarding faith, politics, and social justice from the standpoint of "us for them" instead of "use against them," perhaps we can truly create together.
When we refuse to come to Christ’s table and grapple with these issues of life, we miss out on his grace for the present—for each other. There it is, the linchpin to it all: grace. It’s what holds the universe together, what Christ’s death was all about.
And grace is what we are meant to extend to one another.
February 10, 2018
Fence Traveler (pt. 1) Defining Intentions
Take a second and think about where you are (state, city, bedroom?), when you are (year, day, time?), and who you are—right now, at this moment. What happened on the news today? Who has just taken their last breath, and who has started their first?
Before we can dive into any conversations regarding spiritual, political, or social issues going on in today’s world, we must take an aerial view of:
-Our spiritual beliefs
-Our social statuses
-Our geographical local
-Our privileges and/or disadvantages
And the thousands of other factors that make us who we are.
Simply put: you cannot be summed up in merely a word, phrase, or picture, and neither can I, because we are complex physical/spiritual, meaning-making beings. I can’t dissect you like an “Operation” board game and say, “Oh, here’s so-and-so’s thoughts on homosexuality,” or “Right here, below the heart, is so-and-so’s beliefs on abortion.”
Why can’t it be that simple? Because to discover who someone is, you must use words, experiences, schemas, and other tools you use to make sense of the world. It is time consuming and messy, but in the end our lives can be enriched by one another.
What do I mean by 'Fence Traveler'?
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Stop riding the fence?” It’s always used in a negative connotation, meaning, “There are only two sides, so pick one and stop being indecisive!”
To illustrate, think of a fence cutting between two paths (positions/beliefs), now assign an us-them scenario, like Democrats on the left and Republicans on the right. Or it could be pro-life versus pro-choice, or Christians versus atheists, Black Lives Matter versus Blue Lives Matter, capitalism versus socialism, and on and on it goes.
But just like we cannot simply define or categorize people, there are rarely only two sides to a topic/issue. So when I speak of “fence traveling,” I mean rather than just blindly accept binary positions/beliefs/truisms about life, perhaps we can dive into deeper conversations and pursue a third option, another way—a third way? An even crazier idea: what if Christ preached alternative ways of living that simply weren’t binary either? If Christ were here today, in the flesh, would he tell us to be a Democrat or a Republican?
Exactly.
What if when he said, “… small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14), and “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 5:6), he was describing a third way—one that wasn’t pro-Caesar or pro-Jewish state? A kingdom not of this world, a way of living that brings heaven on earth.
This is what I plan to explore. While my stances on issues will typically fall somewhere on the progressive Christian end of the spectrum, my hope is to take this journey with you. Let’s discuss the complex things of life through the lens of faith and hope for our world and its restoration.
After all, what’s the point of all this if it’s not for the life of the world?
Before we can dive into any conversations regarding spiritual, political, or social issues going on in today’s world, we must take an aerial view of:
-Our spiritual beliefs
-Our social statuses
-Our geographical local
-Our privileges and/or disadvantages
And the thousands of other factors that make us who we are.
Simply put: you cannot be summed up in merely a word, phrase, or picture, and neither can I, because we are complex physical/spiritual, meaning-making beings. I can’t dissect you like an “Operation” board game and say, “Oh, here’s so-and-so’s thoughts on homosexuality,” or “Right here, below the heart, is so-and-so’s beliefs on abortion.”
Why can’t it be that simple? Because to discover who someone is, you must use words, experiences, schemas, and other tools you use to make sense of the world. It is time consuming and messy, but in the end our lives can be enriched by one another.
What do I mean by 'Fence Traveler'?
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Stop riding the fence?” It’s always used in a negative connotation, meaning, “There are only two sides, so pick one and stop being indecisive!”
To illustrate, think of a fence cutting between two paths (positions/beliefs), now assign an us-them scenario, like Democrats on the left and Republicans on the right. Or it could be pro-life versus pro-choice, or Christians versus atheists, Black Lives Matter versus Blue Lives Matter, capitalism versus socialism, and on and on it goes.
But just like we cannot simply define or categorize people, there are rarely only two sides to a topic/issue. So when I speak of “fence traveling,” I mean rather than just blindly accept binary positions/beliefs/truisms about life, perhaps we can dive into deeper conversations and pursue a third option, another way—a third way? An even crazier idea: what if Christ preached alternative ways of living that simply weren’t binary either? If Christ were here today, in the flesh, would he tell us to be a Democrat or a Republican?
Exactly.
What if when he said, “… small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14), and “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 5:6), he was describing a third way—one that wasn’t pro-Caesar or pro-Jewish state? A kingdom not of this world, a way of living that brings heaven on earth.
This is what I plan to explore. While my stances on issues will typically fall somewhere on the progressive Christian end of the spectrum, my hope is to take this journey with you. Let’s discuss the complex things of life through the lens of faith and hope for our world and its restoration.
After all, what’s the point of all this if it’s not for the life of the world?
