Pendulum Swings Part II: The Swing to the Left

The Church is not immune from its human frailties, one of which is reactionary behavior in response to a problem. Yesterday, we discussed some of the divisive issues behind those who are mired in a such a conservative position, they refuse to even consider change and label those who engage in healthy change based on their presuppositions. Today, let's take a look at the other extreme: those who have grown dissatisfied with the status quo and have taken up an opposite extreme as their opposition.

Simple reason should readily tell us that merely taking up opposition to one position does not lead to the truth, yet our human nature often leads us into this state which I have labeled "rebels without a clue." We see it in generation after generation of youth. Dissatisfied or disillusioned with their parents' way of life, they take up camp on the opposite shore, reactively opposing the established positions. Of course they don't examine whether or not these new positions are any more or less desirable than those of their parents. Whatever doesn't look like the old must be better. This is fallacious on its face.

The church has engaged in this practice for centuries now. While the objections to a variety of scriptural inconsistencies over the years have been valid, the solutions have often emulated those of the reactive child. In the process, we've often "thrown the baby out with the bathwater."

In contrast, look at the model of change proposed by Jesus. Faced with the Pharisees' bastardization of Mosaic Law, Jesus proposed not a reactive flight from their ways, but a "radical reunion" based on the core truths expressed in God's law. The Pharisees constantly tried to trap Jesus with legal conundrums. Jesus never rejected the Law; He reminded His audience of their departure from the spirit behind its existence. This can best be seen when Jesus was asked which law was most important. Rather than reactively opposing the Pharisees, Jesus went back to the core of the truth handed down by the Father: "Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two principles rest all the other commandments." (Luke 10:27) Moreover, Jesus went out of His way to let His audience know that He was not proposing reactive change in Matthew 5:18:

For truly, I say to you,until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

In our search for His truth, we must be careful not just to get "stuck" in traditions, stubbornly refusing change. But we must also not simply bounce like pinballs, reacting to inaccuracies, both real and perceived. We must study the scripture and focus on the core message of the gospel. Then we can evaluate our practices in a mature, Christlike fashion. This will bring us closer to Him and to one another.