Can there be a Same Difference?

For quite some time I have been thinking about the impact of childhood and family upon one's belief system. I'll be the first one to admit that my beliefs resemble my parents and grandparents. I admire my parents and grandparents; I've closely watched their lives; and I seek to model many of their beliefs and behaviors. Some of those beliefs and behaviors are quite natural to model.... A phrase I grew up hearing in the midst of an argument is: "It's the same difference!" or simply, "Same difference!". Hundreds of phrases and words are included in my vocabulary based on my home of origin. It's no wonder home is so influential in thought processing!

The idea of being most familiar with the beliefs of our heritage appears to be one of the motives behind the current book I am reading and the previous book I read - The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs and The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose. Both of these authors are journalists desiring deeper understanding of people who call themselves religious. They recognize the "religious right" as one of America's stereotyped people-groups. To be enhance their careers, these two authors immersed themselves(sort of) in a religious sub-culture to gain personal understanding. I respect Jacobs and Roose (and I enjoy their writing).

From my perspective, Roose more than Jacobs held an open-mind throughout their individual immersion experiences. Both men had relationships to lose if they had turned to God - mainly important familial connections. Both men expressed the tremendous influence of their family and friends in developing their personal belief system. On a number of occasions, Jacobs expressed his inability to embrace even the possibility of Godly Truth and purpose in his experiences. Roose, on the other hand, at least led me to believe he was close to entertaining the impact of Godly Truth. This begs the questions: How much does our upbringing and family impact our personal belief system? And, is this right and good? Another author clearly expresses this phenomenon through her beliefs on abortion:

"But I am also humble enough to recognize that my own morality on a topic like abortion is constructed in context of two important facts: virtually all my friends are pro-choice, as is the social milieu in which I was raised, and a lack of access to abortion would significantly restrict women's autonomy" (Megan McArdle, 2009, found at www.meganmcardle.theatlantic.com).

I respect McArdle - for recognizing the impact of her heritage and friendships upon her belief system - even though I disagree with McArdle, just as I disagree with Jacobs and Roose.

I am currently spending 25 days with my parents in Oregon. One of my dearly held values is close connections with family. As a result, for the 9th consecutive year, I led my sons on a pilgrimage "home" (i.e., Grandma and Grandpa's house). It is a privilege, as well as a priority, because I want my sons to really know their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who live thousands of miles from Ohio and our daily existence. Naturally, this is a time for me to reflect upon my belief system and my pursuit of Truth, in relation to my heritage.

I'll be honest - I am socially and politically conservative. I am one of the folks that Jacobs and Roose attempt to understand. And yes, much of my belief system resembles my heritage. This heritage is not perfect, by any means, but it is good and pure and real. The belief systems of my parents, grandparents, and friends gifts me with stability, comfort, and security from the first day of my life to now. The church of my youth is not perfect (by a long shot), but it also does not offend me with threatening and legalistic messages (or, if so, then my God protects me and provides healing). As a result, I maintain a similar belief system as that of my family, and I rely on it heavily in marriage and parenting. Given my life experiences, why would I seek to overhaul my belief system?

At the same time, like Jacobs and Roose, I seek to understand those people around me who espouse radically different belief systems. If I resist this need, then I lack the understanding necessary to engage with a variety of people, and potentially impact (and be impacted by) the lives of people. I seek to be an active citizen of this world - relevant, thought-filled, fully engaged. For these reasons, and more, I consider myself fairly open-minded based on my nearly 40-year-old personal foundation. While I do not have much life experience outside of the USA (which is certainly a limitation), my childhood on the West Coast and my adulthood within the Midwest greatly influence my belief system and critical thought processes.

My relationship with God guides me (which is a Truth that both Jacobs and Roose discover in their immersion experiences). As a person, I can not be perfect, or even always right, but I am created to engage with other people regardless of our similarities or differences. This need to engage and interact fuels my thoughts and my writing. It guides my choices in Bible study, scholarly study, and reading. Placing myself in the position to thoughtfully engage with people is a significant part of who I am created to be in this world.

Differences really are not the same, but understanding differences helps build a foundation of relationship that emphasizes similarities.

God's Truth & Culture Is Not Oil & Water

Well friends, I am back to Acts after a month-long furlough for no particular reason.... Once again, I believe the Lord is revealing His Truth through The Word and culture - this never fails to amaze me, truly! I began reading Acts because I believed it would reveal to me how I should be responding to our current culture as a Christian. My Lord has not failed me! I love this Truth:

"For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done" (Hebrews 4:12-13, NLT).

I had a troubling experience this week.... Someone called me a "Sunday School Christian." After I gained some distance and perspective from the comment, I realized that this person does not know me well, is not an "up close and personal" friend, and does not respect me, as an individual. While still feeling quite disturbed, though, I started reading again in Acts, because I believe the differences between me and my friend are culturally relevant. It is now "PC" to disrespect conservatives and Christians without even knowing whether or not they are critical thinkers. If there is one thing I know for certain about myself - weaknesses and all - it is that I am not a "Sunday School Christian." No one who knows me well at this stage of my life, whether or not they agree with my belief system, has accused me of such superficial thinking.

Acts 17:11 describes open-mindedness: Open-mindedness is eager listening followed by diligent searching.

"The people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened to Paul's message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth" (Acts 17:11, NLT).

This describes precisely what I have been called to do: I eagerly listen to multiple sides of culturally relevant issues and search the Scriptures to make sense of these issues. As a graduate student at a secular university, I never use Scriptural references as they are not considered scholarly; however, I have never even felt the need to because good science, the use of the scientific method, supports God's Truth. I may address this further in another posting....

Later in Acts 17, responses to Paul's message are described:

"Some laughed, but others said, 'We want to hear more about this later.' That ended Paul's discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers" (Acts 17: 32-33, NLT).

Based on these verses and others found in Matthew 13:11-17 and Isaiah 6:9-10, I believe:

• Some will hear God's Truth, but will be unaffected;


• Some will receive knowledge and refute it using intellectual prowess without Spiritual power from God;


• Some will embrace knowledge - with a spiritual power, but not The Spiritual power. They will either refute God's Truth and/or create confusion among those who are not seeking God's Truth;
  


• Some will embrace God's Truth with a heart and mind empowered by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ - which is the only way to fully know, comprehend, apply, analyze, and deeply relate to God's Truth.

To all options, I respond with Acts 5:38-39:

"My advice is: Leave these men alone. If they are teaching and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. But if is of God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God" (Acts 5:38-39, NLT).

My next post will be about Apollos, a scholar, orator, and debater known for his persuasive preaching. He, too, is teaching me some powerful Truths about engaging in contemporary culture as a Christian.