Conservative and Liberal Christians: Winning! Losing!

Last updated on: January 26, 2010 at 4:16 pm by John Shore

Conservative and Liberal Christians: Winning! Losing! 2010-01-26T16:16:22-08:00 John Shore

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’d say the Christians I know are pretty evenly split between conservative and liberal.

One of the things I like about the conservative Christians I know is how clear they are about what they believe and think. They know what the Bible says; they know who they are; they know what they’re doing in life. They’re solid. The whole “backbone of America” thing is no joke; the strongest trees, after all, have the deepest roots. Not a lot of wafflers in the conservative camp.

Plus, they’re super dedicated. Conservative Christians don’t wonder if they’re in the mood for it; they just go to church. They go to Bible study. They show up for the functions at their church. They actually do stuff.

Conservative Christians also tend to be, in practice, extremely loving. Liberal Christians think that conservative Christians are harshly judgmental, and sort of fundamentally (ha, ha) hard-hearted. They think that if, in the middle of the night, a clearly gay guy showed up at the home of a Christian conservative in need of help, he’d summarily get a door slammed in his face.

But he wouldn’t! All the conservative Christians I’ve ever known are serious about putting God’s love into practice. The fact that they’re so sure of what they believe makes them open to new thoughts, ideas, and experiences. If you’re very sure of who you are, you’re a lot more open to discovering who others might be.

On the other hand, conservative Christians can be too sure they’re right about everything. It’s too easy, when you’re a conservative, to boil down what you believe into a really simple set of assertions, and to then never again question or allow those assertions to (so to speak) evolve. Then it just becomes about rules; then it’s too easy to make everything about who is and isn’t on the right side of right. When it comes to something as complex as God and history, it’s too easy for “keeping it simple” to become “keeping it stupid”—which too easily becomes “keeping it mean-spirited.” Conservatives have a troubling propensity for closing their minds.

One of the things I like best about liberal Christians is they’re so generous with their love and respect. They’re very seriously focused on God’s love, and they’re not afraid to insist that anything that hinders that love must be suspect. They love Jesus; Jesus preached love; they’re all about loving as Jesus did, period. Also, I like the way liberal Christians are so thoughtful. They listen. They reflect. They refine. They search. They question. They study. They understand that part of their job as Christians is to actively try to access the mind and heart of God, and they’re disinclined to let anything interfere with that goal. They’re not afraid to get inspired. They live with the confidence that God will never fault them for loving too much.

On the other hand, liberal Christians can waffle like Belgians at an IHOP. They too often fall prey to thinking that the emotions of their loving feelings is really all they need to guide them, with the result that they never feel a need to be clear on what they actually believe at all. Maybe Jesus was mainly a social activist. Maybe the cross is a metaphor. Maybe Jesus walking on water was an optical illusion. And so on and so on, until finally they may as well be crystal-gazing astrologers. And yet, for all their comfortable ambiguity, liberal Christians can also be altogether too smug, too sure, too condescending toward those who take the Gospel as gospel. Liberal Christians (like just about everybody else) tend to think they’re smarter than they actually are.

In the main, my problem with liberal Christians is that they can stay so busy remaining lofty and above it all that their rubber never hits the road. I’ve found many of them to be better with compassion as a theory than they are with it as a practice.

In the end, who cares? Everything’s got its positive and negative aspects. All that matters, spiritually, is that each of us finds the place on the liberal-conservative spectrum where we’re most comfortable. Each of us has to carve for ourselves our own niche, the one that’s perfectly suited to us.

And from there all we have to do is live, love, pay attention, listen to God, and let him pull us ever closer to his divine and glorious reality.

Here’s to the idea that we’ll all eventually end up in exactly the same place.

Christian Issues

Christian theology

conservative Christians

Previous Post

January 25, 2010

Star-Crossed

Next Post

January 27, 2010 Heeeeeeeeeeeere's STINKY!!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Christian Issues Christian Spirituality Dear John En Espanol Everywhere She's Not Humor Look See Pastor Bob's Corner Personal Portuguese Relationships Russian Short-short story Smith Family Chronicles Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2024 August 2022 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 June 2019 December 2018 May 2018 May 2017 January 2017 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

A shepherd leads his flock beside still waters and through the valley of death's shadow. What is this shepherd's identity?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Lord The Prophet David The Apostles

Books by This Author Books by John Shore

See All Titles »