Philippians 4:5 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Ecclesiastes 7:16-19 16 Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise– why destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool– why die before your time? 18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes. 19 Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.
I got blindsided by an icy fear in 2016 that cause me to stop writing this blog for a year. A few days ago in a staff meeting my son told me I should write. I looked around the room everyone else seemed to be in agreement, so like it or not, “Im back.” It’s taken me about eighteen months to figure out what’s wrong with me. I finally concluded, my affliction is moderation. Moderation is a condition in which one feels that the people at both extremes of the rage of the week are dangerously wrong and intellectually lazy.
Let me give you an example of a recent example of a Twitter conversation I engaged in with a lady who proudly let me know she has a degree in anthropology. I notice she is affiliated with the prestigious Pratt Institute in NYC; so for what it’s worth, I assume she’s on staff there. Our conversation started when I agreed with her when she pushed back on Ali Rizvi, the author of “The Muslim Atheist” after he mocked Jewish religious symbols. I never figured out exactly what symbol he was mocking but I know Rizvi is a part of a new strain of evangelistic atheist who believe all religion should be removed from culture.
I though I was being magnanimous when I supported this self acclaimed intellectual by letting her know I was on her side. Through a series of back and forth’s between us I mentioned that I was a creationists. It’s much to much to tedious to tell you how our conversation evolved (no pun intended) into a disagreement regarding the origin of the species. My fateful confession was, “I am a creationist.” I want you to notice her extreme response to me when she learned my belief in intelligent design; this in spite of the fact that I was trying to be supportive, cordial and collaborative.
She Tweeted, “I won’t partner with creationists, theological antisemites & anti-abortion misogynists as a matter of principle.” Yikes! We can’t partner to make the world a better place because we have a basic doctrinal difference? Really?
I wish this was an isolated incident but I’ve experienced it dozens of time in social media and several time in personal conversation. Over a year ago when I, in good fun stood before our church and remarked about God’s blessing on our church by saying, “we are winning so much, we are going to get tired of winning,” I was accused of legitimizing Donald Trump. What? There’s even a name for this response now, it’s called, “intersectionality.” Intersectionality is a concept which says oppressive institutions are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another.
As a culture we have given ourselves over to being tribal and oppositional. But, I’ve made my decision to be committed to moderation. That doesn’t necessarily mean I am a “moderate.” Moderate is a political label and all my views aren’t moderate. For example,I believe a baby in the womb is a person and that science backs me up. I can still however be given to moderation by admitting that I truly understand there exist a reasonable logic behind legalized abortion and everyone who supports it isn’t an evil person. For the common good, I am more than willing to work alongside those who are committed to a pro-choice point of view, but when you start screaming that I’m a misogynist because I see a pre-born baby sucking it’s thumb and say, “I think you’re wrong to kill the baby,” you just lost me. In the words of Paul, “you need to let your moderation, be known to all,” just as much as I do.
The Greek word for moderation is epieikēs and is more about emotion than it is opinion or position, it literal means to be gentle, appropriate and patient. The current view seems to be that if you don’t have something to be angry, shrill and demanding about you’re being irresponsible. Most of our issues are very complex, require thoughtful dialogue and won’t be solved because you get emotionally converted to being or not being a certain thing.
So I am calling you to moderation, but let me warn it’s lonely and it’s risky. When you are given to moderation, extremist from both sides will accuse you of being a traitor and part of the problem. Sometimes when you are given to moderation the only response is to be quiet and prayerful because you know the solutions are too lengthy and nuanced to fit into a social media post or be chanted at a rally. Count the cost before you publicly join my ranks. Being in the middle of a battlefield when a battle is raging is not a very safe place to be, but so be it, I have to true to my convictions. Jesus said in Luke 21:17, “All men will hate you because of me.” So losing the most popular vote puts us in good company.
By the way history has been kind to those whose life and communication have been marked by moderation. Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Luther King and Jesus Christ communicated with moderation. It’s interesting that you don’t see those people quoted in reference to any of the current public issues we are thrashing each other about every day. This is instructive to me, because I want to be numbered with the wise and I am absolutely confident the chroniclers of history will not mention 2017 as being a part of the golden age of wisdom.
My point is not to remain silent on important social justice issues, I’ve already tackled one in this blog. My point is if you don’t want to have a deeper conversation, one in which we are both open to modifying our views in the face of facts, then move along briskly please, you’re not conversing your recruiting. I wouldn’t recommend this posture if I thought it was a losing proposition but according to the book, that so far has kept all it’s promises, “the meek will inherit the earth.”
