And now for something completely different...

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Since the advent of this blog, you've patiently walked with me as I've tried to process my world according to the values I purport to hold.  You've heard me rant about politics and Christianity, and you've provided patient criticism and a gracious ear.  But the time has come for something a bit different.

In fact, that's actually what I want to focus on: difference.  Our culture loves the in-versus-out dichotomy applied to practically anything you can imagine: conservative versus progressive, egalitarian versus complimentarian, Ford versus Chevy.  I live in a state where people have literally been murdered because of their allegiance to Auburn versus Alabama football.  As avid readers through pregnancy and child-rearing, we've found that dichotomous camps exist here too.  More hostile than college football fans are the militant home-birthers versus the establishment who thinks they are crazy. And according to an anti-Baby Wise author, those keeping their babies to a strict schedule are the worst of child abusers.

Nowhere are these differences more emphasized than in the Church.  Rachel Held Evans recently published 15 Reasons I Left Church, where she describes an experience that echoes conversations I've had repeatedly.  Foreign Affairs and the Economist have detailed the dangerous marriage between an established political party and the evangelical Church, as well as the implications of the changing demographics in that Church.  Instead of dismissing these as vengeful attacks on religious conservatives (the "in") by the liberal media (the "out"), we ought to consider the realities of the common themes they raise.

David Kinnaman, president of the evangelical polling firm The Barna Group (hardly a bastion of the liberal agenda), has recently published You Lost Me, which discusses the unprecedented flight of Millennials out of churches and investigates why they are leaving.  Again, he raises points that resonate with my experience over the last few years, as young Christians try to sift out their values from the cultural Christianity in which we've come up.



If you were to eavesdrop on a conversation between my father and myself, you might believe that we are reading entirely different bibles.  The ways my values flesh out in politics and faith can drive him crazy.  However, despite our stated differences, the values I hold now are nearly identical to the ones on which I was reared: be kind and gracious, advocate for those without voice, pursue Jesus unceasingly, work honestly and diligently, trust that God is in the process of making things right, don't give up. I've heard harsh language from older Christians, describing the Millennial generation as spoiled and wayward, and I've been equally as hard on Christians who shop at Lifeway and listen to bad music because it is labeled "Christian."  But the truth is, we're all we've got.

And so a new season is dawning here at viva la Re... In the months leading to the presidential election, our society will emphasize our differences as much as possible.  News networks and political action committees will accentuate the things between us, demonizing those who differ with whoever is the "in" they accommodate. And I don't want to deny that differences are real.  But I do hope to dig into our common values and faith, through differences both real and perceived, as we trace our wandering roots.  Please join me with comments and feedback as we strive to figure this stuff out together.  And now for something completely different...