We confuse two very different thoughts, and I wonder if
maybe we do this fairly often:
We begin with "I don't see it that way," and
that's well and good. It might be “I don’t see why that baker wouldn’t bake the
gay couple a cake,” or "I don't understand why a gay couple would come to a Christian bakery for a cake," or even, “I don’t see why Christians would want to drink alcohol.”
It's good to be able to see things differently than others; that’s a sign of
health, of our ability to think for ourselves and not just rely on the opinions
of others around us.
But it’s easy to take that one step too far, to impose the
way we see it on others, and we expect them to see the situation the way we do.
This very seldom reaches the point of words, but it works out like this:
"I don't see it that way, so they shouldn't either." or something
along these lines. Fundamentally, it’s about “They need to think like me!”
I’ll be honest, I don't see how baking a cake or not baking
a cake speaks of Christ. Either one sounds to me more like it speaks of flour
and frosting. But those bakers don’t have the benefit of my perspective. They are
working with their own conscience. And I applaud them for doing that; it happens
so seldom these days.
This issue of “You should think like I think” is pretty
rampant in our culture. Regarding the story where a Christian baker declined to
make a wedding cake for a gay couple, the intolerance of certain members of the
homosexual community were identified (by a lesbian) as “the Gay Gestapo.” But
it happens in other realms as well. There’s an “Abortion Gestapo,” an “Evangelical
Gestapo” and many others.
I’ve seen the cry, “You need to think like me!” in both
sides of the homosexual movement, both sides of the abortion conversation, both
sides of several race conversations. I’ve even heard evangelistic sermons based
on this way of thinking.
Note that this doesn’t apply to every conversation in these
areas. There’s a world of difference
between “Abortion is murder, and I’m going to stand against murder,” and “This
is the way I oppose abortion, and you
should do it this way, too!”
I get it when the unredeemed think and act in unredeemed
ways, like this. I don’t understand when Christians, particularly Christian
leaders (who are supposed to be
mature) tell each other, “This is the way I see it. You should agree with me!”
Fundamentally, this is an argument about which side is the
right side on this issue. And fundamentally, Christians aren’t called to take
sides, especially not political sides. We’re called to love people. We’re
called to heal the sick and raise the dead, whether literally or
metaphorically.
It’s particularly frustrating when Christian leaders declare
“If you see it differently than I do, then you’re guilty of breaking the unity
of the saints!” Not so. Unity doesn’t come from agreeing on doctrine (it’s
about being part of the same family, but that’s another conversation).
But it’s just plain foolish when Christians expect
non-Christians to think Christianly. (That’s called “hypocrisy,” people. We don’t
like hypocrisy.) At no point does the Bible command us to make non-believers
act as if they were religious. Let’s get over that right away, shall we?
Instead of looking for the “the right side of the issue,” I’m
going to recommend that when we find ourselves saying, “I don’t see it that
way,” to follow that up with “…but you do, and I respect your thinking for
yourselves. Look for a way to love those who don’t agree with you. (I think you’ll
find that love converts more people than arguments, any day of the week!)
Or we could push for extra credit, and try to see it
their way, try to understand why they see it that way, even if only for
a moment. Seeing like they see is one way of loving them.
