Merry-go-round faith
Merry-go-rounds are tranquil, safe, monotonous, and never go anywhere. That’s fine if your goal is to relax and do nothing, but is that what the Christian life is supposed to be about?
In 2 Timothy 3:7 we read about people who are “always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” I think that describes a lot of what I’ve seen in blog and message board discussions. People like to talk, but not to come to conclusions. They like interesting journeys but not destinations.
That is, they only like endless speculation, not convictions.
Having convictions has become a sin it seems. There was a time when the churches at least knew where they stood, and believers could discuss other views while still passionately defending their own, and no conflict was seen between the two. But now, if you dare to say you have a preference and can strongly defend it, you are seen as angry, divisive, aggressive, controlling, and a lot of other things not fit to print.
For example, it’s practically impossible to talk about our assurance of salvation without being told we’re ramming our religion down people’s throats (how assurance is “ramming”, I’ll never know, since the alleged ram-ees can get very convicted about their lack of conviction!). You can expect that with unbelievers, but even many who say they are Christians bristle at the notion that we can be sure about salvation, or even that there is only one way to heaven!
God once lamented, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one” (Eze. 22:30). Who in Christendumb today is willing to take a stand about anything? Who has convictions?
There are a lot of Christians whose idea of peace and harmony is just like the world’s: every idea, no matter how ridiculous, is to be tolerated (except of course the idea that there are absolutes!). I know of a blog that has been gushing about its finally having achieved an atmosphere of peace and tolerance. But the price? Getting rid of those who had convictions. To present one’s view with conviction got you “convicted” in the legal sense, and then evicted. Not by force, though, but by censorship and intimidation.
Yes, the “lukewarm” church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22), that thinks itself healthy and vigorous, is the kind of church Jesus can’t stomach. But the “peace at any price” crowd doesn’t like to think of Jesus as anything but passive and tolerant, in spite of many verses to the contrary. I kind of get the idea that Jesus prefers imperfect but “on fire” over “take no stand”. I’d rather be wrong than bland.