I am so tired of the culture wars. I'm exhausted by it. The way that we take people and feed them to a machine that spews out billows of us versus them, it's draining and dispiriting.
Take Kim Davis. Do I agree with her? No. Do I think she should resign? Yes. Should she go to jail for contempt? Since she's choosing that path, yeah, that's the law. But she is not the devil or the martyr that either side is making her out to be. She is something far more complicated and interesting: a human being who is loved by God. And she is trying her best to love God in a world changing so fast that it makes her head spin. I think that she's misguided in those attempts, but I have to acknowledge that is what is going on here.
The gay and lesbian people in her county trying to get married? Same deal. They are human beings loved by God. And the vast majority of them are not trying to give the middle finger to people who think they shouldn't be allowed to get married. They are men and women excited about the fact that they now have the opportunity to commit their lives to one another that is legitimized by the government. Some of them (perhaps many) are Christians. Others grew up in a church that showed them door. Regardless, all are loved by God no matter what a protestor with a picket sign says.
When people fight over ideas instead of working to help one another, then it strips men and women of their humanity. Enemies become cardboard cutouts ready for the fire. Allies are useful only in so far as they can help the cause. I have my doubts that presidential candidates would be applauding Mrs. Davis if her religious convictions led her oppose war or demand that women covered their heads in public.
Culture wars devour people and spit them out. And the frustrating thing is I think most people don't buy into that model. I think most of us know that these are men and women loved by God. But the loud minority hijacks the conversation and it's hard to think straight over the exploding shells of their rhetoric. It's hard not to be scared.
I've written about this a lot and I will continue to because it's all I can hold onto when the rhetoric cuts us in half. We have disagreements, but we have to listen to one another and love each other. Life is too short to do otherwise. The stakes are too high to do otherwise. On the other side of the world there is a refugee crisis of epic proportions going on, but we can't hear it because of the grinding gears of a culture war.
So remember that we are surrounded by broken humans who are loved by God. Talk with them, listen to them. Disagree with them, but disagree with grace. I will come back around to these two things over and over because I must keep reminding myself of them: Love God with your entire being. Love your God-created, God-loved neighbor as you love yourself.
