The New Evangelicals posted this video two weeks ago.
It stirred up an unbelievable amount of anxiety in me.
Not because of the content. That was fine.
No, it was the opening line: “If your church has this guy on the platform, run.”
I wasn’t anxious because I disagreed with the video. Seems pretty clear to me that Charlie is using churches as vessels to promote a partisan agenda and get church people out to vote for said agenda.
And uses pretty warped (and stupid) theology to do it.
For God’s sake, he went on stage at a Christian conference and said the first murder in the Bible was socialism.1
I wasn’t anxious because of the Charlie Kirk bashing. I’m not a fan.
No, I was anxious because of the phrasing. “If your church has this guy on the platform, run.”
It sounded eerily similar to something I’ve read thousands of times.
Last year I wrote about why I stopped using Twitter.2
Every single time I’ve been on Twitter, without fail, someone I follow will write “If your pastor doesn’t talk about _______ this Sunday, you need to leave your church.”
Whatever major social issue or national/global event was in the news that week HAD to be talked about from the pulpit, or that church was a lost cause, and needed to be abandoned.
The thing is, I wanted to talk about these topics.
Every issue that came up on Twitter was important, and I wanted to help our church work through these issues from a loving, theological, ethical, and moral place.
The problem is, I’m not good at somewhat ignorantly wading into uncomfortable waters. I’m not good at talking about divisive topics on short notice, without a sufficient answer for every rebuttal.
I do think there’s value in wading into uncomfortable topics. Conversations have to start somewhere, and being brave enough to begin the conversation, knowing it’s going to receive push back, and knowing you won’t have answers to every question, takes a lot of guts.
I don’t normally have those kind of guts.
It takes me a long time to publicly talk about tough topics.
This message took months of prayer, writing, editing, discussion, listening, rewriting, more rewriting, and more prayer.
This post took me five years.
I wish I was brave enough to speak on a tough topic without spending months or years studying beforehand.
But normally I’m not.
It’s freeing to admit you don't currently have a solid answer.
Sometimes I can do it. Usually I can’t.
Many (most?) of my friends are able to push past their anxieties and bravely say what they think, without spending months studying and stressing about how to approach the topic.
My co-pastor can do it.
I wish I could.
Lately I’ve tried to hold loosely to a general rule:
Four Things.
I’ll have thoughts on four big things at a time.
And I’ll be there with people as they work through the other 15,000 things.
I’ll work through those things alongside them.
But I’ll only have strong opinions or thoughts on four things at a time.
It’s all that this anxious, overthinking, thin-skinned person can handle right now.
Eventually I’ll replace one of the four, when I feel I’ve adequately shared as much as I can on that topic.
But only four at a time.3
I wish I could tackle all of the topics. I really do.
But I can’t.
So if I don’t talk about a certain issue online or in our church service, and you have to leave my church or unfollow me online because of it, well, I don’t really have it in me to stop you.
“Leave your church if your pastor doesn’t talk about ______” sucks to read,
because I probably can’t talk about _______.
I only have it in me to tackle four things at a time.
What I’m listening to4:
Obsessed by Olivia Rodrigo.
This song rips. I didn’t know Olivia had it in her.
It’s fine to have political opinions. It’s fine to have theological leanings. Interpretation of scripture is good. But you can’t just make s—t up.
Still not going to call it X. I won’t give Elon the satisfaction.
Four-ish. Not necessarily four exactly. But around four.
Ripping off this idea from Chris Cillizza.
I wish as a society (as a human race?) we could make space for people being passionate about different things. Like, I can be passionate about this thing and devote my life to it AND I can be ok that you are passionate about something else and devoting your life to that. If God gives us different gifts, can't God give us different passions so that all the Important Things are covered?
I don't see how I can be madly passionate about all the Important Things without going crazy. I don't see how I can have energy to work on all the Important Things- I would end up doing crummy work on many things. Better, for me at least, to focus where I can have an impact and do the best I can.
The only real mistake, in my mind, is to not be passionate about anything. A life about nothing seems a sad waste. Maybe that's why I never liked Seinfeld.