don't stop believing

I'm beginning Michael Wittmer's Don't Stop Believing. I already love the introduction:

I'm caught in the middle. On my right are some conservative Christians who demand lockstep allegiance to their narrow doctrinal statements. Even though I agree with many of their conclusions, they are not satisfied unless I hold all of their beliefs with tenacity and certainty. They interpret doubts, questions, or even appreciation for the other side as the first signs of a long slide toward liberalism.

On my left are some postmodern Christians who attempt to pry open the minds of conservatives by questioning many of their traditional assumptions. But the way they often go about it - offering new and unusual interpretations of key biblical texts, poking holes in conservative views while only vaguely hinting at their own positions, and brushing aside difficult questions as unworthy of their attention - discredits their arguments.

It's not surprising that the dialogue between these two camps tends to drive them further apart.

How sadly true. We looked at Luke 15, the parable of the Prodigal Son, this morning.Each time I read this, the rebellion and sinfulness of both sons but more strikingly evident. I imagine more clearly the scene. The younger son taunts and pokes at the meaningless and ultimate futility of the weight of the rules induced by the old son. He sees the older trapped in rules and regulations and empty of real relationship with the father. He sees the hypocrisy and contradiction. At the same time the older son beside himself due to the brazenness of the younger son who imagines himself as free thinking and above the older ... all along not realizing he is an immature child having a tantrum by throwing out all that is good along with the evil that he rightly saw in the older. He even forgets that the older brother was also once young and that he himself hasn't found anything new. Both are wrong. They have lost sight of the their true relationship with the father. Both are rebellious placing themselves and their imaginations above the father.

And here we sit today with the same drama taking place. The evangelical side leaning toward the older brother and the postmodern/emergent side leaning toward the younger. The older making it difficult for the younger to stay in the family and the younger imagining they have found some new freedom that generations before them somehow missed ... [sigh] ...

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