Usually I cringe in private while someone vents against gays, when protesters obnoxiously disrupt abortion clinics or when a slick-tongued TV preacher weaves his web. What do others see? Do they see me? You see, I am an evangelical Christian.
Why do I bother explaining what it’s like to be an evangelical when people’s minds are already made up? Does anyone care? Perhaps not, but I do. I want someone else to know what I feel, someone who would, most likely, not even realize that there are varying points of view in our own community. I’m not asking you to “be like me.” I’m just asking for understanding.
Oh no, another voice from the wilderness whining for “special-interest group” status. I know, I know, what nerve I have to imply such a need when “I” have oppressed and ignored so many with “my” high-minded bigotry. “I” have had my day (centuries?) in the sun, and “my” mastery has finally found its end. You’re right!…to a point.
True to my baby-boomer roots, I abhor labels. They never really stick just right. And besides, everyone reads them the way they want to anyway. Labels are constantly being reworked, especially in the current climate of political correctness. If you think about it, you probably have a gripe about something someone said who supposedly speaks for you.
Does Jerry Falwell speak for me? How about Jimmy Swaggart, Phyllis Schlafly or Randall Terry? Supposedly they represent who I am and what I believe. Yet public figures often fail to explain how their “constituency” might feel. Usually they express how they feel. The rest of us form a speechless throng. Why don’t they ask me?
As a result, I often feel misunderstood and caricatured. Well, maybe not me so much as “us.” It seems that evangelical Christians are one of the few groups in America that can be widely maligned with impunity. I know why: the stereotypical evangelical is an old-fashioned and passe Bible thumper. Absolutes are out, relativism is in; conservative is out, liberal is in; intolerance is out, tolerance is in.
Tolerance? In my dreams! Acceptance? Now I’ve heard everything. The usual reaction at the mention of anything Christian is a collective dizzy spell from all the rolling eyes. Whatever I say here will probably not change your perception of “our” image. But let me speak about individuals, not categories.
Issues are important, but behind each cause there are people who have hopes, fears and concerns. Far too often we hide behind these shields, replacing our identities. Can we even relate to one another without them? When we let down our guards there is potential. So what if we don’t agree? Relationships are more important. Passion about issues causes more pain than progress. It blinds us to people. If you were to talk to me you might make a friend. We may disagree, but I will listen and I will care. Then, we could give each other some room to believe differently with dignity.
Isn’t this the bottom line, getting beyond labels and stereotypes and treating everyone with worth and dignity? If my fellow Christians abuse you, shun you or belittle you, we are wrong. I’m sorry. Visible evangelicals are not the only kind. There are millions of others who act with compassion and integrity far from the headlines.
Most evangelicals believe that abortion is morally wrong (certainly this is not news to you); probably the majority believe the clinic-blocking tactics of Operation Rescue are also wrong. Young women with an unplanned pregnancy are at a crisis point in their lives. They need compassion and support regardless of their ultimate choice. We must never forget that we are not in their shoes, walking their path.
When I see someone carrying a placard saying, PRAISE GOD FOR AIDS! my heart breaks. What twist of theology justifies any claim to rejoice at the suffering of another person? I’ve held the hand of a friend, ravaged and near death from AIDS. I have wept with his gathered family. I’ve worked in West Africa, where every family is subject to the menace of AIDS. There is no joy in another’s pain.
My anger boils forth at the greed that fuels the “I’ll tell what you want to hear” rhetoric of some TV preachers whose “ministries” feed on the guilt of trusting souls who part with their earnings in a grasp of hope. But what hope can they expect other than the certainty of another solicitation?
Like any group that feels misrepresented, I am tempted to point my finger to assess blame. The media are always an easy target. But the media are damned if they do, damned if they don’t: they’re either paying too much attention to us or too little. Perhaps the final responsibility lies with most of us evangelicals who are unwilling to speak out. It isn’t due to lack of desire but to lack of a forum.
Then again, maybe I should give people more credit. Maybe I haven’t the need to say anything. Maybe you already discern between the fringe radicals and the mainstream. My wife, Gwen, tells of an airplane conversation with a Fortune 500 executive who saw a big difference between publicity-grabbing evangelical extremists and unsung, caring people who make a lasting difference in people’s lives. In the end, this is where true understanding succeeds: one life at a time.
