Why Be a Christian at All?

Why Progressive and Conservative Christians Can’t Talk with Each Other, Part 3

Just before Christmas, 1995. Snow covered the ground in Charleston, Illinois. It was cold out, but warm inside. 

Christmas lights on the tree lit the room with shifting colors. From the CD player on the wood shelf flowed traditional Christmas music, fllling the room with its serenity, mingling with the laughter and joy.

There I sat, reunited with my old housemates from my graduate year in college, Susan (and her boyfriend, Chris) Mark, and Jeannie. We sat around with our drinks, cracking jokes and laughing, overall having a great time while stringing cranberries on the line. 

Susan struck one with a needle, slid it down the string. Jeannie passed it on to Mark. Mark passed it on to me. I pulled it off the end and ate it. 

For the record, I didn't pull them all off. It was only about every fourth one. And they weren't just for me. I gave some to Mark as well. 

“McGuffee!”

That would be Jeanie. Busted. 

“What's going… Bo, nooo.” That was Susan. 

Apparently, we had two competing agendas at the ends of that line. But, it wasn't anything we couldn't just laugh about, move on, and enjoy the rest of the amazing evening together. 

It's easy to get past competing agendas when the stakes are low. 

But what if the stakes are high? 

What if the behaviors of the people at the other end of the line are dangerous? 

What if the stakes include putting people's lives on the line? 

What if those stakes include people's immortal souls? 

How easy is it—or better yet, how easy should it be—to laugh about it, move on, and enjoy the rest of life?