Curiosity Kills the Spat

I think there is an aspect of personality which has on one end curiosity and the other isolating. The fully curious person seeks wholeness by listening to new ideas and hearing what others think. The fully isolating person seeks wholeness by isolating themselves from any ideas which could threaten their own deeply held beliefs. 

The curious person believes their knowledge and understanding is inherently incomplete. They are inspired by new ideas because they have the potential of bringing new understanding and a benefit to them. This makes them seek out new information and new people. They maintain a listening stance. They are receptive to change.

The isolating person believes their knowledge is inherently complete. They are afraid of new ideas because there have the potential of harming their deeply held beliefs. This makes them avoid new information and people different from them. The maintain a stance of nah nah nah nah nah I can't hear you. They are afraid of change. 

Of course few people live at either end of this spectrum. Most of us are some where in the middle and our position changes based on the situation. 

However, I am working to live much more curiously having lived more isolating previously. I think that curiosity kills the spat. Looking at personal relationships and our political life in the USA I think more curiosity would help us listen better to the thoughts and ideas from others. We think of the other side as evil now. We accept nothing less than complete victory. I believe that if we were more curious about the other person or the other side, we might find opportunities to work better together. 

I remember one experience at summer family camp. The speaker claimed to know why some Christians support the democratic ideas about reproductive rights. I was shocked. I had always wondered about this. Then he shared. I don't remember the exact argument. Sorry. But I do remember thinking that it made sense. It did not change my mind but I did learn to respect others with that different belief. 

Let's all work to be more curious. Maybe we would find we like it better than the fear that goes with isolating. Then we might all get along better.

The Thread of Holiness with Love

Prayer

God it seems to me there are a lot of Christians that emphasize holiness and there are a lot that emphasize love. Often I see them on social media lobbing grenades at each other. So I really wanted to know who was right. At first I was confused when your answer was "Both." But after sitting with Your answer, I fell in love with it.

Blog

There is a beautiful thread that weaves its way through the Bible from the Old Testament to the Gospels to the Epistles that I call the thread of Holiness with Love.  This thread begins with the Ten Commandments, weaves its way through to Jesus with the Greatest Commandment, and then to Paul speaking about Love. As I seek to follow Jesus better, I have found a number of such threads that run through all of scripture and I prioritize them in my journey with Jesus.

In the book of Exodus, there are four commands about our relationship to God aka holiness and six commands about our relationship to our fellow man aka loving. God showed at this very early part of His self revelation that he valued balancing holiness and love.

In the book of Matthew, a Pharisee asked Jesus what the greatest commandment in the law was. He really wanted just one, but Jesus was more sneaky than that. Jesus said, "Ahh ahh ahh, there are two, and like a Sith Laster and their apprentice, they always go together. One is to love the Lord and the other is to love your neighbor." Jesus appears to be alluding to the ten commandments here. Loving the Lord is how we are holy and loving the Lord inspires us to be holy. But almost as important is the command to love our neighbor. Jesus ties holiness toward God and love for people inextricably together. Therefore, it is an error to equate holiness alone with Knowing God. Knowing God always includes holiness and loving others.

Finally, Paul, not wanting to be left out, exhorts us in the book of 1 Corinthians: 

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

He never says not to speak in tongues or prophecy or give or experience hardship. He wants us to do those things as part of holiness, but he tells us that love for others MUST be added to all of it for us to avoid being a clanging cymbal. Furthermore, in Romans he reminds us that God demonstrated His love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us. God loved when we were not holy.

Later, the author of Hebrews pulls on the same thread. He states that we should "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." Again we see these two ideas of peace (love) with others connected inextricably with holiness!

Has your pursuit of holiness made you lose valued relationships? Has your pursuit of love made you turn a blind eye leading to harm for a loved one? Neither is the way of Jesus. (By the way, we all screw this up and my tendency is toward more love than holiness.) When we are all holiness and no love we lose relationships and hurt people that are made in God's image. When we are all love and no holiness, we miss out on God's guidance for flourishing within creation and harm ourselves. But, oh, when we balance holiness and love as the scriptures teach, we have the opportunity for great relationships with God and with those around us. And when that happens it is um um good!