Liberal? Conservative?
In the Catholic Church, it is a challenge to find someone who hasn't made use of the words "Liberal" or "Conservative" in conversation, It is even harder to find someone who can clearly articulate what these words actually mean. Now, to try and define things, I know that many would look at St. Mark, my home for my years in college and seminary, and call it a liberal place. Some would also look at the parish that I now call home, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and call it a conservative place. For myself, I am perfectly happy in both places. Both places make Jesus manifest and challenge me to draw ever nearer to Him. Yet sadly, something of division exists there. I don't think many people would be comfortable in both places, and the discomfort would be expressed in saying, "that place is just too [Liberal/Conservative] for me."
With this backdrop, I have been reflecting at great length, trying to see what is at the root of this division. Oddly enough, it isn't hard to know what to look for, as with every division where God intended unity in difference, there is a spirit who is not of God, and a lie that said spirit speaks.
So, lets start with the lie that is at the core of this. The spirit says, "Truth and Love are not compatible". Now, intellectually, it is easy to look at this and see the lie of it, because Jesus is the Way and Life in addition to being Truth, and Jesus who is God is Love. Yet, the praxis of this falls on harder challenges, as I don't think it is hard to examine one's own experience and see places where one feels like they have to make a choice between living and speaking the truth and choosing to give of self for the good of the other in whatever circumstances they're in. The concrete example that comes to mind for me is a cousin who got pregnant outside of wedlock and the reaction of each of her parents. One made the decision to discard love and the other to discard truth.
When faced with this sort of challenge, the liberal is the one who discards Truth in favor of holding on to Love and the conservative is the one who discards Love in favor of holding on to Truth. The reality is that Truth and Love are inseparable, so if someone is in a position where they feel like they have to choose, they have already ingested the poison. This might be a bit of a hyperbole, but when things become entrenched, the liberal ends up losing love and the conservative loses truth. In abandoning truth the liberal is left with sentiment, not love. In abandoning love the conservative is left with rules, not truth.
The simple fact is, apart from Love, the Truth is not Truth, and apart from the Truth, Love is not Love. Love is the decision to give of self for the good of the other, and Truth speaks to what constitutes a gift, what is good and who other is.
So, who is this spirit? Well, to gain insight into who the spirit is, it is important to see when/where it has the ability to attack. The only kind of situation where I see this spirit having any ability to speak is when someone I care about sins. When a brother or sister sins, this is an injustice, and as someone who desires justice, how do I respond? The only proper way to respond to sin is with the Mercy of Christ, but this requires letting Christ do it, which requires patience on our part. What disrupts patience? Impatience! So, the spirit behind the liberal conservative division is a spirit of impatience. Look at your experience of seeing died in the wool liberals and hard core conservatives encountering each other - rarely does one have any patience for the other. If this is the issue, how is the division healed? Simple, pray for the mercy of Christ and pray for the gift of patience.
So, no matter what side of the fence you fall on by tendency, when you exist in communion with someone who has the opposite tendency, it is to everyone's benefit. When someone is loved by a conservative, it is an amazing opportunity for them to fall in love with truth. Likewise, when someone is given the truth by a liberal, it is an equally amazing opportunity for the to be loved by the truth. This is a call to the cross of being patient, and if it seems impossible, you're right. Remember and don't forget, with God, all things are possible.
With this backdrop, I have been reflecting at great length, trying to see what is at the root of this division. Oddly enough, it isn't hard to know what to look for, as with every division where God intended unity in difference, there is a spirit who is not of God, and a lie that said spirit speaks.
So, lets start with the lie that is at the core of this. The spirit says, "Truth and Love are not compatible". Now, intellectually, it is easy to look at this and see the lie of it, because Jesus is the Way and Life in addition to being Truth, and Jesus who is God is Love. Yet, the praxis of this falls on harder challenges, as I don't think it is hard to examine one's own experience and see places where one feels like they have to make a choice between living and speaking the truth and choosing to give of self for the good of the other in whatever circumstances they're in. The concrete example that comes to mind for me is a cousin who got pregnant outside of wedlock and the reaction of each of her parents. One made the decision to discard love and the other to discard truth.
When faced with this sort of challenge, the liberal is the one who discards Truth in favor of holding on to Love and the conservative is the one who discards Love in favor of holding on to Truth. The reality is that Truth and Love are inseparable, so if someone is in a position where they feel like they have to choose, they have already ingested the poison. This might be a bit of a hyperbole, but when things become entrenched, the liberal ends up losing love and the conservative loses truth. In abandoning truth the liberal is left with sentiment, not love. In abandoning love the conservative is left with rules, not truth.
The simple fact is, apart from Love, the Truth is not Truth, and apart from the Truth, Love is not Love. Love is the decision to give of self for the good of the other, and Truth speaks to what constitutes a gift, what is good and who other is.
So, who is this spirit? Well, to gain insight into who the spirit is, it is important to see when/where it has the ability to attack. The only kind of situation where I see this spirit having any ability to speak is when someone I care about sins. When a brother or sister sins, this is an injustice, and as someone who desires justice, how do I respond? The only proper way to respond to sin is with the Mercy of Christ, but this requires letting Christ do it, which requires patience on our part. What disrupts patience? Impatience! So, the spirit behind the liberal conservative division is a spirit of impatience. Look at your experience of seeing died in the wool liberals and hard core conservatives encountering each other - rarely does one have any patience for the other. If this is the issue, how is the division healed? Simple, pray for the mercy of Christ and pray for the gift of patience.
So, no matter what side of the fence you fall on by tendency, when you exist in communion with someone who has the opposite tendency, it is to everyone's benefit. When someone is loved by a conservative, it is an amazing opportunity for them to fall in love with truth. Likewise, when someone is given the truth by a liberal, it is an equally amazing opportunity for the to be loved by the truth. This is a call to the cross of being patient, and if it seems impossible, you're right. Remember and don't forget, with God, all things are possible.