I’m a person who often gets type casted as "negative" about a lot of things. On the recent podcast, Todd jokingly said "Is there anything you do like, Adam?"
Of course, there are a lot of things I like.
In fact, having conviction about what I like and love is what gets me labeled as a negative person. In Christian circles, people go with the flow too much. No one likes to teach critical thinking skills because it’s easier to lead people who aren’t thinking critically. The result of decades of that is that Christians equate critical thinking to negativism. But, can I remind those people that out of great critical thinking and debate the world has seen great reformations? Many of the great institutions of the world resulted in critical thinking and debate which led to action.
So when someone like me comes along and says… "Let’s think about how we’re doing ____." And when those opinions that are expressed are honest evaluations of the status quo, you get labeled as being negative.
The fear is that conviction will lead people to action. And status quo always wants to fight that. In the past I’ve openly questioned some of the biggies in the Christian world.
- I don’t care for Christian ministries involving themselves in politics, like Focus on the Family does.
- I don’t like it that Christians mix consumerism with the birth of Christ, so I get labeled as a Christmas basher.
- I don’t think that the local church should support every thing that is labeled "Christian." So, I get labeled as someone who doesn’t like Christian concerts, events, camps since I’ve found them to be ineffective.
The fear of the status quo is that if people like me begin to question them, it will effect their bottom line. See, everyone has a vested interest… and when people stand up and say, "Hey, I’m not sure we should be doing this." people who make money off of what I’m questioning get upset.
If you’ll remember Paul in Ephesus in Acts 19. Demetrius, the silversmith, wasn’t questioning what Paul was saying, he was upset that what Paul was saying was effecting the local economy. The same thing happens to me. The funny part to me is that the responses I get only prove my point all the more. Rarely do Christians combat someone questioning them with an open debate. Instead, they chose to either write me off or slander me by calling me "negative."
I guess I have to deal with fact that some people will always call me negative. Maybe God will break my heart and I will one day fall in love with the status quo. But until then, as always, I invite open discussion. If there are people who don’t like what I’ve said or written… I like a good debate. The invitation is there.
I’m not a post-modern deconstructionist. One way I easily get written off is that I get labeled. What does he know, he’s a youth pastor? He’s just idealistic. He’s just another one of those post-modernists.
What’s funny is that I’m not any of those things. While you may see some deconstruction… I like to paint the picture for the better way. I would label myself a biblical reconstructionist.
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