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The other night I was driving around in my very beat up ford ranger; she has been through a lot, my mind began to wonder about the normal or not so normal things in life. Like will there be mountains or oceans in heaven? Or will there be animals we have never seen? Will God look like I imagine Him (as a black man with a voice that sounds like coffee smells.) It might seem like an obvious answer but I don’t really think it is. It reminds me of conservatism.
Being conservative—in the Christian sense—conjures up a few images of old ladies in unflattering dresses or country folk taking a ride to the city and talking about all fast paced, loose, immoral people. Maybe even it will bring an image of a soap box preacher with a megaphone shouting out to the mocking passerby-ers that they are going to hell if they don’t repent of their wicked, wicked ways. Or, if you happen to be in downtown Orlando on a Tuesday night, you might just hear one yelling “If you’re a faggot you’re going to burn!”
Most of those are not pleasant images (not that I have anything against old ladies and their dresses,) but they don’t really appeal on any level do they? But what about the conservative who is against abortion or national healthcare and big government; not because he is against abortion or national healthcare or big government, but because his religious standings prevent him from believing or voting for such things? What about the conservative who is soft spoken, meek, truthful, honest and thankful; who does not judge or scream or holler; who does not call people “faggots” or blow up abortion clinics?
What about me? I call myself a conservative Christian—though by most standards I would not be—but that all depends on point of view. I am loud, often times I make quite a ruckus. I love to laugh and push people to justify why they believe in something instead of “just because.” That makes a lot of people upset. I also hang out with pregnant girls who aren’t married. I have friends who are gay. I know a stripper or two. I have read my bible while having a beer. I have talked about the power of the Holy Spirit while smoking a cigar. My aggressive nature is largely misinterpreted. I love Jesus more than anything in this world. That makes most people think I am not conservative. (It probably makes them think I am an apostate.)
With all these different views and thoughts of what a conservative is how can we pin it down? We can’t. The lines are too faded and mostly have no reason for being in the first place. Non-conservative, conservative, liberal, neo-post-modern-ultra-orthodox-catholic-semi-Calvinist…what does it matter? Where do these titles come from? We need some yes to define things in our mind. We like things orderly and neat and able to place into a category or relational bubble. There are things that don’t fit and cannot be placed in a bubble or category. Things like Jesus. You can’t put God in a box, and if you can I would say that what you are so delicately guarding in that finite imaginary cube is nothing more than something wholly other than God.

We have become great at creating gods, haven’t we?