Over the years I have written a lot. A. LOT. Books, articles, curriculum, research papers, executive summaries, workshops, resources, etc. I LOVE writing (and am fortunate that about two dozen people like reading what I write…), but I do not always remember writing what I have written. Case in point: someone sent me some questions about an article I wrote in 2003 for Zion’s Herald – the Methodist predecessor to The Progressive Christian – asking if I knew at the time how right I was? (I LOVE receiving questions like this.) I couldn’t remember writing the article quite honestly, but she provided me with a .pdf and I will admit that I am a bit impressed myself with what I wrote 23 years ago.

Another author and I were asked to write articles from a conservative (his) and liberal (mine) perspective to answer this question: “What are conservatives/liberals doing today that could hurt the church in the future?” While I wrote about liberal/progressives in the church, what I reflected can easily be extended to liberal/progressives in general. Not everything is still relevant, but here are some “clips” from my 2003 article. Over the next five blogs I will focus on one of the five points I made in my original article. You tell me whether my thoughts were/are valid in our current cultural, as well as ecclesial, reality. Remember, I wrote these things 23 years ago.

Too many liberals immediately turn to the worst-case scenario in almost every case to make their point and to motivate support for various ministries. Panicked thinking is not sound thinking, and we are in a post-9/11 society where we are being manipulated by fear all the time. But fear is toxic and not sustainable over time if you want the society to be mentally healthy and productive. I am not comfortable how political decisions are being translated in our faith communities. I hear pastors offering “biblical” support for war in Afghanistan, an unnecessary conflict exploiting fear – fear of attack, of Muslims, of immigrants, or minorities. Liberals still pride themselves on values of peace, harmony, healing, and restoration, but resort to manipulative messaging to try to sway support.

An example: Climate. The impact of human life on our planetary environment is “hotly” debated at the moment in some weird ways. Solid earth science is in widespread agreement that our planet is in danger, that current energy consumption and the depletion of key resources is placing our world in a precarious position. At one end, good, solid science is saying we need to make significant adjustments, or we could see life-threatening problems within the next millennium. At the other extreme, science is saying we could be heading for an extinction event within the next hundred years. Famine, flood, fire, disease, earthquake, and broiling temperatures are right around the corner. In the majority middle many red flags are flying with invitations to engage in transformative technologies, research, and application that can turn disaster into opportunity and improvement. Best-case, worst-case, most-likely-case options. Which do liberals hammer on? Worst-case. Anything the opposition proposes, attempts, or accomplishes is met with worst-case scenario thinking.

This should be irrelevant for Christians. We should not be promoting environmental stewardship in response to threat or fear; we should care for God’s creation because it is God’s creation – precious, unique, beautiful. While many liberals choose to focus their attention on worst-case problems, traditional progressives focus on the solutions available, not the problem. Were liberals to cast a vision of possibility and potential rather than doom and gloom, we could reclaim a great deal of credibility in the church and world.

We do the same thing with race-relations and reparations.

This is where I will pick up my 2003 reminiscence in my next blog. But for now, regardless of politics or party, give some thought to the use of fear/anxiety as a motivator in church and world.