The L Word

During my homeschool years, I listened to three hours of Rush Limbaugh every day and subscribed to his magazine. I lived in an area where trickle-down economics not only worked, it employed my dad, my mom, and me. I cast my first vote as an adult for Steve Forbes in a primary—just for his flat tax platform.

At the same time, I was part of an equally conservative faith system. I remember defending that worldview with a “hot take” article in my dad’s weekly column in our county newspaper. I attended summer camps where the two genders couldn’t swim together and then a college with separate stairwells and elevators for each gender. My dean of art told me to my face that the school hoped I would work for Baptist ministries instead of companies in the marketplace.

In both areas of my life, I held firmly to the idea that preserving the past was more important than adapting to the present. There was little grace, hardly any nuance, and next to no desire to understand other points of view. It was all about defense. The goal was restraint, a lack of movement—not budging.

A Watershed Moment

Fast forward twenty-some years to this summer. One of my adventure buddies sheepishly rebutted something I said by categorizing my way of life as—wait for it—liberal.

Understand: from my former worldview, that’s just short of cursing. Definitely pejorative. The liberal label might as well be a scarlet letter, the mark of adultery—being unfaithful to proven truth. Heresy.

Across the last four decades, that was the first time that word was applied to me (in person, anyway). That’s probably why I cocked my head a little when I heard the designation. It might explain why I’ve walked around with that moment and that sound for months now, trying to figure out what to do with it.

A Laughable Label

First, I find liberal not completely applicable. I still believe in small government, states rights, market capitalism, and flat taxes. I still think it’s wrong to murder a womb-covered baby, let alone with the torture of scissors or suction.

I still think the Gospel as presented by Jesus and the apostles is the only way to the redemption of both our broken souls and our broken world. I don’t think all kind and peaceful roads lead to the same place, and I believe there is such a thing as absolute truth—even if none of us understand it all completely. I love reading about scientific discoveries, but I also see the world through the lens of intelligent design.

A Lot Left for Interpretation

We’re better off as a culture than in 1787, when the Constitution was drafted. Human slavery is wrong. So, emancipation was a good change—one of many beneficial adaptations to our country’s laws that eventually resulted in amendments. Women should not only be allowed to vote but be considered equals in government and just about any other private or public enterprise. If someone is old enough to die via conscription for our country, they should be allowed to vote in its elections. The first amendment that protects this blog post is not in the original constitution of my republic. It wasn’t a perfect original document.

In contrast, the Bible isn’t amendable. For the truth of it to be right, it can’t be. At the same time, though, there are a lot of things not addressed in the Bible—things left open to cultural context and appropriateness. The Bible doesn’t address social media, recorded music or videos, sex acts in the context of marriage, or translations of the canon into other languages. It doesn’t say how religious gatherings should be structured, what instruments are recommended or permitted in them, or even how many times a week those gatherings should happen. What the Bible doesn’t say leaves a lot of room for individuality and corporate diversity. What it does say in Psalms is more liberal than the old me would’ve admitted.

An International Escape from Jingoism

I am a citizen of the world and a citizen of my country, and those aren’t mutually-exclusive ideas. America is great, but that greatness is not exclusive to Americans. I’ve visited more than a dozen other countries, where the people have the same hopes and dreams as I do—because those are humanity’s hopes, not just the American Dream®. I’ve hugged people who love American entertainment but are afraid of the American government ever getting angry at their people group. Many countries want our democratic republic and rule of law but don’t want our systemic arrogance, unrequested interference, or counterproductive attempts at charity. Call me a liberal; but I don’t want that from my government, either.

I’ve seen other cultures worship the same Jesus I do, albeit in different ways. I’ve read enough foreign signs to know that something is always lost in translation, even translations of the Bible. (That’s why the pastors, especially the KJV-only ones, over the course of my life have always talked about what the original Hebrew and Greek actually said.) I know that the Bible was written before denominations were a thing, before my country was born, before English was a language. That makes me less confident to think that the way someone else told me my faith should be expressed is the only right way to do it.

A Balanced Stance

After some introspection, it turns out that I am both conservative and liberal.

I’m conservative in that I want to preserve what’s good about our past, what’s right about the human experience. I’m liberal in that I now know there are more gray areas than the old me thought existed. I’m liberal in that I value diversity, because it challenges me to explore my motives and assumptions. I’m liberal in how much grace I want for me, even if I’m too stingy in how much I want for others. I need a God who is conservative with consequences and liberal with acceptance. I prefer a country that’s conservative with its regulations and liberal with its freedoms.

I can’t be both conservative and liberal without being at least being somewhat liberal. Physical balance as a human being is much more difficult with only a right arm or a left leg. Label me what you will. Just know that label is for your benefit, not mine.

And if you call me a liberal, I now know to tell you that you’re partly right.

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