Meeting for coffee with Bernie Sanders

“One real meeting is much better than a thousand internet or social media words.”   Stephen Richards

  If God believed what most Christians and even churches believe (at least by what they practice), Jesus should never have left heaven. While it may not be overt, most practice philosophical and spiritual isolationism. Though they don’t wear the “uniform,” mentally they’re little more than Amish. They’re like monks, cloistered away in safe, little social circles and belief systems. The Amish, that quaint, anachronistic religious group truly believe that in reclusiveness, they honor God by being insulated and isolated from what they consider a vile world.

  Unfortunately, too, it says something very sad yet at the same time insightful about what we value when the one area most Christians are the least isolated is in their money. Interaction with those who are antagonistic to what we believe become very open when it comes to making money. When it comes to a customer base or job, there’s little issue risking “contamination” when it pertains to increasing the bottom line of what Scripture alludes to as “filthy lucre” (Titus 1:11). Not that I’m saying that there should be. It’s just noteworthy that even the most super separated Christians jump at opportunities to interact with those whom they’d never socialize with or befriend if there’s an opportunity to make a buck.

  At one time Liberty University was a super separated school. Their recent willingness to listen to another voice is a model for us all. Recently, Senator Bernie Sanders was invited to speak at Liberty University. Liberty is a masthead for conservative Christianity and founded by the late Jerry Falwell, who also founded the now defunct Moral Majority. Its influence in merging conservative Christianity with Republicans politics is legendary. Yet, Senator Sanders, a Democratic candidate for the Presidency, is notoriously liberal and a diehard Democrat. He’s an avowed progressive whose views mimic those of European statists. He’s pro-gay rights, pro-gay marriage, and pro-abortion. On those issues near and dear to conservative Christians — life and marriage — Sanders stands about as far to the left as is possible in American culture.

  Yet, what most media outlets and even many Christians missed was – there were no demonstrations, no sit-ins or marches. No one made a fool of themselves during his speech and had to be forcibly removed or arrested.
  And this is probably the most important part of that event, yet was abysmally missed – all reports indicate that the leftwing liberal, Bernie Sanders was received with great respect and kindness by both the university and its students. Gasp! That’s so atypical. The accounts are too numerous to list. At many college campuses, when a Christian intellectual or conservative comes to speak, the results are far different from what happened at Liberty. Sometimes because of the threats, the event must be cancelled. More often, the speaker needs multiple layers of security. Frequently, they’re rudely shouted down mid-speech. Students stand up to angrily denounce the speaker as patriarchal, sexist, or bigoted.

  What Liberty did sounds a lot like John 3. Jesus met with one of the leaders of the Sanhedrin, the group that eventually nailed him to the cross – Nicodemus. Or John 4, where Jesus has a theological/moral debate with a woman who was little more than a prostitute. Or the Apostle Paul, who consistently had civil debates and powerful yet gracious interactions with idolaters and worldly-wise philosophers. And the “religious” isolationists of their day despised them for it.

  Sometimes the world accuses Christians of “hate speech.” Sometimes they’re right. Sometimes Christians even scream “hate speech” at each other. Too often we write it. It’s a sin and a violation of Scripture. There are numerous Bible passages which prohibit this. For example, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29) or read James 3 and James’ discourse on the tongue.  Instead of living as examples of children of light to a dark, cruel world, we talk and react just like them. What’s lost is kindness and civility.

  There are many reasons that we speak harshly like this, yet one of the main ones is that we don’t have a relationship with the one we’re “screaming” at. We don’t have a clue where they’re coming from. Relationships must be cultivated, not scorched. Most of us wouldn’t speak to a dog, as we often do to another fellow image bearer of God, either personally or on social media.

  Fear and arrogance go hand in hand with isolationism. Ancient cities were secluded by great walls of isolation. Picture medieval castles surrounded by moats with alligators swimming around in the moat. Why did they build the wall? Fear. Why do we isolate ourselves today? Same reason – fear.

  Then, when we primarily interact and exchange ideas with those on our side of the “wall,” we’re tempted to become arrogant…because we’re the ones who have the “truth.” We further fortify those ideas in our minds by only listening or reading those who agree with us. Our friends are those who are intelligent like us – they see things our way.

  Isolationism, fear and arrogance ultimately breed bigotry. We begin to look down on, even despise anyone who doesn’t see things our way. We feed our minds with that which we already believe and become entrenched in our thinking. Yet, we live in straw houses because our thinking is rarely challenged. The smallest challenge can blow it all down and blow us away.

  “Truth does not fear scrutiny.” Truth is never intimidated. It doesn’t worry that it will be proven untrue. Jesus said, “I am the way, the Truth and the life” (John 14:6). Many times as Christians we became angry and lash out when our presuppositions are challenged. We name call or label. It’s a cover for fear, fear we’ll be exposed that we really are uncertain of what we believe or don’t have a firm grip on truth. It’s why we spit out simplistic answers to very complex problems. We’ve not taken the time, and failed in our stewardship of the mental and creative abilities God has entrusted to us to think through and tighten our handle on truth. 

  Most of us would do well to take a page out of the Liberty University playbook on how to treat those whom we disagree with – to be kind and civil, to hear another worldview. We’d do well to listen carefully to those we diametrically disagree with. Because it’s by showing respect to all, even the most opposed to a biblical worldview that we often win a hearing for the greatest truth that this world will ever hear – “For God so loved the world.” It’s in civility and kindness that we win friends for the Savior. 

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