A LONG-TERM APPROACH TO BEING A COUNTER-CULTURAL WITNESS, i.e. NOT CONSTANTLY IN A CULTURE WAR
By Kevin Stoda
I came across an article from Beliefnet author, Frederica Mathewes-Green. The author has had a journey through Hinduism and later turned back to Christianity in the form of Eastern Orthodoxism.
In her article, “Loving the Storm-Drenched”, Mathewes-Green writes to a largely Christian audience who is not enamored with the era of culture warring that we witness around us today. I think that a lot of what she shares has to do with good common sense for progressive audiences of all shapes and backgrounds, too.
TONE OF VOICE
Mathewes-Green asks us all to take a longer view, i.e. by not simply hitting back when attacked.
She speaks about our tone of voice. She states that the tone which “we adopt from the culture: sarcastic, smart-alecky, jabbing, and self-righteous. We feel the sting of such treatment and give it right back; we feel anger or even wounded hatred toward those on the ‘other side.’ But God does not hate them; he loves them so much he sent his Son to die for them.”
Moreover, Mathewes-Green charges, “We are told to pray for those who persecute us and to love our enemies. The weight of antagonistic and mocking big-media machinery is the closest thing we've got for practicing that difficult spiritual discipline. If we really love these enemies, we will want the best for them, the very best thing we have, which is the knowledge and love of God.”
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