Black AND White

Revelation 3:14-16

    "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

    These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.    

                We have come to view people who see things as black and white as being narrow minded, unintelligent, or naïve. Children see the world as black and white, but mature adults understand that there are many shades of gray.

                I have been rereading G.K. Chesterton’s book, Orthodoxy. I confess that it is not an easy read. The first chapter or so was a stretch for me. But several chapters in, things started to come together and make sense. Throughout this book, Chesterton is outlining his journey to faith, and the factors that led him to believe in Christianity. He weaves together clues, from his observations of the real world, which he discovered pointed to the truth of Christian Doctrine.

                The chapter titled The Paradoxes of Christianity resonated with me at a deep level. It addressed an issue that I have struggled with for years. At the heart of this chapter, Chesterton makes the case that the modern world ( and I would include the post-modern world) wants to see everything in shades of gray. But Christianity, in contrast, sees life in its extremes. That Christianity sees the world as black and white at the same time. It holds extremes in a dynamic tension that is uncomfortable, yet rings true.

                Chesterton makes the case that Christianity aggressively challenges the trend to make black and white into gray or red and white into pink. Chesterton explains this paradox in the following way.  

                “Paganism declared that virtue was in balance; Christianity declared it was in conflict: the collision of two passions apparently opposite.”

                “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live, taking the form of a readiness to die. ‘He that will lose his life, the same shall save it,’ is not a piece of mysticism for saints and heroes. It is a piece of everyday advise for sailors or mountaineers. It might be printed in an Alpine guide or a drill book. This paradox is the whole principle of courage; even of quite earthly or quite brutal courage. He can only get away from death by stepping within an inch of it.”

                Chesterton further explains the paradox in stark terms about the true nature of humanity. He talked about the clash between pride and humility. He points out that trying to somehow combine these two emotions dilutes them both. But Christianity is able to hold these two emotions in a dynamic tension that keeps them both at full strength.

                “Christianity sought by this same strange expedient to save both of them. It separated the two ideas and then exaggerated them both. In one way Man was to be haughtier than he had ever been before; in another way he was to be humbler than he had ever been before. In so far as I am Man I am the chief of creatures. In so far as I am a man I am the chief of sinners.”

                “Here, again in short, Christianity got over the difficulty of combining two furious opposites, by keeping them both, and keeping them both furious. The Church was positive on both points. One can hardly think too little of one’s self. One can hardly think too much of one’s soul.”

                I believe that God is not pleased with the current trend in the Church toward pink and gray compromise. By compromising, the power of the Gospel is diluted to make it more palatable to post-modern sensibilities, yet it loses its power to transform lives. True Christianity holds black and white in dynamic tension, so that the power of the Gospel can be unleashed, full strength, into the world.

                The blackness of sin is real, it is dangerous, and it is all around us. The whiteness of salvation is real, it is powerful, and it is readily available. We need to humility to admit our struggle with sin, and the boldness to challenge its right to rule. We need the humility to admit that we are not perfect, and the boldness to hold up a perfect standard to which we must attain. We need the humility to admit that we don’t have all of the answers to everything, but the courage to declare that we know “The Answer” to everything. We need to be willing to lose our lives, so that we may truly gain them.

                We do not live in a black or white world. Neither do we live in a grey or pink world. We live in a black and white world. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, have been called to live boldly in that dynamic tension.

1 John 1:5-10

 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

    If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.