I am for . . . everyone I can be – except the Chicago Bears

Picking a fight is easy. Watch:

The best quarterback in Packer history, perhaps in NFL history, was Bart Starr.

Do you disagree? If you say, Favre, then I know you to be shallow, caring only for style over victories. If you say Rodgers, then you are overwhelmed with statistics over the true measure of a quarterback: championships. If you say Lynn Dickey, then you value the long ball over everything. If you say Randy Wright, then you are simply insane.

Trust me non-football fan . . . in certain circles I have started a war. Favre’s legions will unite. Rodgers’ fans will fume. Randy Wright’s mother will write me.

Such disagreements are what make sports enjoyable . . . one can be full of passion without being serious. If a friendship is lost over Favre versus Rodgers, then it was not much of a friendship. Nobody can know for sure and it does not really matter.

But this brings me to something bad, something that has always been bad, and is not getting better: the human tendency to be “for” only those who like exactly what we like and do exactly what we do. This kind of person is, as the old West Virginia preacher put it: so narrow they can see down a straw with both eyes. They are not fighting for the faith, but for some aspect of the Kingdom of Self.

If we are not very careful, we all construct a little vision of reality as if we were God. Self may not be King, we are Christians after all, but the god on the throne is created in our image. He shares all our politics, all our dreams, prejudices, and ideals. The Bible, Church life, and history shake up those presumptions so we read the Bible selectively, go to a Church composed only of people who agree with us, and ignore history for the almighty now. To disagree is to commit sacrilege and treason against the god-king of Self and so is intolerable.

The real God-King, Jesus, was not this way. The historical record says:

Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

Jesus was right, He was not narrow. Truth has a confidence that allows the clumsy imperfection of those who would be allies, but who makes mistakes. The King of Kings is a King of mercy who forgives and reinstates Peter even when Peter denies the Christ. We want to fire the pastor who buys postage without permission.

If the Son of God can tolerate competition to His own disciples, then I can make allies wherever I can as often as I can. People who do wrong, are sorry, and are getting better are just like I am. I must reach out to all of those folk I can.

God knows that if you wrote frequently, your opinions mount up and nobody, not even your best friends, can agree with all of them. Friends are free human souls . . . not sycophantic servants! God deserves our worship and agreement because He is always right, but nobody else does. Only the narcissistic ruler protecting the Kingdom of Self must close off his alliances from those around him. There exists a type of leader who demands that you be for him, wear his campaign button, or you are against him. King Jesus was more secure, more loving, more virtuous. He would not forbid anyone from good works as long as that man was not against Him.

You did not have to be His student to do good works in His name. In an age of branding, empire building, and advertising, surely this is remarkable. Jesus took the most precious thing anyone has, a name, and was willing to let others use it . . . merely by being not against Him. Too often in the Kingdom of Self we will protect even our little names while He freely gave the Name that is above every Name.

God help me.

This error stinks no less because there exists the equally odious latitudinarianism where one is for everything if polite company is for it. This sort of tolerance finds it hard to condemn even the most fringe ideas because it is bad manners. A good debate is impossible because someone might get hurt feelings, so instead we hurt our intellects by becoming so broad minded we cease to have convictions.

There are lines: there are people against the Lord Jesus who cannot be allowed to speak in His name. Those who defend vice are not friends of Jesus. Those who defend abortion, slavery, or injustice to the poor are not friends of Jesus. They do not speak in His name.

But there is the man or woman who disagrees with us on other things, even things dear to us, who are not against Him. This man or woman must be my friend and ally.

I am for everyone I can be for . . . except maybe Bear’s fans. And Bart Starr was and is the best Packer quarterback of all time.