We were on a mission to find Indian Food at one of our favorite restaurants and en route<\/em> we were listening to NPR\u2019s \u201cFresh Air.\u201d\u00a0 Terry Gross was interviewing Nick Paumgarten and we caught the conversation midstream.<\/p>\n Paumgarten was talking about on-line dating and observed that one of the random indicators he had found of potential marital bliss was whether or not a couple agreed on their like \u2014 or dislike \u2014 of horror films.\u00a0 What about you, he asked Ms. Gross.<\/p>\n His host was diffident and responded, well, it depends on what you mean by horror films \u2014 classic or new, slasher movies or\u2026<\/p>\n Woa! Paumgarten responded. \u00a0This is a binary thing.\u00a0 You\u2019re for them or against them.\u00a0 If you want to qualify your view you\u2019re not going to get dates.<\/p>\n That\u2019s right.\u00a0 And that\u2019s precisely the problem with our society today.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we name-call, instead of discussing issues.\u00a0 We brand and exile people who don\u2019t agree with us.\u00a0 Our news commentators and their guests talk over one another, scream, and shout.\u00a0 Our politicians battle away at one another defending old positions and programs \u2014 and why none of them are capable of entertaining new ideas.\u00a0 That\u2019s also why, even in the church \u2014 if you want to get ahead, you are forced to choose a side.<\/p>\n For far too many people there is, quite simply, never any more than two choices available.\u00a0 Left, right \u2014 up, down \u2014 black, white \u2014 yes, no.\u00a0 Most of life doesn\u2019t yield to that binary pattern, but we have imposed that pattern on it.<\/p>\n It won\u2019t matter to everyone, but to those who care, it\u2019s time to hear this and hear it clearly:<\/p>\n \u201cGod is not on your side.\u201d<\/p>\n You meant \u201ctheir\u201d side, right?\u00a0 No, I meant \u201cyour\u201d side (And, by the way, God is not on my side, either.)<\/p>\n Let me elaborate (so that I avoid being binary!): In life, there are a handful of occasions when picking a side will likely put you on God\u2019s side.\u00a0 Cheating on your taxes, taking your neighbor\u2019s life without provocation, abusing a child \u2014 under those circumstances it\u2019s not hard to figure out where God stands.\u00a0 But the problem is that most of those choices are pretty obvious and they almost never present themselves in real life.\u00a0 The vast majority of life is not like that.<\/p>\n More importantly, from a spiritual point of view, when we conclude that we have done what God wants us to do by making those binary choices, the choice becomes an end in itself \u2014 a god of our own making.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why I think it\u2019s time for us to hear, \u201cGod is not on your side.\u201d<\/p>\n Every time Jesus was approached with a binary choice and asked \u2014<\/p>\n tell me who to love and who to hate,<\/p>\n tell me who to forgive and how often to forgive them,<\/p>\n tell me who to serve, God or Caesar<\/p>\n \u2014 Jesus insisted on listening to God, instead of giving an answer.<\/p>\n Bob Lyon, a dear friend, mentor, and teacher, used to observe: Christians are meant to be a part of \u201cthe loyal opposition\u201d \u2014 because God is \u201cthe loyal opposition.\u201d\u00a0 Everytime we want to draw a line, check off a box, or make a choice, God responds, \u201cNo, there\u2019s more to hear \u2014 listen to me.\u201d\u00a0 And I think Bob was right.<\/p>\n As long as we reward binary behavior \u2014 make a choice, get a date \u2014 make a choice, get elected \u2014 make a choice, get a job \u2014 make a choice, find a welcome \u2014 the binary choices will look like the only thing possible.\u00a0 They will also be all we have.<\/p>\n God is not on our side \u2014 yours or mine.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t need a side.\u00a0 We need to listen.\u00a0 When we do, we will find fresh vision and insight \u2014 as well as new depth of community.\u00a0 We will also find God, instead of our feeble binary interpretations of what God wants.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We were on a mission to find Indian Food at one of our favorite restaurants and en route we were listening to NPR\u2019s \u201cFresh Air.\u201d\u00a0 Terry Gross was interviewing Nick Paumgarten and we caught the conversation midstream. Paumgarten was talking about on-line dating and observed that one of the random indicators he had found of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-perspectives"],"yoast_head":"\n