I’ve always had a problem with “either/or” equations, especially when the two choices are placed in strict opposition to one another. You are either a “dog person” or a “cat person.” (What if I like dogs and cats, as well as rabbits and fish?) You are either a “coffee drinker” or a “tea drinker.” (What if I like coffee, tea, soda, and the occasional milkshake?) You are either a Steelers fan or a Patriots fan? (OK, maybe there is only one right answer here…)
Life is too rich and complex to be simplified down into a series of “either/or” choices. Something important is lost when we limit things to only two options. Yet far too often we let ourselves be pulled into discussions in which we are expected to choose one side and absolutely reject the other side. Most recently this has been the pattern in many political discussions; either you are a Republican supporting the current administration without question or you are a Democrat seeking to impede the current administration at all costs. It is tiring and makes us lose heart in the power of civil discourse and lose faith in our political process.
Christianity is also something that pushes back on “either/or” tendencies. It is true that Jesus did at times contrast the choices people make as a way to delineate good deeds from sinful acts. For example, he spoke about “sheep” who cared for those who were hungry, naked, sick or in prison, while the “goats” ignored those in need. But in every case, there is always the chance for redemption. “Goats” can start acting like “sheep.”
Yet most of Jesus’ ministry involved pushing back on “either/or” divisions. The woman others considered unworthy of being a guest at the table was the one allowed to anoint Jesus with oil and be lifted up as a model of righteousness. The tax collector despised for his complicity with Rome was literally invited by Jesus to become one of his chosen disciples. And in the language of the apostle Paul, it is in Christ that we move beyond all these dichotomies, for in Jesus “there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free.”
The month of June contains the wonderful celebration of Pentecost, in which the diversity of the church is remembered in that day of swirling winds, tongues of fire, and a cacophony of languages coming together to tell one special gospel of hope. May Pentecost Spirit be an antidote to the political spirits in America that would try to keep us boxed into oppositional categories. May our first impulse, when confronted by an “either/or” equation, be a faithful response that simply asks “Surely there is more to this issue than just two perspectives? What other voices should be heard in this discussion?” May we learn from our LGBTQ friends that binary approaches to the complexity of human life are seldom fully accurate and rarely entirely helpful.
Our God is one who relates to all of us—who is not confounded by complexity—and whose responses are “far more than we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). Step into the fullness of faith, beyond divisions of “either/or” and thereby live at peace within God’s generous embrace.
—Randy Bush