Civil Disagreement

This post has been a draft left unpublished for about five months. I couldn't get around to posting it or wrapping it up in any meaningful way. Today feels like the time to put it out there. The last thing anyone needs is more information to digest. I'm sorry for adding to it. I hope you will join with me in praying for our fractured country and the lost souls living in it. 

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I spend a lot of time on the sidelines of soccer games. At one particular game last season, I was in the stands behind a group of varsity boys who sat in a row waiting for their warmups to begin. They were having a very intellectual conversation about laws and the sufficiency of Scripture. I'm not going to lie. I was straight-up eavesdropping. Sam had left for the airport and the game on the field was a mercy-rule finish, so it wasn't much to watch. Listening to the boys was far more entertaining. It was a mostly three against one conversation, but as I listened for about thirty minutes to their little debate, I came up with a list of things that impressed me. 

First, that this was what they were doing - four teenaged athletes debating theological matters in the bleachers. Second, that both sides offered compelling and rational evidence to their points and did not resort to logical fallacies. Third, they took turns talking, giving each other the opportunity to make their case before they offered their own opinion or rebuttal. Last, and most impressive, was that at no point in the conversation did these young men escalate to raised voices or name calling. They were able to argue civilly and without emotion. 

It was incredible. 

I remember way back in the late 90s, when I was the same age as these guys. My friends and I would have really deep and profound discussions, and I can tell you, unequivocally, that we did not have the same foundational worldviews as each other. You know what we didn't do? Escalate to raised voices or name-calling. Sometimes we changed our minds. Sometimes we solidified our resolve. We did not abandon the friendships. We carried on. What a time it was to be alive.

I miss that. But it doesn't have to be missed. These Gen Z kids at a soccer game proved that to me. They are not the problem. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's the older generations (mine included) who have lost the ability to not just cross an aisle but to even open a dialog with someone who thinks just slightly differently. We make ungracious assumptions and take them as fact. We either spend way too much time mining opinions or having them shoved in our faces, that we don't think a conversation is necessary. We already know what they think. Therefore, we can jump to whatever conclusions we want or that our echo chamber tells us to. 

At the end of the night, I reflected on that conversation between those boys, and I was encouraged. It's too easy to look around us and despair. The cause is there. No doubt about that. I also know that "what has been is what will be and what has been done is what will be done. There is nothing new under the sun." Sin and depravity have been the story since the beginning. This is not new, God is not surprised, and He is sovereign over it all. Let this truth be our comfort. 

After centuries of spiritual darkness, the reformers rested in the motto "Post tenebras lux" which translates to "After darkness, light." When things feel bleak, there is hope. We might not see the fulfillment of that hope this side of heaven, but if we do, I believe it will be through the steady plodding and boldness of young men and women who are unafraid to have conversations, desire truth, put their trust in Jesus, and who hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Let’s fight the good fight with boldness, confidence, and respect. It’s kind of what’s expected of us. 

In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. 1 Peter 3:15-17