I rarely like someone without a view. Those who just slither through life, washing from position to another without a second thought are annoying and irritating! It is as if they don’t really care enough about life to really live! The model these individuals seem to follow is the politician that says whatever he or she believes is going to get him elected. No position held firm. No words surely true. No view expressed that someone may not like.
I will admit that the alternative can be abrasive, frustrating, and even painful. Yet those with views are engaged with the world around them. I experience someone who cares passionately about the relationships that touch their journey. I sit in wonder at the energy that emanates and touches everyone in the path. It is as if having strident views and positions is part of the recipe for engaging and living life to the full! There are extremes but being careful does not seem to be an option.
The alternative screams out in warning. Take no positions and die! Play it safe and lose. Look for the middle way and miss out on the road to living.
God reacts to those in the middle.
“I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.” (Revelation 3.15-17)
There are days when I am too tired to take a stand. I find that not being part of the crowd, hiding in the backwaters, can be calm, un-chaotic, and incredibly quiet, but that isn’t what God calls us to be! We are to engage. We are to live. We are to passionately care about those around us. We are called to risk all, making mistakes along the way, as we respond to the call to deliver mercy, peace, and love.
