What we can learn from liberals

In Christianity like most thing you have a conservative group, a liberal wing, a moderate wing, and all points in between. The conservatives and liberals do not get along. The conservatives wish that the liberals would be more orthodox and believe in the fundamentals of the faith. The liberals wish conservatives would modernize the faith and realize that we need a Christianity more in tune with the culture. I am a conservative who believes that doctrine is important. Is there anything we can learn from liberals? I am going to look at a few topics that are not quite as black and white as some say they are.

War and Peace

Many liberal Christians are pacifist. They interpret "blessed are the peacemakers" to be people who work to stop wars. They believe God hates wars and that all wars can be avoided. Some view war as a heinous sin. Many evangelicals believe that some wars are absolutely necessary. Like WW2, the War on Terror and some Christians even say that the war in Iraq was necessary. Jehovah's witnesses and liberals believe that Christians should not serve in the military. Most early Christians did not serve in the military but some did like Cornelius who was saved while a soldier. Most early Christians were non citizens or saves and were not required or allowed to serve. I believe that some wars are necessary, like the WW2 and the War on Terror. I do believe that the War in Iraq was unnecessary. While peace is a noble goal, it is foolish to pursue it at all costs. This was proven by Nevile Chamberlains' attempt to negotiate with Hitler. We should not go to war over everything. I believe we should be discriminating when deciding if to go to war or not. War should be defensive, not offensive.

Poverty

Liberal Christians believe that the primary missions of the church should be to care for the poor. They site Jesus' words on the sermon on the mount that says "blessed are the poor in spirit." They see the poor as literally poor people. They believe we must feed and clothe the poor all over the world. Some believe that it should be our primary responsibility as Christians. While as a fundamentalist I do not believe that feeding of the poor should be the end all and be all of the faith, but I don't believe that it should be excluded. We are called to feed the poor and will be judged on whether or not we have fed and clothed the poor. Can Christian ministries focus on the poor and not go liberal? Several reformed theologians, such as Tim Keller, D A Carson and John Piper concluded that you can and should feed the poor and can do it without becoming a liberal. It involves keeping the gospel the main thing. Feeding the poor and giving the gospel must have equal weight. The gospel must be preached as well as the people fed.

Environment

As Christians we believe that our planet was created by God. We believe that God was an intricate designer who made a marvelous creation. Even with the effects of sin, the earth is still a marvel. We are called to take care of the planet. We know that the planet will pass away. (1 Peter 3:12) That does not mean we should needlessly use up resources in an irresponsible way. Liberal Christians believe we should abandon the pro life cause and the pro family cause and focus on stopping global warming. I disagree with that. What bothers me is that when president George W. Bush was in office, Christians went along with almost everything he did. We went along with his pro-business and energy policy that included drilling in the United States. Everyone agrees that the ANWR oil reserves are limited and will not give much oil. Some argue that maybe there is more than they thought. I believe that we should take care of our planet. I don't believe in global warming, but I do believe that we should be careful with God's creation. I believe we need a middle ground on the issue of environment.

I do not believe the church should go liberal. I believe we should consider some of what they say. I disagree with the tendency to always do the exact opposite of what liberals teach. Just because the liberals believe we should go extreme and care for the environment, that does not mean that conservatives should pollute and drill, drill, drill. I want us to be responsible. We should carefully consider every issue calmly and not just to group think. We should seek the best course of action with prayer and meditation of scripture.