Reality Check

News reports said that the Superbowl advertisement about Tim Tebow had pro-life and pro-choice advocates up in arms. Pro-life advocates defend the advertisement by saying that it showed that Tebow's mother had a choice, and she chose life (also implying that she made the correct choice). Pro-choice advocates seem to be upset because it appears that there is only one choice available. It's another fine example of how polarized we become on major (and minor) issues.

I wonder if it's really about pro-life or pro-choice. To me, the issue of abortion is much more complex than having one viewpoint or the other. As a Christian, I believe in the importance of human life, as each is created in God's image...but if I'm going to advocate for a pro-life stance, shouldn't I also advocate for adoption reform if a mother makes an adoption plan, but it takes years for the child to be adopted? If I advocate for a pro-life stance, shouldn't I also advocate for health care and health insurance reform to aid the single mother who has helped bring the life I value into the world? If I advocate for a pro-choice stance, I show my understanding that humans have been given the gift of free will by God. If I advocate for a pro-choice stance, then do I also advocate for people to live with the blessings and hardships of their decisions?

Sometimes I think human beings need a reality check. We want things to be simple - black and white - and thus polarized, because it makes everything neat, tidy, and and brings order out of chaos. The issues that we make issues, though, are anything but neat and tidy. They are complex, multi-layered, and intertwined. As Christians, we can't look at one issue without looking at others. We can't have a discussion about homosexuality unless we also talk about the authority of the canon of Scripture in our lives. We can't talk about health care unless we talk about love of God and our neighbor.

We try really hard to make things fit our mold...and it means we end up with round holes and square pegs, which really doesn't work at all. Maybe instead of trying to whittle everything down to clear cut and defined positions, we should remember that our God is full of mystery and complexity. We can't know it all, and put it all into our neat black and white categories. The reality is that our understanding of God is in a shade of gray, and that also makes our understanding of issues that face humanity shades of gray.

Maybe our reality is mystery - blurry, impressionistic, and blended...but that's probably a picture of God and God's people. Maybe we should learn to live within mystery, and live in the image of God, rather than forming God and God's people in our own image.