Recently I've been interested in trying to solve tensions. See, it's cool to take a hard stance on issues today--one way or the other. People like to make life's choices 'either-or'. It's either all or nothing; either coke or pepsi; either the cardinals or whomever you think is better at baseball. It's cool to be opinionated. And that's what most people blog about. It's either house churches or it's the Sunday morning worship; it's either by grace or works; we're either democratic or republican. But I'd like to propose an outlandish idea: both-and.
Dichotomizing tends to get people into trouble. When one looks at any given argument and automatically rules out any kind of ecumenical middle, they have already made the wrong choice--because I'd say most things are not either-or, but both-and. It's not either house church or sunday morning--it's both sunday morning and small groups; it's not that we're saved either by grace or works--we're saved by Jesus who gives both faith and works; and we can be both democratic and republican (sometimes it just depends on the issue). More often than not, truth lies in the both-ands, not the either-ors.
