Conservatively Liberal!

You know, there are many labels that we're given. Tall, short, fat, thin, lazy, hard-working, smart, dumb. So many labels. Some labels are good and others bad.

As Christians, we carry labels also - hypocrite, compassionate, "good"... or labels like "conservative" or "liberal" or "fundamentalist" or "zealot". Oh how often I've been stuck with a label in a derogatory manner. And those labels sometimes "stick" and cause me to question who I am.

My friend and I see the world through very different eyes, and yet he is probably one of the people I most respect. I always get the giggles when we're in class together because we come at the same point from completely different angles and yet most often agree with each other on the main point. He will always fight from a Scriptural perspective, I from a justice perspective, and yet at the end of the day we agree.

In class on Monday the discussion was centred around "Evangelism" and "Social Action" - and it became evident that a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. My friend and I of course got massively defensive about our point of views, and it dawned on me at the end of the day, we were arguing the same point, and it was vastly different from the point of those sitting in the middle of the argument!

My friend made the comment that we both fight from a point of our experience and our strong views. He made the observation that he is a liberal conservative and I am a conservative liberal. And there lies the truth...we may see the world from different perspectives, but at the end of the day, it is our strong views and life experience that brings us to a point of agreeance - that and Scripture which forms the foundation of our views and experience.

I've often been called a "liberal" in a very derogatory manner, however, my dear friend has helped me come to a point where I am proud to be called a "conservative liberal". My passion, my experience and my strong opinions form who I am.

Another friend recently told me not to be like all the other girls who "dumb themselves down" in order to be liked. I don't ever want to do that. I don't want to change my views out of fear of being labelled a "liberal" or a "fundo" if I disagree with the liberals! I am who I am. And all the passion and fire I have makes me who I am. And that's a pretty good person to be! :)