Evangelicalism is not short on controversy. From what we believe about President Trump to our position on women in ministry, we are not lacking in disagreement and conflict. We are, however, greatly lacking in careful, nuanced opinions and gracious communication.
We like black or white. Black or white is easy. Black is bad and white is good. Simple.
We DON’T like gray. Gray is NOT as simple. “Where does the white end and the black begin? How MUCH black does it have? Should I stand behind something that’s gray? I need to know and I need to know NOW because my legions of adoring social media fans are DIEING to know where I stand on this!!”
However, many (most) of these issues require nuance. Take, for example, the issue of women in ministry. We might believe the Bible teaches women should not have elder-level authority over men in our church, but how about women deacons or women ministry directors? And if someone says that women should NOT be elders, does that mean they believe God values men more than women? Or if they believe women can serve in that capacity, does that mean they are biblically ignorant? NUANCE is needed! Can we say that black lives matter and still value “blue” lives? Can we see and weep about the injustices our brothers and sisters of color have faced without hating all police officers? Of course we can, but it’s MUCH easier to just label one side as good the other as bad and cast judgements. Let’s consider what God’s word has to say and attack the topic with careful NUANCE.
We need it, but to solve the lack of nuance issue, we first need to ask some hard questions of our hearts. What’s behind our need to post our opinions so quickly? Why are we so prone to cast judgement BEFORE we’ve considered the topic thoroughly? Whose opinions do I really care so much about…and why?
Since these questions require careful consideration, we’ll save them for another post!
NEXT TIME: Part 2: The problem has ROOTS.
Pastor Hart 
It is interesting how many people try to make two things mutually exclusive or disjoined that are not, and conjoin things that cannot be. It’s the human condition though right? We all struggle with it from both sides. There are those who want Jesus AND. Now they can feel secure because if just Jesus fails there is something else that they can cling to. On the other hand, there are those like me who struggle with the AND in anything. I like the OR. I want everything to be black or white because then I’m either correct or I’m not. It can be difficult to live in the gray because we struggle with the tension of doing wrong things. The beauty of God, and the healing he has given me is that God’s grace releases me from that tension, and His Word still guides me on the narrow path. Both are true.