Perceptions #200029

"RESPECT FOR THE COLOR RED"

by Joel Mark Solliday

Red lights are a pain, especially when there's no one else at the intersection but you--with your foot itching for the other pedal.

Why can't I judge for myself how to drive? Why should the state impose its values and standards on me? They are forcing drivers to discriminate on the basis of color(s). They are so stifling!

Such thinking grows on the public mind like fuzzy fungus on a month-old tomato.

"Finding Your Religion," by Rev. Scotty McLennan (Tufts University Chaplain), is a great book for fuzzy thinkers (or feelers) who tend to resent certain faith-based standards that stifle their preferences.

The opening line reads, "This book is intended for personal exploration." Funny how this sort of internal safari seldom results in repentance. From cover to cover, the Reverend keeps the focus on what "I" want out of "my" religion and how it makes "me" feel-as if faith is just a joy ride.

Here's the subtitle: "When the Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost its Meaning." The author's avenue toward meaning turns less toward God and more toward yourself. McLennan is a disciple of Carl Jung. His religious interest is more in the human psyche than in God. His faith focuses on humans. His final paragraph begins; "The most important thing to remember is that you can do it."

McLennan encourages us to come up with our own creative religious blend (in short, be our own gods). There was little, if any, talk of commitment.

Traffic lights call for commitments, not "personal exploration." Almighty God, however, calls for both. Christian faith is far more than a big traffic light and far more than a mere "personal" pilgrimage.

The "traffic-light-god" AND the "anything-goes-god" paint pictures too limited to represent the real God. They give us creative religions that leave "us" in charge (in different ways). This can be so with or without the label; "Christian."

Real Christians know that God is the boss, inside and out. He loves us and allows us to walk with Him down roads that may include a few traffic lights. We follow His lead, willingly.

Running red lights kills 800 people (and injures 200,000) in America every year according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Most of the dead are innocent drivers, riders and pedestrians. America needs more respect for the color red.

Without red lights, safe drivers are at a huge disadvantage. On the road of faith, moral standards are essential. God knows we cannot drive our own faiths anywhere we wish free of all constraints.

Still, the Bible is not just a big traffic signal telling us when to stop, slow down or go. God is too colorful for that. Instead, it contains rainbows of love and hope. Real love, however, does not mute the reds. It can say "no way" in living color! Real hope, likewise, thrives amid pain and uncertainty. Rainbows (thank God) don't blend into a total gray.

When religion gets oppressive or legalistic, we must rise in protest. Jesus did! However, when it rolls over to let humans play god, it loses all color and meaning--which may be why so many confused seekers are trying to find their own religion.

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