The Road Not Chosen: Be Subversive

Subversive: noun A radical supporter of political or social revolution.

The other night I was flipping between the Olympics & Larry King, who was interviewing George Clooney. Now I find Clooney to be an interesting guy. I really like him as an actor. I think he is very gifted & has honed his craft very well. But there are two George Clooney's: George the actor & George the political activist. He is very liberal & very vocal about it. Freedom of speech is a privilege we in America are very blessed to have.

I listened to him talk about his political views, most of which I disagree with. Then Larry asked him about his religious views. (Larry loves to talk about religion if you hadn't noticed!) Mr. Clooney says: "Yes, we were Catholic, big time, whole family, whole group." Larry then asks him if he still has his faith or did he loose it. George's reply was: "I don't have a specific -- I don't -- it's an interesting thing. I'll tell you what's tricky about this. In talking about religion, if you're well known, anything you say sort of ticks off a bunch of other people and sort of attacks their belief. So I always try to say that I, first and foremost, I think that whatever anybody believes, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, it's fair enough and works. And I think it's real and matters. I don't happen to have those beliefs as much. I don't believe in those things."

This is where it gets interesting for me. I don't understand why he will go into great detail, in a great many interviews, about his political beliefs & yet when the subject turns to religion he just won't say what he thinks. Mr. Clooney doesn't seem to mind offending me if I am a Republican. He will & does tear that political party to shreds. But when it comes to religion "whatever anybody believes, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, it's fair enough and works."

Here is what people don't understand: your religious beliefs are monumentally more important than your political beliefs. Your view of God affects how you think the world should be. Is life sacred or not? Is corruption OK? Is killing someone every justified? These big questions aren't answered solely by your political views. They are answered more basically by what your religious beliefs are. If you are going to have the guts to loudly proclaim your political position, why not have the same courage when it comes to your point of view on God? Oooo, it's personal, people will say. How is it more personal than who you want to elect to public office? I don't get it. Come on George, be brave in every area of your life. (OK, I don't care to hear about your love life. Keeping that to yourself is fine as far as I'm concerned.)

Along these lines, I find myself often disappointed when I hear Christians cave when publicly questioned about their beliefs. Consider this interview between Larry King & Joel Osteen in June, 2005 :

KING: Because we've had ministers on who said, your record don't count. You either believe in Christ or you don't. If you believe in Christ, you are, you are going to heaven. And if you don't no matter what you've done in your life, you ain't.

OSTEEN: Yeah, I don't know. There's probably a balance between. I believe you have to know Christ. But I think that if you know Christ, if you're a believer in God, you're going to have some good works. I think it's a cop-out to say I'm a Christian but I don't ever do anything ...

KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?

OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?

OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.

I feel for Joel Osteen. Maybe he just was really nervous & didn't state his beliefs clearly. I know I would be horribly nervous with millions of people watching me. I'd like to think that he believes the only way to Heaven is through a personal relationship with Christ. He had an awesome opportunity to declare the true Gospel but for some reason didn't.

One of the most subversive things you can do in America today is to state unequivocally, for all to hear, that you believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God, that the one and only way to get to Heaven is what is stated in the Bible: repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet we are often either afraid, intimidated or not convinced enough of our beliefs to be so bold. Christ was so outspoken about it that it cost his life, as it did many of the apostles, and continues to cost the lives of Christians around the world today.

Let's be bold! Let's be subversive! Let's be Christians!