Will you still call me “friend?” (a geek crosses to the other side…)
Posted on August 14, 2007
Filed Under A Geek's Guide to the Scriptures | 1 Comment
I can’t believe it’s come to this. I can’t believe what I am going to write about. I can’t believe what I am writing on. No, I mean what I am writing *on*–the tool that I am using to write with.
Perhaps you saw it coming when I wrote the following article (click here) about the day when my sons took a turn down a “scary” path. Here is an excerpt from that article, in the event that you are too lazy to click on the link above (or if for some inexplicable reason, the article feels a tad wordy 
.
… I picked up that book by a former IBM Compatible guru called “The Case for iMacs.” He talks about how intelligently designed they are and how life is more fulfilling with them, and the peace of mind and sense of purpose that he has found, and all that sort of stuff. But, to his credit, I’m actually getting answers to some of my questions.
I don’t know, maybe I’ll cross the line some day.
Looks like “some day” just arrived.
Yes ladies and germs, I have crossed over to the other side. I’ve converted. I am typing to you on my new laptop that just so happens to have a fruit logo on it. I followed all of the classic steps. First I saw what it did for my children and that softened me up. Second, an “evangelist” won me over, first to himself as a decent guy with no agendas, but who had a “religious” experience when he left the land of Windows and entered into OS X bliss. Lastly, I sought out answers to my questions, and got them. (The reality is: I needed/wanted my own copy of Final Cut –video editing software– and it only runs on Macs).
So, the real question is: will you still be my friend? Will you still talk to me, pray for me, care about me, now that you know the truth: that I have converted from Windows computers to Macs?
Some of you may be thinking that I’m making too big of a deal out of this. How could my friends shun me? It is rather amazing how many lines get drawn in the name of technology. The mainframers get ridiculed as “dinosaurs,” the Windows types can be viewed as techno-hotshots who are ruining IT life for everyone else, what with their huge market share and (supposedly) horrible systems. And then there are the UNIX types: Jedi Masters of the IT world (or so some of them think). And in the IT world, Macintosh computers… what are those? Oh, yeah, the artsy-smartsy stuff that no serious computer user would ever, well… take seriously.
In short, there is a strong tendency in the computing world to think that anyone who doesn’t use your pet technology must be an idiot.
I know that my IT friends are way above all of that. But still, I have to ask WILL YOU STILL LIKE ME?? Will you still email me, still meet me for breakfast, still read my silly blogs, still sit with me at church knowing that I am “one of those Mac zealots”?
What if I made a decision that cuts deeper; a decision that cuts not into the IT culture, but into our Christian culture? What if I decided to go to a church that’s different than yours? Or what if I liked a different kind of Christian music than you do? What if I liked a certain teaching style that you’re not used to, what then? What if (heaven forbid!) I voted differently than you?? Or believed in global warming — or didn’t believe in global warming?? What then??? Would you still call me “friend?” Would you still love me? Would you still remember that Christ loves me so much that he willingly paid for my sins–and treat me accordingly?
People don’t need to agree in order to love each other. But they do need to love each other.
Sometimes we get more concerned about the traditions and customs of our faith than we are about seeing others grow closer to Christ. It’s like being more concerned about what brand of computer I use than you are about how well I write, or study or edit videos. Computers are just tools. Our cultural norms are just tools as well. Allow me to explain. I may actually become just a little bit more like Christ through listening to a heavy metal song. Hard to believe? I wouldn’t have believed it either until I experienced it. But there are people I know are far more “edified” by the great hymns of old. I find the old classic hymns to be very impressive as well, but they still don’t do for me what a Delirius? song can.
Let’s take this up a notch.
Would you still love someone if they took a chance and confided in you about a matter that is far more serious than their choice of computer–or even their voting patterns? What if someone confessed to you a deep struggle they are wrestling with? First of all, are you the type of person that others feel safe enough to confide in? I know many of you who come to this site and I am touched by how approachable you are! that is awesome!
But, again, let’s say that someone confessed something to you that is kind of serious. Would you still love that person, or is your love too conditional for that? What if their confession hurt you personally? What would you do?
What did Jesus do when you hurt him so badly that it nearly crushed Him? (Luke 22:44)
I ask all of these questions because occasionally I find myself confessing to others and I find others confessing to me–and that can be challenging.
Just recently someone confessed to me a struggle that, to be honest, might freak some people out. This person let me know that often times when someone tells another of this particular struggle, their “friends” tend to back away. They withdraw a bit, and in some cases they withdraw for good. Perhaps they can’t handle it (no excuse, IMHO), perhaps they need time to adjust, perhaps it rocked their religious boat too much and now they don’t respect the confessor any longer.
“love one another as I have loved you” — Jesus (John 13:34)
I can say by the grace of God that this person’s confession just made me respect the person all the more. They love the Lord and are serious about following Him. That was the whole point behind the confession. How can I not respect that!
So, now that I have a Mac computer, will you still call me friend?
Even though I like music that some would call from the pit of hell, will you still treat me as a brother in Christ?
If I ever found myself in some kind of a spiritual pit and needed someone to turn to would you still love me in Christ, or would you make me “sleep on the street” so to speak, too wrapped up in your own supposed wounds?
If someone were in a spiritual battle, and needed someone to stand with them, would you come to mind? For some people, I am *not* the first person they would feel safe with– and I’m not making that up. But by the grace of God, I want to be.
Will you still call a ’sinner’ friend? Or perhaps the question is: would a sinner call you friend?
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“Whoa, CS, what got into you?” some of you must be saying. True, the article above was a bit cathartic (read: heavy handed). I think that the feelings expressed were born out of the convergence of several events that I witnessed recently:
A) Seeing ’sinners’ punished
I once witnessed someone viciously punish another person for their sin. Yes, the punisher was hurt, even wounded by the event. But their reaction was cruel. To my knowledge, they have never forgiven the sinner–and have never sought out the sinner’s forgiveness. IMHO, the punisher actually committed the greater sin.
Did the punisher call the sinner “friend?” at a time when the sinner most needed one? Not hardly.
B) Cultural intolerance
Occasionally, I come across fellow Christians who are clearly more motivated to preserve a way of life than to get out there and fulfill our search and rescue mission. That zeal to preserve a way of life leads to intolerance. “Your music is sinful!” that sort of thing.
C) Someone recently confessed a sin to me. I am grateful that they felt they could confide in me (whoa!!!! The idea that I might be approachable, might be sympathetic, even a little kind? That is a full blown miracle! If you knew me when I was in high school or college, you would know how judgmental and angry I was!)
Do you see where all three topics tie together? LOVE. Love is the key to the three seemingly unrelated events that happened to me recently. Do we love each other enough to not punish each other but support each other, even when we have been wounded by the sin. Do we at least love each other to be able to support each other when we confess sin to each other?
At the very least, can we love each other despite differences in our worship styles, or our building structures, or our voting patterns, etc.?
“Love each other, even as I have loved you” Jesus.
That is an incredibly difficult command to obey, but what happens if we don’t?