Is Courage Coming Back?

When I was fifteen, I read A.J. Cronyn's Keys to the Kingdom. It's about a Catholic priest who has a Catholic father and a Protestant mother who doesn't quite fit in with the church hierarchy and is sent to China as a missionary. The main character is an honest Christian who is compelled to honor his father and his mother and so he comes to believe there are many keys to the kingdom and it isn't his job to comform people to his views but simply to lead them as best he can.

Later in life I was told the book was sentimental and I thought that description was lame. The book is about a difficult subject not many people master well largely because of a lack of courage. There is a reason why communities all over America have Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims and others working on projects of common interest whether it's hospice work or adult literacy or a recreation center for kids. A little courage.

I don't know much about Gregory A. Boyd and I have no doubt I disagree with him on an issue or two but I admire his courage to say enough is enough. Here's the story from AOL News:

Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing -- and the church's -- to conservative political candidates and causes.

The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?

After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.

“When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”

A thousand people left Boyd's congregation but four thousand remained, many of them relieved by Boyd's approach. Boyd admits he's no liberal but he refuses to say what his political affiliation is. It's a kind of courage and this liberal has to admire it. Sometimes I feel I haven't learned much in life but I have learned this: religion is not about coercion, it's not about fear, it's not about the numbers that attend a church, it's about beliefs we hold dear to our hearts during the long journey of our lives. Each of us must come to our beliefs in our own way without losing our human connection or sympathy.