Looking back at 2020 and this past year just ended, we might think we have a lot of examples of a movement meeting the absurd:
· A Gender Equality movement meets the removal of Mr. Potato Head[1] and changes to the characters on traditional playing cards[2].
· A Racial Equality movement meets the removal of minority personalities from bottles of syrup (Aunt Jemima) and cases of butter & cheese (Land o’ Lakes), as well as a re-theme of an amusement park water ride based on a movie which no one has been allowed to watch in over three decades (Splash Mountain/Song of the South)[3].
· A Political movement including a man with a horned hat and painted face meets protests and the invasion of the Capitol building in Washington DC (No footnote provided because we all know what happened).
The list in our minds might also include different sides to the Critical Race Theory, the Defund Police movement, the vaccine mandates, or any other social banner with which you or I may disagree.
But, no matter how you might think of these movements, who’s to say what is truly “absurd”? When it comes to a social fight of any kind the definition of that very word can only be defined by the ones doing the fighting. Those outside the fight may not see the movement itself as valuable so why would they consider the means of the fight as such?
This does not mean we cannot logically argue or lawfully oppose the actions of these movements if we so choose. It simply means you cannot completely write them off as “stupid,” “idiotic,” or “gone too far” and expect those within the movement to start singing “I Saw the Light” while moving over to your side. Calling the actions of any movement you don’t agree with as simply “absurd” only makes your side of the argument seem illogical, lazy, and a better definition of the word you just hurled at them.
Although I cannot and will not always defend the actions these movements make, as the saying goes, “Value is determined by the price someone is willing to pay.” And I believe the same thing is true when a movement meets the absurd—only those within the fight can truly determine the value of its gains (or losses for that matter) even if they are in the wrong.
If we truly consider these actions ridiculous then may we take the time to understand the value system at the heart of the movement itself. Then we will have a better understanding of the actions taken and the reasons for them. Conversations that ensue do not scream that we agree but, if nothing else, it will at least show us that a one-word, derogatory answer is never enough to prove a point or sway our social media friends.
In today’s world, the idea of being patient and entering a dialogue with those on the other side seems pointless at worse and naïve at best. I get it. More than likely someone will throw both of those words at you if this is the strategy you take. But, with that said, I think it is the best game plan we have if we are ever going to make a real difference in any of these conversations. Why? Because many of these issues and movements are simply branches attached to the trunk of one’s core beliefs. And until the root system is dealt with, the branches will continue to blossom the same fruit.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
Proverbs 9:10
Take careful notice of what this verse is saying. If one desires the fruit of wisdom and understanding in their life or someone else’s, it must begin with a root system of fearing/respecting/honoring the Lord and His place in this world. And this should be what we ultimately desire.
For us as Christians not to consider the “roots” more important than the “branches” in the grand scheme of things is closer to absurd than we might realize. For we will only ever get to the “root” if we are willing to see the “branches” as the lesser issues. Such issues should still be discussed, dealt with, and probably need to change in some fashion but of less importance nonetheless. The fact that over the last year the chant “Let’s Go Brandon” has seemed (at least publically) to supplant the obedience of some to “prayers, intercession, and giving of thanks…for all that are in authority”[4]shows that we may have a ways to go on this yet.
In Matthew 22, Jesus exemplified this path for us when the religious leaders asked Him about two major cultural issues—marriage and taxes to the Romans (aka death and taxes…I’m kidding). Jesus answers both questions at hand but then immediately moved each issue to the eternal. In other words, He wasn’t satisfied in dealing only with the “branch” issues but always confronted the “roots” of the eternal beliefs at the heart of those asking as well. His answers in summary—
“Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”
Matthew 22:20
“…In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
Matthew 22:29-32
This explains why the harshest words of Jesus and the Biblical writers that followed were always directed at the theological heretic or the religious hypocrite but rarely the political foe. Because in their minds the eternal standing of others always trumped their earthly affiliations. And if they could only influence one, they would willfully choose the former. It would seem these all believed, even in their day, that the true fool “hath said in his heart there is no god” (i.e. Ps. 14:1), not “there is no king but Caesar.”
To summarize it all, there is only one area in which I can truly say a movement met the absurd without any further discussion. When I look in the mirror and think about how valuable I am, I might be a bit disappointed. I might see a nose too big, a mouth too small, and hair that resembles the children’s rhyme “Fuzzy Wuzzy” (if he actually had hair). But I must remember how valuable I truly am by how much someone was willing to pay for me—not in money but in sacrifice. In this and only this can I completely and unequivocally say a movement (i.e., person) met the absurd (i.e., me) and leave it at that. And I, for one, am eternally glad it…He…did.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
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