There is no shortage of people who claim to have God or the Christian life figured out. Generally, this means that their perspective is the correct one and everyone else is a dummy. We treat theology like a game of dodgeball and if you don't see things my way I'll blast you in the face with a rubber ball.

I read two articles today that demonstrated this perfectly. I won't link to either of them because ultimately I'm not responding to the issues they were addressing and I don't want to get distracted. I'm responding to the off-handed, rubber-ball-to-the-face way that they addressed those issues. The formula is simple:

Make your point with very little biblical evidence. "I believe x because that's what Jesus would do."
Set up straw man. "Fear-based Christians disagree with me."
Hit straw man with red ball. "Anyone who disagrees with me is living in fear."

The problem is that most of the things that we take "sides" on in Scripture were never meant to be "sides" issues. They are "tension" issues. Issues that require both sides of the story to really understand. You're not really supposed to be able to figure them out, at least, not completely. You are called to live in the tension.

For example, an issue like God's sovereignty. Too far one direction and you are a deist: God only steps in when he absolutely has to. Too far the other direction and you are a fatalist: you have no responsibility and are basically an automaton. The Bible endorses neither of those perspectives; we live in the tension of embracing our own responsibility so that we are unable to make excuses for our behavior, while at the same time recognizes that nothing happens that God doesn't either cause or allow. Calling it a "tension" doesn't make for a very fun game of dodgeball, though.

We do the same thing with God's love vs. God's disdain for sin. Or with baptism. Or worship.

Basically any Christian issue comes down to taking sides and blasting away.

Except it doesn't. What it comes down to is a long journey of discovery; of trying to figure out how God calls us to live. It is about discovering the richness of living in the tension between two things that are difficult to reconcile and yet realizing that we follow the great reconciler.

The key is not to base our theology or doctrine on our own opinion or how we feel but on what the Bible teaches. If the Bible addresses something simply, simply embrace it. If the situation is complex, don't reduce what God has decided to leave unclear. Live in the tension of faith and have confidence that in that tension there is much grace.