A Little Bit Embarrassed

There has been a certain increase of protesters and demonstrators on Montana State's campus this year. These sorts of demonstrations are all too often done by those who have a very minority opinion and are all the more emboldened because of it. Many of those who demonstrate and thereby subject themselves to the general resent of the campus usually do so out of a religious or moral conviction. They often have become so entrenched in a certain issue—abortion, homosexuality, a political affiliation—that they become unable to relate in any way with those who have a different opinion about the relative issue. Because of this, campus demonstrations are hardly ever grounds for honest and progressive debate, certainly not the ones I have been witness to. Instead, they lead towards intensified bitterness and polarization.

This was certainly the case yesterday when a group of people holding massive signs proclaiming Christ were mocking those who were simply trying to make their way to class. They shouted that school and Montana State as an institution was turning us all into 'wimps' and that we had to 'take responsibility for our actions,’ because ‘hell is real and eternity is serious.’ They also demanded that we abandon all forms of structure—including church—to find God through revelation alone. My friend Gue was given a pamphlet as he cruised down the mall and as the person handed the pamphlet to him he told him, 'wake up, hell's a real place and you're going there.' They have no idea who Gue is.

These protesters make me so uncomfortable. Actually, they make me incredibly angry. I feel like they ruin my credibility as a Christ follower and make a joke out of something I take so seriously. I left campus heated yesterday wondering how people who claimed Christ could act so foolishly.

A little while later, I realized that some of my thinking was pretty off-base. In no way do I support the message they deliver and definitely not the way in which they choose to deliver it, but still, they are as human as me. They are necessarily God's children, like the rest of us. I would even say that in a lot of ways, we have the same message. Have I not done something in the name of Christ that would make another Christ follower cringe? I am sure some of you reading this know that I certainly have. What authority do I have to judge the faith of these campus demonstrators, however much I disagree?

Sometimes I try so hard to disassociate myself with demonstrators like this that I forget they are to be loved like anyone else.