Moving Away from Binaries

Notice how in the book of James, we’re taught to hold together both justice work and personal morality/spiritual development. Following Jesus is not an either-or proposition.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. - James 1:27

Jacqi Lewis, who pastors a sister church, puts it this way:

“True religion" is real and holds together the good and bad of human experience. It provides a way to manage the both/and nature of life. Rather than increasing the fractures in the spirit, it holds us together; we don't have to split good from bad in order to survive. We understand the both/and nature of life and develop theologies that make sense out of gray: everything is not black and white, we learn. True religion helps us proclaim that, even in the midst of the ambiguities of life, God is with us…

False religion can split spirit and intellect, grace and judgment, personal piety and justice works. It quite quickly implies that some people are all bad and that some others are all good. It has less tolerance for complexity and ambiguity. It cannot hold together the tensions life brings; splitting becomes the defense...

• Jacqueline J. Lewis, The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leading Multi-Racial and Multi-Cultural Congregations

What might God be saying to you as you ponder what it means to move away from good-bad/either-or binaries into a more wholistic faith?