By Rev. Dr. Glenn Hink
Black or blue? That increasingly has become an important question in the early dawn of my Sunday mornings. Or more specifically, is this sock black to go with a dark gray or black suit, or navy blue, to go with a navy blue suit? Seeing the difference between gray, dark gray and blue socks is not a problem. But those navy blue and black socks, that takes some work. I hold the socks up to each other in the best light I have. I lay them next to the suit, and compare the colors. The “last check” is to ask my wife, who repeats the process. If we’re in agreement on “black or blue,” then I finish getting dressed. If not, we repeat the steps. On most Sunday mornings sandals without socks would be easier.
Now it hasn’t always been that way. The “black or blue” question didn’t seem to be a problem a few years ago. Maybe my eyes were better then. Or maybe I didn’t have so many socks that were black or navy blue. Black or blue? The answer on a Sunday morning once seemed easy. Now it takes some work to get it right.
There was a day not so long ago when the difference between a Christian way and a non-Christian way seemed clear (or at least we thought it did). But times have changed. In the gray light of this day it’s hard to see, and many people choose to see what they want to see. It’s hard to see the Christian way or ways. Health care reform? What are the Christian ways? Ethical investing and banking? What are the Christian ways? Immigration and illegal aliens? What are the Christian ways? Stewardship of the planet? What are the Christian ways? War and terrorism. What are the Christian ways?
Now this is certainly not to say we should collapse the separation of church and state practice as first voiced by Thomas Jefferson. Nor should we suspend the establishment clause in the First Amendment of the Constitution (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”) It has never been a good idea or practice to “hitch the state’s wagon to religion’s horse.” Such an arrangement narrows the state’s vision to a particular religion, and corrupts the religion with the state’s power.
I think the founders of this nation got it right. They were shaped by the political philosophies of Machiavelli and Locke, and the recent experience of the European religious wars. They knew immigrants were coming to America to escape religious persecution. And they held various religious faiths and philosophies themselves, and were “children of the Enlightenment,” which placed authority in reason. Black or blue? The founders of this country knew that could be a hard question in the gray light of our imperfect wisdom. And they knew it could be a dangerous question because of sin when a particular religion had political power and claimed “to clearly see” for everyone.
But it does seem to be important for Christians and people of other faiths to be responsible members of society and humbly ask “what is the way of faith?” It does seem important to ask “black or blue?” and respect the cacophony of answers in a democratic society. It does seem important to know history and scripture, talk ethics with Christians and others, and think the deep things of theology and faithfulness in this world. This is a new day in our country as the old partnership between religion and culture has fallen away. It requires deeper faith, practice and understanding, something beyond attempts to reclaim a romanticized memory of the ’50s (a decade that had its own problems with racism, McCarthyism, and the Cold War).
I think on most Sundays I finally get the “black or blue” question figured out. But with a lot of the other important questions of life and faith in our day ... well, I’m still working on those. And while answers may be difficult and a long time coming, it is important for Christians to ask the question: What is the Christian way or ways? Such a question raises the importance of Biblical study, prayer, theological reading, meaningful worship, and life together as a people of faith. And in the gray dawn of this day, maybe the humble process is just as important as a specific answer. Who knows what we might see?
Rev. Dr. Glenn Hink is pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Sharon.
