I hardly ever listen to CDs anymore but the other day I was riding with a friend that had a CD player and he asked me to bring some along. As I flipped through my case, I came upon two Ryan Adams albums side by side – Rock N Roll and Jacksonville City Nights. If you know anything about Ryan Adams’ music, you know these album are as opposite as can be. The former is full of rock-n-roll anthems as the title implies, while the later is a classic country album reminiscent of Hank Williams. These are the polar extremes of Mr. Adams, with the vast majority of his music lying somewhere in between – see Heartbreaker, Gold, Demolition, Easy Tiger, etc. He isn’t either/or. He is both/and – somewhere in the middle.
Theology should be the same way. Granted, there are some issues where you have to pick a side because the options are mutually exclusive – its either Rock N Roll or its Jacksonville. But normally, its Gold. Rather than rushing to polar extremes like we often do, we should survey the similarities in opposing views and seek a comprehensive, complementary theology. We should look for a synthesis that emphasizes unity in diversity along the theological spectrum. We should be irenic in our approach toward other positions and ecumenical in our outlook. Just like Ryan Adams crafts beautiful music that blends the best of country and rock, we should construct beautiful theology that reflects the commonality of all Christians and gives highest priority to the love of Christ. Instead of looking at everything like it is either/or, we should take a lesson from Ryan and perfect the both/and.
