Getting Perspective from Donald Miller

  I just finished reading a book that has renewed my objectivity about life and faith; the title is, Searching For God Knows What, and it was written by Donald Miller (2004).  This book has brought much of my experience into new perspective, and the amazing thing is that the author did this through anecdotes of aliens, junior high, the lifeboat story and a whole lot more. 
  In fact, as I read any book, I jot notes in the front or rear flyleaf so I can find outstanding passages later that I want to remember or reference in some way, and in the table of contents for Chapter 7 of this book, I scribbled, "the realities of life and the universe clearly defined in anecdotes."  I feel like I understand the way things are in the world a lot better now, as Miller sees humanity through the eyes of a visiting alien who, after observing us for a while concludes, "The thing that defines human personalities is that they are constantly comparing themselves to one another."
  Chapter 8, Lifeboat Theory- How to Kill Your Neighbor, revisits the old Values Clarification puzzle of deciding who to throw out of a floundering lifeboat to save the others.  This chapter challenges the assumption that some people have more value than others.
  And so it goes from there, a very insightful read, folks, and delightful at that.  I recommend it highly for anyone who feels they need a new look at the big picture-- what life is all about, in an easy-to-read package.  This one's going on my favorites list for sure!

Divergent Personality Types

  Okay, now a famous author agrees with me.  Cool!  Popular author Donald Miller* posted a blog this week exploring the possibilities of personality types driving this whole split in evangelicalism between conservatives and liberals.  I had posted a similar hypothesis on March 15th (see my earlier post "My Ancient Emergent Theory"), because I was wondering what influences determine our beliefs and where we land on the conservative/liberal continuum.

  Miller starts with the question (or is it an assertion?), "Do liberal theologians feel more at home with God?"  Following is a re-posting of some of his blog:

  "I’m in a unique position to have both theologically conservative and theologically liberal friends and I notice that some personalities lean toward conservatism and others toward liberalism. Personalities that need high levels of control tend to be conservative, and personalities seeking higher levels of understanding but less control over others tend to be liberal. Therefore, each personality is developing their theology based on the filter through which they see the world.
 "Conservatives are dutiful followers of God, while Liberals are affectionate followers of God. Conservatives tend to have a fists-up attitude toward the world, while liberals tend to have an arms out attitude toward the world. And what’s more is that liberals tend to have a more free, exploratory relationship with God and with others. One of the things that is comforting about being around a more liberal theologian is they don’t try to control you. You don’t feel shame or guilt when you talk to them.

 "Conservatives can be comforting too in the sense they have solid, black and white definitions for any number of categories about God, and for that matter, they have categories. They are also willing to take stands. People are divided up into categories, too, usually for or against any number of theological positions.

 "Honestly, I find myself drawn more to a conservative theology but a liberal personality. It’s sometimes torture for me to hang out with my conservative friends because they are often trying to figure out who is on their side in some kind of war. My liberal friends can be frustrating because they don’t feel a sense of urgency about anything save justice issues. And of course these are grand generalizations, but they’re based in what I believe to be objective observations of friends.

 "I’ve found myself wondering over the years, though, if my conservative friends and liberal friends haven’t come to their conclusions by reading the Bible, but by how they were raised and the disposition they developed towards the world... many conservative leaders...  are convinced others are out to get them so they go at the world trying to kill their enemies before their enemies kill them. They trust very few people unless those people prove they are submissive, at which time they will fight and even die for their servants. In that way, they are honorable. And yet their relationships are all conditional. They feel so intensely threatened by the world they must prove themselves tough as to intimidate people away who might attack them."
  Thank you, Donald Miller.

   Now on a related bunny trail let me just mention a similar notion that I got from reading Timothy Keller's book, The Prodigal God, (2008) and that idea is that birth order has a bearing on theological position.  The thought was that first-borns tend to be conservatives and younger siblings tend to be liberals.  Hmm.  That is interesting, and I will say that my older sister sure can be critical of me sometimes.

  Just kidding, Carol!  I love you!

I speak for Donald Miller when I say personality type can influence theological stance.

* Donald Miller's best-selling books are, Blue Like Jazz (2003), and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (2009), and Searching For God Knows What (2004), and others.