Going to Extremes

I recognize that I have had a history of going to extremes—that is just my personality. I can get very passionate about new ideas. Then a few weeks (or hours) later, my viewpoint might be the opposite. For example, there was that time when I became a Preterist for a couple weeks. For anyone who doesn’t know what that is—it is someone who thinks that many of the prophesies of the New Testament esp. Revelation were fulfilled in the first century. I stumbled upon the view on the internet and there were some really interesting claims. I don’t agree with it now. The only thing I believe for certain about eschatology is that I know Christ will return as promised and I should live as if it were today.

Then there was the time I had a great conversation with an author at Borders and was interested in his research on the lost tribes of Israel. I was all excited about the history he was describing until I stumbled upon the fact that he was part of a group that supported British Israelism that seeks to identify Britain and her colonies (like America) as the true modern identity of Israel. Turns out it was a cult. (By the way you can find a list of cults at http://www.watchman.org/cat95.htm ) I’ve saved it to my favorites so that I use more caution in the future.

My extremism was present at a young age. My family loves to mention the phase I went through in second grade when I would wear my patchwork dress almost exclusively. I wore it to school about 3 times a week because it could be worn 3 different ways—by itself, with a red vest, and with the reversible vest turned with patchwork side out. On one of the other days I would wear a pink gingham dress and on the remaining school day I would wear these pink shorts that had ice cream cones on them. I was obsessed with the patchwork dress mainly because it was so comfortable. What my family forgets is my 3rd or 4th grade year when I went to the opposite extreme. I took inventory of all my clothes. Then I created a chart where I perfectly spaced out the outfits over the entire semester. I posted the chart on the wall near my bed and followed it religiously.

Then there was my obsession with globes. I can’t really say why I wanted to collect them—it wasn’t a sudden interest in geography. I just liked the look of them. I had calendars, wrapping paper, journals etc. all with a globe theme and my favorite store in the world was the Globe Corner Bookstore in Boston, MA. I insisted on taking both of my globes to college my freshman year. It is hard to pack a globe because you can’t flatten it. I remember that I held one of my globes in my lap during the entire 5 hour drive from home to college since I refused to leave it behind. Now, I don’t have either of those globes and sometimes forget that I even went through that phase.

Oh, I also went through a John Piper phase. When I first began reading his book “Desiring God” I did not agree with him, but by the end of the book I was convinced by him. A few months later, I was back to disagreeing with his hyper-Calvinism. I just think the guy lacks balance when it comes to God’s sovereignty versus human freedom of choice. (I guess it is rather ironic that I’m criticizing someone for a lack of balance).

So as you can see, I do have a natural propensity for going to extremes. I’m sure that is what my older sister was thinking when I told her I was no longer going to attend a traditional church. It is pretty extreme for a seminary grad to pop up with that idea. That is one reason why I have been hesitant to even write about what has now been a 3 ½ month journey. I think enough time has passed to say that it is more than one of my short-lived phases. I will address this issue further in future articles.