Living Without "In or Out"

Now the Star-bellied Sneetches had bellies with stars.
The Plain-bellied Sneetches had none upon thars.
--Dr Seuss, The Sneeches

We've been taught that all people can be categorized into two groups: Christians and non-Christians. Believers and unbelievers. The "saved" and "unsaved."

Those who are IN and those who are OUT.

Sneeches with stars on their bellies, and sneeches with none upon thars.

And we've been told that being IN is the only way to be able to please God. In fact, only one of the categories can please God at all, in any way.

I've been wondering for a few years if this distinction is the best way to view things. And it's become unbearable.

If I live my life by the model of In or Out, then I must accept that every single person is in one of those two categories. Logically, (assuming that I am IN) the first thing I ought to do when meeting a new person is find out which category they are in. If they're Out, then I should try to get them In.

The trouble is, the In or Out model has become the central notion in defining the way we relate to one another. This is true for all denominations, all religions, all people of nearly every faith tradition. This has proven to be a divisive, disastrous mindset and teaching, for this reason:

In or Out has absolutely and completely taken the place of Love.

In or Out makes "believing together" more important than "living together." After all, the criteria for determining In or Out is what a person believes. The net result is that there's an awful lot of convincing going on--a lot of compelling, explaining, telling. Certainly not a lot of inviting.

Also, because we recognize a distinction between the Ins and the Outs, we end up treating the "Ins" differently than the "Outs." It ends up that I only like (love) those who are like me. Ugh.

How did it come to this?

With In or Out, the most important thing we can do for someone who is Out is to try to get them In. We unconsciously elevate some kinds of human activities above other kinds of activities. Soul-winning, evangelism, preaching, etc. (activities directed specifically at moving people from Out to In) are the ultimate.

Comforting the suffering, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, helping the poor--these are second rate activities, because they don't really (directly) move people from one category to the other.

Think on that for a minute.

Regarding In and Out, the best we get from Jesus is "Go all over the place and make disciples." Being a rabbi, His words made perfect sense to those listening, but have been reinterpreted in light of today's In or Out mentality.

I don't believe He was implying that we should roam the earth seeking to convert people, to get them In. He was actually saying something more tangible than that, something more like:

Go and teach as I have taught, live as I have lived, walk as I have walked, love as I have loved.

And He didn't exactly tell us what this was all about. Jesus didn't say that we should teach, or live, or love with any particular objective in mind relative to In or Out. We don't love in order to obtain a result. We don't love in order to get something we want. We don't love to see something accomplished. We don't love people in order to "win" them.

We love because we can't help it. Jesus in us makes us loving. We love because we are "in Him." It's almost like the action of loving is the end in itself. That a good deed is good simply because it's good.

So what am I suggesting? I'm not saying we should change our methodology for getting people In. And I'm not saying that all people are In by default. I'm hoping there's something that trumps In or Out as the central mindset of our walk with Jesus.

Here's what I mean:

What if all people are forgiven; only some continue to walk in darkness. They are sheep, only they are LOST sheep. He came to seek and rescue those who were lost.

(Come to think of it, wouldn't it be best for us to help people who think they are found to actually "get lost"? Once they get there, to that lost wilderness, they'll be found and rescued by Jesus. Hmmm. May have to follow up on this one.)

What if Jesus got done what He came to do, and He did it fully, and that His desire is for all to know Him, the way He knows the Father (John 17)? And now He makes Himself known in a variety of ways--some of which result in hardly any noticeable outward differences, especially admission to a set of beliefs regarding "conversion".

What if Life isn't defined by a belief system? Or even better, what if Life doesn't happen right after the conscious decision to hold to a set of propositions (no matter how factual or accurate)?

What if a person can be IN Jesus without even "knowing" it--what if it isn't about choice or knowledge or certainty at all? What if Jesus continues to pick whom He will to follow Him?

After all, at what point did Jesus' closest followers actually "believe"? After His resurrection. And even then, one asked "Please help my unbelief!"

I'll push this further. What if by coming to know US, by being loved by US, those in darkness can see His Light? What if by coming to know us, those in darkness are coming to know Jesus? What if the Light that shines from us somehow helps them walk in the Light, even when it isn't coming from inside them yet? What if our Light somehow makes its way inside them?

What if we are Jesus to them? Would we continue to evaluate one another, and look for Stars upon Thars before loving them?

Here's a fun read, if you want to read the whole Dr. Seuss story and see how it all turned out: Bellies with Stars