Catharsis in Disunity

               Chapters three and four in Disunity in Christ discuss the idea of “us” and “them”, and the harmful ramifications that these ideas have. While it is useful to categorize people, places, and things outside of ourselves to conserve mental energy and to save time, it can become hazardous when our categories and definitions of other humans become negative, stereotypical, and biased.                One of the first things that caught my attention was the way the author immediately recognizes her own biases and assumption. I believe one of the most important steps in recognizing and overcoming the disunity in both the church and the world as a whole is admitting our own faults first. Christena Cleveland is very bold, yet humble, in her admittance of her own guilt. Whether it’s with a hipster church in Minnesota or a Calvinist at a univer...

The opening chapters of Christena Cleveland’s “ Disunity in Christ” are convicting and eye-opening. She succinctly describes the operational thinking of almost every Christian, and then systematically tears that thinking apart. She describes her “Right Christian, Wrong Christian” model, which every Christian, I think, can relate to in one form or another, and exposes it for the hypocritical, un -Christian process that it is.                It is disturbing to me the extent to which I can see this ideology in others and in myself. While I hope that I am not an extreme example of this belief, I am certain that I display qualities of it from time to time. “Right Christian, Wrong Christian” ideology is easy to slip into, a mode of thinking that takes little effort since we are bred into it.                I can see the ideas of group polarization...