Confessions of a Narrow-Minded Christian

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” ~Matthew 7:13-14

My dad often calls me his anti-establishmentarian hippie.

We often joke that, under different circumstances, I might have ended up living in Austin, Texas hugging trees, saving the whales, and embracing all things crunchy. When my parents’ new iPhone 4’s sputtered because of a lack of reception we were soon told it would be remedied by AT&T building more cell-phone towers across America, I joked, “Congratulations, guys. Ya’ll will be video-chatting while a family of squirrels searches for a new home.”

Poor squirrels. Poor panhandler that I can never pass without digging in my pockets. Poor history books that are splattered with my tears over life’s long over. Poor friends who banished me from watching a WWII movie because I kept crying whenever a German soldier was shot by the Allies.

In typical “All You Need is Love” fashion, I have often struggled with the label “narrow-minded.” For me, narrow-mindedness always connoted the opposite of the caring person I wanted to be; a narrow-minded person is pushy and prideful – it’s their way or the highway! A narrow-minded person was not loving or caring – she was heartless and rude.

In our society, we prize descriptions like open-minded -tolerant -accepting. All you need is love – and to love is not to judge, right?

As Christian women, however, we often fail to realize that our faith is, by nature, narrowly defined by God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Our roles, our callings, our very personalities should operate in submission to the Bible. It is counter-intuitive for many of us to stand on the Word of God, forsaking the rhetoric – and oftentimes the approval – of popular culture.  Naturally, we don’t like to be called names – and if we’re anything like I have a tendency to be, we love people… a lot. And we don’t want to see them hurt, even by our biblical principles.

But it’s when we realize that sharing every aspect of the gospel is the height of love that a label like “narrow-minded” ceases to become such a crippling insult. Yes, sometimes our standards will make us seem intolerant… but those standards are the result of a full-hearted love for our Savior, who cannot tolerate sin (John 14:15). Yes, sometimes our lifestyles will make us peculiar – but we are called to be conformed to the Word of God, not to the world around us (Romans 12:1-2).

Some days, I’d like to walk barefoot through a field with flowers in my hair, arms outstretched to give the whole world a big hug… but, as a Christian, I know that that hug I want to give ought to be the Great Commission, not a wink and a nod at sin: “Well, you have to do whatever works for you. I’m a pretty open-minded person.”

In some senses, I’m a narrow-minded girl… and I walk a narrow road. And, these days, that’s all right with me, because I want my mind to be one with Christ, and I want to walk in his ways. And even though I want a sharply defined worldview (Hebrews 4:12)… that worldview allows me to express the height of devotion: to share the love of Christ with the world through teaching his precepts (Matthew 28:19ff). What could be more loving than that??

My hippie heart rejoices.

About The Author

Jasmine Baucham has written 2 articles on this blog.

Jasmine is the only daughter, and oldest of Voddie and Bridget Baucham's six children. She is a homeschool graduate who enjoys studying and writing about areas as varied as theology, philosophy, political science, art, film and culture. Jasmine is also an aspiring author who currently lives at home where she continues to assist her father in his research, is completing a degree in English literature, writing a book based on her blog Joyfully at Home and is blessed to assist her mother with the care of her younger siblings.

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