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The Only Kind of “Radical” God Wants Us to Embody: Radical Love

By Brianna Engler (’22)

Out of all the commandments that Jesus could have focused on during his ministry and time on Earth, he chose the two commandments centered around love. Not only did he speak of love, but he also lived it. He did so as an example of how us Christians should love each other. Yet, as I look around today, I seldom see this radical love. As Christians, we are called to “love our neighbors as ourselves” and we are failing. This is the part where you may say, “But I love everyone.” If you are truly honest with yourself, do you though? This radical love I am talking about is more than a surface feeling or description of your agreeable personality. This is action. You may be kind to someone to their face, or tolerate their presence when you are near them, but what about when you aren’t around them? Under your breath do you say “ugh, those [democrats/republicans/fill in the blank]?” Do you talk to your like-minded friends about how wrong someone else is? I have. I am writing this as someone who is in the midst of figuring out how to love radically. I am failing, but I am striving to be better. 

It is all over the news: we are an extremely divided country. We love our neighbors, as long as they think just like us. Any other individual is not one’s neighbor, but rather an evil being. We love to demonize the outgroup almost as much as we love our ingroup. Let’s make this a little more convicting with examples. Have you ever heard, or said, “All those democrats are baby killers,” or “All those republicans are homophobic”? How are these statements helping anyone? Answer: they are not. Why are we all high and mighty? Jesus lived among the sinners, he loved them and cared for them. One thing Jesus did not do was demonize them or look at them as lost causes. Yet we, each and every one of us sinners, believe it is our right to point out the sins in others and ostracize them for it. To that I repeat the words of scripture, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye.” We are called to be the light of the earth, butI do not believe that people see light when they look at Christians right now. Rather, they observe our hatred towards one another, our anger, our hypocrisy. Each side unwilling to seriously talk to the other. This is where we are failing. We should be able to have a conversation with those we disagree with. By this I do not mean a conversation in which you are trying to disprove the other by demolishing them, nor do I mean a conversation where you hide your true views. I mean an authentic conversation in which all parties are open to learning about the side of the person they are talking to. One in which each person is not yelling at one another but are trying to learn from the other. Do not get me wrong: this is hard. It is so difficult to hear another side when you so desperately believe that you are right. I have had these moments. Moments where I want to shake someone until they see the truth and scream “why don’t you understand, why don’t you see?” Where did I get the idea that I know the whole truth? Currently, we all believe we have the truth, but we do not. The only way to get to the Truth is to communicate with others and be willing to learn and grow together.

Just to reiterate, I am not advocating for everyone to “agree to disagree.” We should be able to disagree respectfully and still learn from that. In addition to this, part of radically loving someone is helping them. If someone you know has been given misinformation, you should call that out. Just a few examples of topics that many people are misinformed on include COVID, the vaccine, and voter fraud. With so many variations of the truth swirling around, we may need to be directed to reliable sources. Ones like NPR and The Wall Street Journal are fairly neutral and are fact reporting (according to Media Bias Chart, 2018). Using resources like this can be very helpful. One thing that is never helpful: telling someone they are not a Christian because of the political party they align with. Let us remember that we have all fallen short of the glory of God but are saved through grace. We are Christians first and foremost, our political party is not, or at least should not be, a large part of our identity, especially when compared to the image of God that we bear. While I focused on political affiliations, since it is the most prominent area in which we are failing as Christians, we are divided in so many more ways. Be diligent at looking into yourself and work with God to pluck out any hatred. Work with those who see things differently than you in order to reach Truth. Above all, look to the greatest example of radical love and do likewise. ★

Bri is a junior majoring in psychology with a minor in diversity studies.

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Life Through the Lens of Death

My father is a mortician, someone whose career is involved in the business of funeral rites, the embalming and cremation or burial of the deceased, and the planning and arrangement of the funeral services.  To put it simply, he works with dead people.

Photo by: Nate Moore
Photo by: Nate Moore

Growing up, it was normal for me to ride in the car with my dad on a late night “removal,” to walk to the funeral home after school to catch a ride home, or for the flowers on my dining room table to be a mix of whatever was left at the last services. I grew up surrounded by death. It is something I have experienced first hand as well. Be it close grandparents, aunts and uncles, or classmates, it is safe to say I have seen more than a normal amount of my contemporaries die.

You might think that constantly experiencing death and witnessing grief would spiral me into a deep state of depression, but surprisingly it hasn’t. In fact, it has had the opposite effect on me. Don’t get me wrong, grief and death have played their fair share of sadness in my life. However, being constantly reminded of the mortality of others, and myself, makes me handle life differently. When you realize life is fleeting, it changes how you prioritize your intentions and time. It makes a lot of seemingly huge issues in the world seem like petty distractions, and it makes the gamble of faith seem all the more logical.

Let me explain.

mikequoteGrades are important. Having things like a stellar resume and a steady supply of internships are important. Landing a killer job after graduation, being successful, and paying off loans are important. However, if they are all I have when I leave college, my time would be a waste. Instead, I would be a robot who was efficient in taking the steps to be successful in life, but I would know no one. Relationships and connections are more valuable in the end. When you are 92 and in the hospital on your deathbed, who is going to be there with you? Your success, or the ones you have poured your life into?

That seems like a lot of big picture thoughts, but really in my everyday life, it makes me react to things with a different perspective. It shifts my priorities from the everyday into the long term.

It may seem morbid, but I think that we would all be a little better, a little kinder, and have more of a purpose if we lived life more like we were dying. After all, we are.

Michael is a junior majoring in communication with a concentration in media arts and design, and minors in fine arts and sociology.

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Married To My Maiden Name

In May, I got married. It was cold, chaotic, and it snowed. It was everything I imagined and more. Months leading up to the ceremony were filled with so many decisions it made my head spin. One of the biggest decisions I had to make, though, was if I wanted to change my last name following the wedding. It was the normal thing to do, so normal I found myself changing my Facebook name and Instagram handle the day after the wedding. That’s just what you do, right?

Photo by: Anthony Burdo
Photo by: Nate Moore

It should have seemed like a natural thing to do, so I was confused when I found myself struggling to go through with the legal process. It was so permanent. I thought about it for months, and the more I thought about it, I couldn’t make myself go through with the process, at least not at this point in time.

When it comes down to it, people, whether adopting a nickname, naming a child, or taking a spouse’s last name after marriage, should spend more than a moment deciding to make the switch. Names are important and should reflect the unique identity God created in each of us. However, with cultural expectations and unique names encouraged by a ‘hipster’ culture our making names are less meaningful and more practical. Celebrities are calling their children Satchel, Sistine, Sunday, Casper, Apple, Suri, North, Reign, Blue Ivy, and Elula. This speaks volumes about how little we value names, and their potential to foster the identities of future generations.

To me, my name is so much more than letters placed on a legal document. My name is years of family loyalty and memories. My name is, and always has been my identity. My name grew with me, as I shed the formality of Danielle Eaton, and matured into Dani Eaton. To give that up felt like giving up part of myself.

daniquoteNames, once a source of identifying profession, have evolved over the years with their importance being overlooked more and more. Names have become more labels and cultures than anything. Think, for example, of the Kardashians. This is a name so many people recognize around the world, but, instead of fostering a unique identity, has fostered a culture around their name, making it a material item. Children born into the Kardashian family will be forced to follow into their footsteps of producing an image and being known for their iconic looks. This is (hopefully) not what people think of when they think of Eaton.

Additionally, today’s society spoon feeds the idea of uniqueness to people, but not the identities that come with a name, and the identity that God wishes us to have. In the Bible it says God knows us by name. In John 10:3 it says, “To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” He calls his sheep by name, not by “the one in the red shirt,” “the unique one that has the cool hobbies,” or even “the one with the purple hair.” If our name was nothing more than letters on paper, then why would God make a point to call us by it?

Right now, I don’t know who Danielle Bullard is. She seems foreign and unfamiliar to me, and maybe in time that will change. I’m sure as Danielle turned into Dani, if Eaton turns into Bullard, my identity will then, once again, change. But that’s okay with me, as God didn’t intend for me to stay one person for the rest of my life. He intended for me to grow, and for my identity to change, as he intends for all of us. Value your name as God values you, and please don’t name your children after fruit.

Dani is a senior majoring in communication and writing

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Re-Examining Western Materialism

Take a second to think about the things you or your family own. How many of them did you make? My assumption is very few. I’ve come to realize that I have made very few  items by hand. Those I have made, I have taken incredibly good care of. In high school, I once made a secretary-style desk in wood-shop class and I cared for it as though it was worth a fortune. If anyone so much as touched it I would watch like a hawk. Why? Well, I understood first-hand how that desk was made, I knew the amount of work put into it.

Photo by: Nate Moore
Photo by: Nate Moore

My hope is that you have had a similar experience. Unfortunately this attachment to material items, like the one I had with my desk, embodies the very opposite of the consumer culture in which we live. We so often buy things as cheaply as possible, only to discard them and buy more. In fact, the things we buy are often conveniently made to be disposable in order to fuel our culture’s love for shopping. Author William T. Cavanaugh put it this way, “Our relationships with products tend to be short-lived; rather than hoarding treasured objects, consumers are characterized by a constant dissatisfaction with material goods.”

Our emphasis with regards to the material world, especially in the Christian tradition, is to try to disengage ourselves. This view comes from the way we interpret scripture. In Matthew, Jesus rebukes storing up treasures here on earth. In Colossians, Paul attacks greed. It’s obvious that the way we relate to the material world is a spiritual practice, but does this mean we need to become detached from the material world? From my observations, the problems we face in our culture do not come from excessively storing up treasures, or becoming too attached to the things we own, although this something we must still be on guard against. Instead, it is that we have no regard for the things we own, the things we buy, and especially where they came from or how they were produced. Because of this, we have no issue filling up dumpsters with our unwanted things. I know this all too well. I may have engaged in the act of dumpster-diving once or twice.

landonquotePerhaps the issue stems from the fact that we very seldom play a part in the making of our own goods. In pre-industrial society, homes were a place of production. Whether this involved farming the majority of their own food or making a portion of their own goods, there was pride and meaning in a person’s work. This is not to romanticize those times, it had its fair share of challenges. However, it would certainly be a lot harder to waste food that had come from your own garden, or throw away clothes you made with your own hands.

I’m not writing this to give you a guilty conscience, or to demand that you start hand-making all of the things you own. That would be a bit ridiculous. I’m writing this as a reminder. A reminder that the things we own, the things we buy, and the things we eat all have an impact on our lives and the lives of the people that make or produce them. They are our voice in the dark.  As election season is in full tilt, we know that our vote can play a small yet significant role in our own lives and in the lives of others. We do not only vote on November 8, though. We vote everyday with our wallet. How can the decisions we make as consumers help to bring God’s kingdom to earth?

Landon is a senior environmental biology major with a minor in international development.

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From the Editor’s Desk: Stirring the Pot

img_3297We scroll through our Facebook feed, sighing at our racist uncle that’s sharing an opinion written by one of his friends, riddled with inaccurate facts and stereotypes. On the flip side, we shake our head at an article we read, although accurate and factual, because it clashes with our view of the world, irritating us. We make one crucial mistake when we continue to scroll though, we encourage a lack of dialogue and discussion that has the potential to help us grow and educate ourselves.

I could go into a rant about how we need to listen to one another with love and compassion, but we’ve all heard that before, and more than once. Once we’ve made the decision to listen, we need to take the next step and make the decision to respond. Response is a crucial part of educating ourselves and playing our part in bettering society, both as people and as Christians.

We should take every opportunity for discourse presented to us as a chance to grow and challenge our views. Challenging your views solidifies that you not only, are firmly grounded in your beliefs, but also that you have a rounded, educated opinion. If we are privileged enough to have opportunities and sources to grow our knowledge, then we shouldn’t waste them.

webquoteThis, fellow students, is my challenge to you from myself as editor-in-chief of The Star. I would ask that you use The Star as a platform to educate yourself and others through educated discourse. If an opinion published in The Star challenges your personal convictions, ask to write an opinion, comment on the article online, or, better yet, write a letter to the editor.

While The Star may not have an opinion written by your racist uncle, it is just as easy to ignore. Stars practically litter the campus, you don’t give it a second thought as you toss the version you got after chapel in the garbage or leave it on your table at lunch. It’s easy to vent to your friends, or complain via Yik Yak about how ridiculous someone’s opinion is. Instead of forgetting about it, leaving it behind, or letting your voice be lost in the anonymity of an app, use the paper to remind yourself to develop your opinions and strengthen your beliefs.

Don’t be afraid to be challenged and grow. The Star serves as a place for voices of students, staff, and community members to be heard. My hope is that The Star to be a vehicle for a variety of opinions and perspectives, whether they be similar or contrasting. Don’t be afraid to stir the pot, ruffle some feathers, and most importantly, promote discussion. So go ahead; comment on that racist uncle’s Facebook post, just make sure it is educated, thoughtful, and compassionate.