Many Christians have an inability to use their imaginations. Christian culture often seems to quell imagination, to turn our faith into a list of answers and clear-cut formulas. We leave no room for complexity, grey areas, or doubt. When this happens we prefer preaching over teaching, indoctrination over revelation, and propaganda over learning.
Christianity isn’t meant to be a form of passive escapism. Following Jesus means embracing others — everyone: family, friends, enemies, and strangers. But many of those enmeshed in Christian culture have an inability to see themselves in someone else’s shoes.
Why would we want to understand the harsh reality of others? Because Jesus commands us to. He humbly loved everyone and sacrificially devoted his life to serving those who were radically different from him.
Imagination leads to empathy, empathy leads to understanding, understanding leads to action, action leads to experience, and experience leads to wisdom — which leads to even more imagination. This is why keeping an open mind is so important — it helps expands people’s imagination.
When imagination is missing, the void is filled with preconceptions, stereotypes, assumptions, biases, prejudices, and presuppositions. Imagination unlocks our potential to gain knowledge and understanding, to go beyond our comfort zones.
Choosing to utilize our imagination requires risk, vulnerability, and bravery, and it’s often easier to ignore — and avoid — the suffering of others instead of empathizing and communally adopting the sufferings of others as our own.
The full article is available here
