Gradualism: Is for Theology but not Politics?

One big and central concept in Christian theology which has always bothered me is...well it's difficult to find a single phrase to capture it. It's a particular configuration of change & time/newness.

Christianity figures a series of changes. That history is broken in two by Jesus: Pre-Resurrection & Post-Resurrection. Personal history is pre-conversion & post-conversion. This has a lot of related aspects in theology. Missilogy is creating & offering the possibility of being post-conversion.

Christianity then figures as modernity, as "the new" & "the future". Such claims to newness become claims to uniqueness which become claims to exclusivity.

I am not claiming all Christians think/feel this way.

Rather I am getting to this point: It feels difficult, impossible at times, to present theological arguments without participating in such a history/attitude of exclusivity. In progressive theology as much as conservative theology, there is the message that refusal of the core of the theology presented will result in petuating and participating in the death-dealing of the status quo of our society. The only difference is in definitions of death & what the status quo is.

As a theologian, I need to make sure I can write in a way that does not require a yes/no response from readers. Or put better: I need ensure that a more expansive range of responses are allowed, presented, and encouraged. Total assent & total dissent, or even varying degrees of each are not enough. I do not need to be offering creeds for people to recite in total agreement. To write theology is to (hopefully) be a part of the church's theological history. I want to empower future writers to engage in my theology in ways other than just a sliding scale of affirmation & critique.

But actually, I have gotten away from my original intended point. I have just stated a possible solution to the symptoms of the problem. Here is my idea for addressing the source of the problem. While this is not a new solution (which is kinda the post anyway), I find a lot of hope and inspiration in theologies that emphasize renewal or reinvigoration. The image that comes to mind is that of returning to a greater closeness to God.

A question/critique that still remains is how am I deeply committed to social change (often in a non-gradualist sense), while wanting/seeking to take the opposite attitude in how I present my theology.