Why does it seem like there are two completely different versions of Christianity in the United States?

Because there are... but they're not liberal and conservative.

Cassidy Steele Dale forecasts and contextualizes the present to equip us to make a better, kinder future…

… and one of those ways is to explain the internal narratives someone may hold because if you understand someone’s internal narrative you can forecast some of their behavior.

It’s cliche to say that every one of us is the hero of our own story, but it’s deeply true that every one of us sees ourselves as a character in our own story line. Some of us see ourselves (or want to be) the noble hero in a world at war. Some of us want to be the great nurturer in a kind world… or in spite of a harsh one. Some of us see ourselves as The Lone Ranger or a cowboy or a Jedi Knight in a lawless, dangerous land. Some of us see ourselves as a victim who avoids ever-new dangers daily. You get the idea. “I am a ____ in a world of ____.”

Whatever that is… that’s the life narrative you hold.

A few years ago I realized that “conservative” and “liberal” versions of Christianity aren’t liberal or conservative as much as they are “Knight” and “Gardener.”

• “Knights” believe the universe is the site of a cosmic struggle between good and evil and light and dark and that each of us must be in service of one or the other. Further, Knights can believe that if you aren’t on their side, the side of the good, then you must be in service of evil. For Knights, God is the Great Commander of the Armies of the Good seeking victory over evil and that if the good are weak then evil will wipe out everything and everyone we love.

• “Gardeners” believe the universe is the site of a great cosmic garden and that all of us are meant to aid the growth of all living things. For Gardeners, God is the Great Designer, Great Teacher, and Great Inspire-r.

Knights and Gardeners both read the same Bible and get different things — and theologies and politics — out of it. (An extra feature: the liberal-conservative paradigm is insufficient in wake of the Knight-Gardener one. There are liberal Knights and conservative Gardeners. Happens all the time.)

Which narrative you hold — Knight or Gardener — shapes what you see as heroic behavior, which then shapes how you handle your love relationships, which then shapes how you handle conflict, all of which shapes how you approach matters of the soul.

If you can identify whether someone you know — at home, at church, in politics, or in the workplace — is a Knight or Gardener then you may be able to forecast some of their behavior because you’ll have a handle on how they see the world, see new situations, and will tend to address the problems in front of them.

In light of that I offer you this free e-book, The Knight and The Gardener: Worldviews Make Worlds, a prequel to my e-book Combat Theology: How to Weaponize and De-Weaponize a Religion. It will help you identify someone as a Knight or a Gardener and forecast their behavior. It’s thorough. I get way down into the weeds on a lot of stuff. (If you’re in a hurry just read the red text in order to skim the whole thing and then come back to the parts that matter to you most.) The Knight and The Gardener is a great forecasting tool.

Here’s the kicker: You’ll probably find yourself within it.

And if you’re not interested in any of that, then read it for this: it’s gonna explain your family.