How to have a cause without being a jerk

“A man without a cause” is normally not something you or I would want to be called. This implies having a cause is desirable. Why?

I mean, I don’t have a Mercedes, so I am “A man without a Mercedes.” I am also “A man without two mortgages.” But these are good things to be without, at least in my mind. But “a man without a cause?” Hey, watch who you’re saying that to…

What is a cause? And why is it so desirable to have one?

At dictionary.com, I find this: “a principle, ideal, goal, or movement to which a person or group is dedicated: (e.g.): the Socialist cause; the human rights cause.”

This suggests to me that having a cause means I am a promoter of its contents (I am appreciating what comes with the word “dedicated”). It also suggests that by being part of such a dedicated group, I am necessarily divided from folks not in that group. So the more causes I have, the more divided I am from others. And this is a good thing?

That’s one conundrum. Here’s another:

It strikes me that some people can’t carry on a conversation without making it essentially a cause-promotion sort of thing. And this also is well-regarded in our culture. I once attended an architect’s conference where all the discussions were led by a person designated for the entire (long) weekend as the provocateur -- somehow it sounds better in French. The guy was a real jerk.

I don’t want to be divided from more and more groups. And I don’t want to be a jerk.

But I also don’t want to be a man without a cause.

Hmmm, what to do…?

Logos2Go

1 Corinthians 2.2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

1 Corinthians 9.19-22 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those under the law, as under the law, that I might win those under the law; to those without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.