his article will steer clear of political conservatism or liberalism and focus on their social analogues. Politics and financial wisdom aside, there is something about these two mindsets to which both parties tend to blind themselves. That is the fact that there is a point at which both of these systems break down.

Social conservatism relies on strict adherence to arbitrary regulations. When it comes to a choice between staying the course or changing, a conservative will always stay the course. After all, it’s worked so well this far, if it’s not broke, why fix it? If a conservative makes any new claim, it’s based on an old standard. Advancements are looked at skeptically and carefully. They will not be accepted without absolute proof of safety.

A conservative is loyal to the end, always follows the rules, colors inside the lines, goes by the book, and never strays off the beaten path. A conservative is safe and out of harm’s way. As long as he sticks to his guns, he never gets into trouble.

Social liberalism takes life to its fullest extent. A liberal goes with the ever-changing flow of the world. He’s always into what’s new and exciting and pushes society to greater advancements in science, technology and social welfare. Because of his ever-changing nature, a liberal is happy to admit when he’s wrong. He never makes steadfast claims without having studied the subject to exhaustion. He makes proposals, gives ideas, or formulates hypotheses that sometimes may seem preposterous or even offensive; but he knows that without proper research and study he can never rely fully on these ideas, despite how hard he fights to get them recognized.

A liberal is free-spirited and free-thinking. He always gets into harm’s way just to see exactly how harmful it is. When he gets into trouble, it’s for the benefit of himself and all mankind.

It’s easy for the church to fall into the trap that says that conservatism is always right and liberalism is always wrong. After all, we carry around a Bible that is over 3,000 years old. We serve a never-changing, ever-loyal and steadfast God. What we sometimes fail to realize is that a certain dosage of liberalism is healthy and sometimes even required. God himself went through a huge change in how he dealt with us from the Old to the New Testament.

The fact is that change happens and, while we shouldn’t take change without care, we should be able to roll with and sometimes even swing the punches.