The Little Old Ladies Knitting Circle Test

Photo by Oksana Zub on Unsplash.

I used to work at a church. I had an office off a corner of the youth room, which was in the basement. Once each week, the oldest of the little old ladies would descend the steps, haul their gear out of a closet, get gabby, and knit away. Over the years, I’ve often thought of them when assessing accusations cast at Christians.

Here are a few examples:

1. Christians support barbarous practices such as armed conquest: Historically, Christians have a lot of blood on their hands, but none of the old ladies ever looted a city or put anyone to the sword, so . . . this accusation isn’t borne out by common example in our time.
2. Christians believe gay people are going to Hell: I don’t remember anyone at church ever being hateful on this issue, but it’s safe to say that, if the question were put to them, at least some of the little old ladies would say yes, gay people go to Hell, so . . . guilty as charged.
3. Christians believe fairy tales: Many Christians are surprisingly open to stories in the Bible not being literally true, or they leave the question in suspension, but they do hold to certain key events such as the virgin birth and resurrection . . . so the picture is mixed.

The little old ladies (who would be centenarians now) can’t represent every Christian — a world of difference exists between struggling Midwestern farmers in the pews and preachers of the prosperity Gospel, an elder at a Lutheran church in Cambodia and a girl at a Catholic school in South Africa — but they are a test of what the average Christian believes, and you probably know people like them. They’re no saints, but who but the saints is?