*updated 12/20/2009 @9:30pm* I’ll blog more about this in this space by Monday afternoon but I wanted to open up the gates to see what people think of this article titled “Evangelical church opens doors fully to gays”.
Thoughts?
If you look down in comments you’ll find two amazing Men of God who lay the case out pretty effectively. Scott Roche (spiritualtramp) and Jason Ackerman (jasonmonster) are two fairly well balanced Christian men of whom I’ve had the honor to work on a few things with and as far as I can tell, they know what they’re talking about.
The bottom line is quotes and ideas that both Scott and Jason point out. This one got me (and Scott) going. “I just didn’t feel God would tell a person to deny a big part of who they are and to keep it a secret.” When you sign up to be a Christian (as the name implies – CHRIST-like) you’re setting yourself apart from the world of sin. Mind you, we’re going to sin everyday but the focus of being a Christian is to work against that part of our humanity. We strive to be Christ in everything we do and if we’re going to even break even on that agreement we’re going to have some rules about what is cool and what is not cool.
In the eyes of God/Jesus/HolySpirit, the act of homosexual sex is a sin. We can’t argue with that. When you sign up with God it’s a whole new ballgame. Accepting Jesus into your life and heart is an agreement to turn your life over to Him and what He commands. You can’t start making up your own rules about the basic tenets of Christianity because it makes you feel better or because you think it’s the way it should be. If Christianity isn’t your bag (and it certainly isn’t for everyone*) there’s plenty of other religions out there and probably multiples willing to be more liberal and free with certain things.
*When I say it isn’t for everyone, I was meaning to say not everyone makes the choice to join up. Everyone should have the choice to choose Jesus but if you aren’t willing to sacrifice yourself and the sin you’ve worn for so long…as they say “YOR DOING IT RONG!”
Jason breaks it down in comments with this nugget -
It’s an issue of crossing the line from saying ‘we love you no matter who you are or what you’ve done, and believe there’s a place in God’s familiy for you’ and ‘your sin is justified, because God wouldn’t possibly want you to be unhappy’. That’s a dangerous line to cross, in my opinion. It actually IS a sin to act in accordance with your nature – that’s the whole point of redemption, that our nature is exactly what is stopping us from being in relationship with the God that created us.
The last point I’d like to make (and it’s one I’ve made more times than I care to count) is that Christianity can’t be reinvented, reworked or reimagined. (kudos to grant on twitter for saying, “”Christianity can’t be reinvented, reworked or reimagined.” Isn’t that the entire history of Christianity?” and to that I say I’m speaking more or less to “modern” Christianity and I hope that makes sense…)
At the end of the day it’s about Jesus, you and living a life according to Him as best as you can every day, day by day.
And if you aren’t down with that…well, that’s your decision. And I ain’t about to try and run yours or anyone else’s life. I have enough trouble keeping mine out of the repair shop.
“I just didn’t feel God would tell a person to deny a big part of who they are and to keep it a secret.”
vs
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
“It’s not that we don’t acknowledge the reality of sin. It’s not a sin to be gay or act in accordance with your nature.”
vs
“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”
“The Bible, read literally, suggests the earth is flat and could be used to justify slavery, he said. ”
Hmmmm.
Yeah I have a problem with this guy. I mean I think the doors should certainly be open to homosexuals. They must understand that everything in their lives including their sexuality is tainted by sin. They should also understand that part of being in the body means that your sins will be challenged and it’s clear to me that this includes homosexuality.
It would be like me deciding that porn is healthy and beneficial to every Christian’s walk and starting a church with an unrepentant porn star on my board.
Rocking good words. I’ve got some more marinating on the brain before I type out my thoughts…but you’re spot on the money.
hrm.
I wasn’t sure exactly how to express what I’m thinking, but I think Scott said it well.
It’s not an issue of whether homosexuals can or can’t be involved in the church, or whether they can or can’t be treated as children of God and loved as such.
It’s an issue of crossing the line from saying ‘we love you no matter who you are or what you’ve done, and believe there’s a place in God’s familiy for you’ and ‘your sin is justified, because God wouldn’t possibly want you to be unhappy’. That’s a dangerous line to cross, in my opinion. It actually IS a sin to act in accordance with your nature – that’s the whole point of redemption, that our nature is exactly what is stopping us from being in relationship with the God that created us.
So theologically speaking, I think the guy started with the right motive and went too far.
I’m totally down with open, I just can’t roll with affirming. And that goes for any sinful behaviour, not just the one that seems to catch the most attention nowadays.
Nicely put.