I'll be honest... I have no idea how to start this post. That doesn't mean it's going to be a downer, there's just so many places to go with such a question. The short answer is this: I don't know.
I know that to be a Christian means to live with the conviction of who Jesus was and how He lived. But how can we live with that conviction if we fail to grasp who Jesus was and what exactly He did?
Jesus was a Jewish carpenter who thought about his religion in radically different ways; ways that eventually got him killed. He was a man who wept. He was a man who reached out beyond the social stigmas and touched lepers, dined with tax collectors, and spoke with prostitutes, more often than not at the cost of His ritual cleanness and religious reputation. He was a man who spoke with great authority. He was a man who taught in parables in circumstances that most teachers today would cause most teachers today to use the simplest terms possible. He was a man who called all kinds of people to follow him before they even knew who He was. He was a man who challenged those around him to rethink everything they thought they knew about faith, life, and the world around them.
I've called myself a follower of this man for several years now, and yet I can look back and see how often I've totally neglected who Jesus was and how he lived, and at times even spoke against certain aspects of the way I now know that He lived. I also look at myself now and wonder how much of what I do and believe and understand about the world around me in incongruent with who Jesus was and how He lived. I wouldn't say I worry about it, because God's gracious enough to love me in spite of whatever I may believe about Him... but I certainly hope that whatever inconsistency I may have with the life Jesus lived causes as little pain and divide in those who are looking for Jesus in me.
God either has a sense of humor or is a horrible judge of character when choosing who goes into ministry.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Brain Fart of a Ministry Student
These two weeks have gone by rather quickly, but I suppose I have to choose between quantity and quality when it comes to posting.
One thing that's been on my mind the past few days has been the legitimacy of insight offered by non-Christians about how the Church is doing. Unfortunately, this insight is more often than not rejected as hateful criticism and ill-hearted judgment. Quite the contrary though, I think outsiders are some of the significant and unexpected modern-day prophets God could have possibly utilized in pointing out where the Church has and is falling short. One of these shortcomings is that the Church is more likely to voice opposition than support... We're known for what we're against rather than what we're for.
Take homosexuality for example. A recent national survey showed that 91% of outsiders view Christians as anti-homosexual. It saddens me that the word "tolerance" has become a four-letter word in evangelical circles, and that any mention of the word is often immediately and unknowingly mentally translated into blind acceptance and apathy.
I am probably going to seem very scattered for the next paragraph or so (if I don't already). I think the solution to our problem lies in the way we do evangelism. Recent years have led us to start from the point of our fallen nature. That's why nonbelievers are sinners who have fallen short of God's perfect standard and need to repent and accept Jesus in order to avoid the eternal torment of Hell. The problem with this approach is that we've forgotten a part of our story... our Creation. When we start from our fallenness, we forget that each and every person bears the Image of God, and God originally called us "very good". If we start from the point of Creation, the way we do evangelism looks radically different. There are then no inherently "bad people", and we begin to dine with prostitutes and tax collectors.
If we start from the point of Creation rather than the point of Fallenness, then the way we address issues such as homosexuality also looks radically different. We've been known up until this point for what we're against rather than what we're for. I'm for authentic, affirming, and holy sexuality. (By "holy", I mean "set apart"). I believe God designed this sexuality to take the form of heterosexual, monogamous, committed relationships within the context of a publicly acknowledged marriage. I'm not for anything that falls short of this God-designed form of sexuality, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual. I sympathize with those who struggle with same-sex attraction. I believe homosexuality is a distortion of the gift of sexuality that God has given us, and is reflective of our fallen nature. All sexual sin is especially destructive and cuts to the core of who we are.
That being said, I think we need to approach homosexuality and those who struggle with same-sex attraction with extreme compassion. I can think of nothing more difficult than finding out that my sexuality and affections are a distortion of God's design and that I need to change it. Let's not forget that people who struggle with same-sex attraction are still made in the Image of God and should be treated as such. The church needs to be a refuge for the world, not from the world, and I want people from all walks of life to feel like they're where they belong when they're within the walls of a church, no matter what they've done or struggle with. Something is wrong when the people who need Jesus most feel unwelcome by those claiming to represent Him.
One thing that's been on my mind the past few days has been the legitimacy of insight offered by non-Christians about how the Church is doing. Unfortunately, this insight is more often than not rejected as hateful criticism and ill-hearted judgment. Quite the contrary though, I think outsiders are some of the significant and unexpected modern-day prophets God could have possibly utilized in pointing out where the Church has and is falling short. One of these shortcomings is that the Church is more likely to voice opposition than support... We're known for what we're against rather than what we're for.
Take homosexuality for example. A recent national survey showed that 91% of outsiders view Christians as anti-homosexual. It saddens me that the word "tolerance" has become a four-letter word in evangelical circles, and that any mention of the word is often immediately and unknowingly mentally translated into blind acceptance and apathy.
I am probably going to seem very scattered for the next paragraph or so (if I don't already). I think the solution to our problem lies in the way we do evangelism. Recent years have led us to start from the point of our fallen nature. That's why nonbelievers are sinners who have fallen short of God's perfect standard and need to repent and accept Jesus in order to avoid the eternal torment of Hell. The problem with this approach is that we've forgotten a part of our story... our Creation. When we start from our fallenness, we forget that each and every person bears the Image of God, and God originally called us "very good". If we start from the point of Creation, the way we do evangelism looks radically different. There are then no inherently "bad people", and we begin to dine with prostitutes and tax collectors.
If we start from the point of Creation rather than the point of Fallenness, then the way we address issues such as homosexuality also looks radically different. We've been known up until this point for what we're against rather than what we're for. I'm for authentic, affirming, and holy sexuality. (By "holy", I mean "set apart"). I believe God designed this sexuality to take the form of heterosexual, monogamous, committed relationships within the context of a publicly acknowledged marriage. I'm not for anything that falls short of this God-designed form of sexuality, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual. I sympathize with those who struggle with same-sex attraction. I believe homosexuality is a distortion of the gift of sexuality that God has given us, and is reflective of our fallen nature. All sexual sin is especially destructive and cuts to the core of who we are.
That being said, I think we need to approach homosexuality and those who struggle with same-sex attraction with extreme compassion. I can think of nothing more difficult than finding out that my sexuality and affections are a distortion of God's design and that I need to change it. Let's not forget that people who struggle with same-sex attraction are still made in the Image of God and should be treated as such. The church needs to be a refuge for the world, not from the world, and I want people from all walks of life to feel like they're where they belong when they're within the walls of a church, no matter what they've done or struggle with. Something is wrong when the people who need Jesus most feel unwelcome by those claiming to represent Him.
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