Isn’t it strange how secular society seems to get the Gospel so much better then the Church does??? We seem to only get this:
So much that the rest of society seems to be down on their knees screaming:
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April 15th, 2010 at 7:23 am
We had some friends fr. church over for supper on Saturday. We were discussing the book “The Year of Living Biblically” -http://www.ajjacobs.com/books/yolb.asp He only followed the Old Testament. Gerald had read the book, I hadn’t but had read an article in Maclean’s magazine about it. What struck me most was that the article said that this year didn’t change the author spiritually. So like I said at dinner, that just shows that following the law doesn’t change people’s hearts.
Elton John’s ex-lover committed suicide because he was torn between his homosexuality and his strong religious beliefs: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1257864/Elton-Johns-torment-lover-committed-suicide-struggling-come-terms-sexuality.html
Jennifer Knapp (christian recording artist) has just come out: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/04/13/arts/entertainment-us-knapp.html?_r=2
I wonder how much support either of them has/had from the Christian community.
April 15th, 2010 at 7:40 am
oh and interesting discussion over at NP about this: http://www.nakedpastor.com/archives/5058#comments
April 15th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
This makes me think a little of a website that a friend recently told me about. It is www dot godhatesfags dot com and it is really quite unbelievable what these people are about. It is actually the home page for the Westboro Baptist Church and it’s offensiveness is just so staggering! I am still in awe and find it hard to believe that they can even get away with treating other human beings like that and call it doing God’s work. If there was ever a group of people that do not get what Jesus is about, it is definitely them. And I am sure that they don’t have any idea how far they are from the mark.
Oh, and by the way, I spoke to God on this one and He says He has been misquoted……. actually He really hates flags, so you are all good!
(Edited by Cal at 2:42AM for reason: Repair of live link — I don’t wanna help those idiots improve their Google page rank one iota.)
April 16th, 2010 at 1:56 am
Hi Kathy,
I hear you. So much of the church simply doesn’t get it.
There are two realities in play here:
(1). Is the lifestyle God’s best? The dying/deaths of HIV for so many people I have come to love and the deep emotional/physical damages in the rest speak for themselves…
(2). Is this somehow the most hideous of crimes and worthy of endless condemnation and blind assumptions about, “Just thinking different?” A denial is barely worth it…
Sin, shame and judgment focused Evangelicalism has created an incredibly visible pattern of self-hatred and suicidal behaviors among believers who struggle in this area in the name of healing — and it’s not working. This is in addition to the incredible levels of suicide by gay or lesbian people already found even in countries/cultures where they experience almost NO condemnation.
So many of the options offered for healing in Evangelicalism are a cynical and cruel joke — and, of those options which actually offer real healing, the incredible difficulty of even understanding (much less pursuing) them is often insurmountable for many who struggle in this area.
(The, “Kindness,” of celibacy usually offered as another option by Evangelicalism is usually tempered with condemnation of even the nearly irrepressible fantasy — thus leaving no escape there anyway.)(The logic of, “In for a penny, in for a pound,” quickly becomes very appealing.)
So, then, one side of Christendom offers the, “If it feels good, do it,” of license as an option — and mostly earns the disrespect of those who struggle in this area.
The other side offers shame and judgment — and reaps the same disrespect.
Neither actually address the heart, the freedom of the Gospel or the call of the Heart of God to full humanness and a fully alive life.
On the one hand, we do see the leaning of credible science and the clear message of Scripture — on the other, we see the reality of the broken human heart and the reality that we all have areas in our lives where healing may be a long time in coming — possibly waiting to heaven.
Is heterosexuality possible for those who struggle with same sex attractions? ABSOLUTELY!!! Is that grounds for the condemnation of those who, for some reason, can’t? NO!!!
The real question isn’t the wisdom of the lifestyle though — the real question has much more to do with whether we as the Church are willing to offer to those who struggle here (or in any area) what is needed to change, grow and heal:
Radical compassion, the deepest meeting of heart needs (That really only the properly operating church can offer), credible information, the complete absence of judgment, prayer for the direct intervention of God in the hearts and lives of the broken and aggressive teaching towards a New Covenant theology of Grace and Freedom wouldn’t be a bad place to start…
So much of what I do to walk people out of this area is repeatedly compromised by the Church. It’s a sad reality but I’m pretty sure that I could add another 1/3rd again to the numbers of those who find freedom and a full heterosexuality if I could just get the Church to grow up, really grasp the Gospel and learn how to love the hearts of the broken — or at least just SHUT UP.
Oh, and, it’s NEVER church members that call me to attack, threaten blacklisting and demand I bludgeon the broken — it’s the staff and pastors.
Cal
April 16th, 2010 at 2:33 am
Hi Shawna,
No kidding!!!
Though there is a part of me that wonders if they are nothing more then a calculated strategy for making money off lawsuits…
Cal