Mass Delusions - Follow Up
It's apparent that Eddie and I will never agree. (See post and comments from the 12/6/05 blog.) And that's okay with me. I grow a little bit each time a challenge like Eddie is presented, and since I think that may be true of all of us, a definite purpose is served by the points that he raises. If nothing else, I appreciate the fact that Eddie uses his whole name and leaves an email address. I've found that most people who disagree with me do so anonymously--as a sort of one-sided rant--but Eddie has opened up a true dialogue and that is refreshing. Whether or not we agree is secondary, at least to me.
It's funny, but the greatest amount of love and grace (evidence of the power of God) seems to be coming from the side of those of us being condemned in this case. I hope that as gay Christians we will always maintain this Christ-like attitude, and absorb the judgment and condemnation without becoming beligerent or overly defensive. Jesus became angered a time or two and overturned some tables in the temple, but he was also humble and prayerful in his reactions to those who came against him, and we would do well to continue to follow that example. I'm inspired so far. Our thoughts and comments are coming together to form a community of faith, which ends up not only comforting us but also providing deeper perspectives and an opportunity to see things from an angle that perhaps we hadn't thought of before. I'm grateful for this community of faith, and I think God uses it to speak to us. Eddie would probably say we're just fooling ourselves and that we're just mutually validating our own loose morals, but that's simply a difference in faith and perspective. God moves in the homosexual community, and to assume that we have abandoned God in favor of compromise and sin is to forgo an opportunity to witness that movement. All we can do as gay Christians is renew our commitment to God and allow ourselves to become even more truthful vessels and more powerful examples of what it means to love God in unconventional ways, and trust that God will use us to be Light where people expect to find darkness. Eddie and others who share his opinion do not expect to find Light in people like us. But that does not mean God is not here. If our eyes are trained to see God only in select places, we are sure to miss God in others.
I'll probably devote a few more blogs to this subject, but for now let me just say that the use of words like "clearly," "unequivocally," and "easily refuted" seems to be an attempt to claim authority on the subject and guarantee correctness. But that is to miss the point. The fact is my faith experience differs from Eddie's faith experience, and to acknowledge that without assigning incorrectness to the differing faith seems to be too much for Eddie to bear. One of us must be right and the other must be wrong from this black and white perspective. But since my experience is faith-based and Eddie's experience is faith-based, how can correctness be assigned to either one? Can faith be proven? I can certainly present evidence for my faith, but that certainly doesn't guarantee that others will believe it. Eddie can do the same. We can argue over the correctness of Biblical interpretation, but again, our interpretations will depend upon our faith-based experience. I would argue that different does not mean invalid. It comes down to faith, and people have experienced that differently since the beginning of time; Methodists, Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. Faith is primarily an individual pursuit and I think it's important to respect that without assuming our own targeted approach is universally suitable for everyone.
That said, it should come as no surprise that it doesn't bother me to be thought of as incorrect. It's not my job to attempt to be correct in the eyes of other believers. It's my job and yours to continue to seek God and become the testimony of faith that is in perfect harmony with what we have thoughtfully and prayerfully discovered to be true about God.
Philippians 1: 9-11 in the words of Paul...
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.
May the Spirit continue to be our guide. To be continued...
It's funny, but the greatest amount of love and grace (evidence of the power of God) seems to be coming from the side of those of us being condemned in this case. I hope that as gay Christians we will always maintain this Christ-like attitude, and absorb the judgment and condemnation without becoming beligerent or overly defensive. Jesus became angered a time or two and overturned some tables in the temple, but he was also humble and prayerful in his reactions to those who came against him, and we would do well to continue to follow that example. I'm inspired so far. Our thoughts and comments are coming together to form a community of faith, which ends up not only comforting us but also providing deeper perspectives and an opportunity to see things from an angle that perhaps we hadn't thought of before. I'm grateful for this community of faith, and I think God uses it to speak to us. Eddie would probably say we're just fooling ourselves and that we're just mutually validating our own loose morals, but that's simply a difference in faith and perspective. God moves in the homosexual community, and to assume that we have abandoned God in favor of compromise and sin is to forgo an opportunity to witness that movement. All we can do as gay Christians is renew our commitment to God and allow ourselves to become even more truthful vessels and more powerful examples of what it means to love God in unconventional ways, and trust that God will use us to be Light where people expect to find darkness. Eddie and others who share his opinion do not expect to find Light in people like us. But that does not mean God is not here. If our eyes are trained to see God only in select places, we are sure to miss God in others.
I'll probably devote a few more blogs to this subject, but for now let me just say that the use of words like "clearly," "unequivocally," and "easily refuted" seems to be an attempt to claim authority on the subject and guarantee correctness. But that is to miss the point. The fact is my faith experience differs from Eddie's faith experience, and to acknowledge that without assigning incorrectness to the differing faith seems to be too much for Eddie to bear. One of us must be right and the other must be wrong from this black and white perspective. But since my experience is faith-based and Eddie's experience is faith-based, how can correctness be assigned to either one? Can faith be proven? I can certainly present evidence for my faith, but that certainly doesn't guarantee that others will believe it. Eddie can do the same. We can argue over the correctness of Biblical interpretation, but again, our interpretations will depend upon our faith-based experience. I would argue that different does not mean invalid. It comes down to faith, and people have experienced that differently since the beginning of time; Methodists, Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. Faith is primarily an individual pursuit and I think it's important to respect that without assuming our own targeted approach is universally suitable for everyone.
That said, it should come as no surprise that it doesn't bother me to be thought of as incorrect. It's not my job to attempt to be correct in the eyes of other believers. It's my job and yours to continue to seek God and become the testimony of faith that is in perfect harmony with what we have thoughtfully and prayerfully discovered to be true about God.
Philippians 1: 9-11 in the words of Paul...
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.
May the Spirit continue to be our guide. To be continued...
posted by Jen Austin at 4:15 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks for the inspiration & uplifting thoughts...
Well said Jen. I really think the road we go down when trying to use scripture to prove heterosexual union as the only true and perfect adult committed relationship, takes us to a pretty swampy place.
The longer I read scripture the more I am convicted that I must test the assumptions of my interpretations on how they represent love and grace.
1 John 4:18: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
Only when we can move away from fear and embrace love can we begin to understand where scripture would speak to morality.
Consider the amount of love and lack of fear it takes for two women or two men to go against the culture and make a committed union to each other and then consider how nearly impossible it seems for most men and women to truly do the same. Consider this nation's divorce rate and then add to it the number of extra-marital affairs that don't end in divorce and the numbers get pretty large.
In Matthew 22 (36-40) Jesus is asked:
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Start with love. There is plenty of fear and judgment already out there.
peace,
will
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