I'm sick. It looks like I caught rotavirus from our upstairs baby neighbor. It's not too bad, and it should clear up in a day or two. At first I was worried that I finally caught crypto, the parasite that Jeni got from those cows about a month back, since Jeni's crypto-mud covered boots are still in our hallway. Fortunately it looks like it's not that and will be a lot milder.
I promised a response to Ryan a few days ago on the topic of including homosexuals in the church and penned a substantial first draft the night before last. I decided not to post it since I think it needs a lot more thought and massaging before it's a statement I want to claim publicly. In any case, I'm willing to lay out the foundation of my thinking even if its complete presentation isn't fully realized.
The church has to figure out how to affirm God's law as the Christian moral standard, and as God's will for us and expectation of us, without resorting to exclusion and legalism. We need to be able to affirm that homosexuality is a sin but not use that as a basis for exclusion from fellowship. The formulation, "Love the sinner, hate the sin," fails when non-Christians define themselves by what we know as sin. We say we hate homosexuality but not people who are gay, but I think for most gays that's a distinction without a difference. The church needs to call for repentance but also understand that it is the Spirit of God who convicts us of our sin.
Ultimately, there's a lot of tension in my thought on this issue. That previous paragraph just lays out a few of my thoughts but not in any logical sort of way. It's going to take a lot of work for me to put these thoughts together in a way that I'm happy with. Above and beyond anything else I've been drawn to this passage in Romans:
Romans 2:1-4
1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
I pray that in whatever position I take on this issue that I don't show contempt for God's kindness, tolerance and patience, and I remember that he leads us to repentance in kindness.
I promised a response to Ryan a few days ago on the topic of including homosexuals in the church and penned a substantial first draft the night before last. I decided not to post it since I think it needs a lot more thought and massaging before it's a statement I want to claim publicly. In any case, I'm willing to lay out the foundation of my thinking even if its complete presentation isn't fully realized.
The church has to figure out how to affirm God's law as the Christian moral standard, and as God's will for us and expectation of us, without resorting to exclusion and legalism. We need to be able to affirm that homosexuality is a sin but not use that as a basis for exclusion from fellowship. The formulation, "Love the sinner, hate the sin," fails when non-Christians define themselves by what we know as sin. We say we hate homosexuality but not people who are gay, but I think for most gays that's a distinction without a difference. The church needs to call for repentance but also understand that it is the Spirit of God who convicts us of our sin.
Ultimately, there's a lot of tension in my thought on this issue. That previous paragraph just lays out a few of my thoughts but not in any logical sort of way. It's going to take a lot of work for me to put these thoughts together in a way that I'm happy with. Above and beyond anything else I've been drawn to this passage in Romans:
Romans 2:1-4
1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
I pray that in whatever position I take on this issue that I don't show contempt for God's kindness, tolerance and patience, and I remember that he leads us to repentance in kindness.
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