Had a conversation yesterday with some great people, about the church's response to the homosexual community. Almost wrote, "or lack of response", and caught myself, because we've not been short on our opinions, have we. The conversation revolved around all of our desire to be as convinced that we are right in our view, as much as the homosexual community is that they are. How do we know we are right?
I'm not sure that is the "right" question. Is being "right" all that matters these days? Don't get me wrong, I believe that there are some things that are core and central to what we are about, as Christians, that we don't need to apologize for, but also can't prove.
Can anyone prove the virgin birth; really?
Can anyone prove that Christ rose from the dead, or for that matter, if he was ever dead in the first place? Is there physical evidence proving that; really?
Can anyone prove that God literally created the earth in six days; really? Could he have created it in six days and made it look like it took thousands if not millions of years, you bet. Did he, who knows?
Can anyone prove that Jesus was as much God as he was man; really?
These are some of the questions that are core to shaping who we are, but there are a whole host of other questions that we ask as well, such as:
Did Jonah really live in the belly of a fish for 3 days; was there really a Job; were Adam and Eve's names Adam and Eve; did a donkey really talk?
Or how about, why is one person healed of cancer, while another, praying for the same thing, dies?
Or, why when a hurricane hits New Orleans, some statements are made in the name of Christianity regarding the punishment of debaucherous behavior, while injustices continue to occur in the Darfur with seemingly no response from the same God?
I'm sure you are thinking of your own list of questions as I've written just a couple of mine. The reason for these questions, is that how some of them are answered doesn't necessarily change what we believe, while others are core and central to who we claim to be and believe in.
See, if Jesus wasn't physically dead and raised, then I'm wasting space on this blog. But at the same time, determining how many were at the grave following his resurrection isn't ever going to be known, even though the account is told in all four gospels, nor will the number of angels present ever be clear. What is clear, is that he was dead, and was then raised; on that I have chosen to put my trust, and on that the four accounts do agree.
So, back to our conversation of yesterday; being right shouldn't always be what this is about. Being faithful is. What that means for me, is that for too long the church has failed an entire segment of the population in our attempt to prove ourselves right. Because of that, we have lost our voice to speak into their lives any message of hope and joy. We have failed to love in the name of Jesus. We have given a message that says there are some sins that are worse than others, and I think that goes against one of the messages that is pretty core to who we are as well; we've all sinned, falling short of God's glory.
So who is "right" is the "wrong" question, who will be faithful is the one we should be asking. I'm praying that God enable me to be faithful to his calling to every man; black, white, man, woman, gay, straight, single, married, young and old.
I confess to you there are some things I need to own about this issue, maybe even before my desire to be faithful in all things can happen. I sure am glad I don't walk through this alone. Thanks for the conversation, friends.
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