An Open Letter to Conservative Christians in the U.S., On Health Care
Dear friends,
Although today I would not call myself a political or social conservative, I am grateful for my heritage as an Evangelical Christian: my faith is rooted in a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, I honor and seek to live in harmony with the Scriptures, and I love to share the good news of God's love with others. Since my teenage years when I decided to follow Jesus, I have pursued wholehearted discipleship, and my life has been shaped by that commitment. After completing graduate school and teaching college English, I became a church planter and pastor and served in the same congregation for twenty-four years.
(Continued after the jump.)
0 Comments15 Minutes
Q & R’s on homosexuality …
Here's the first question (or request):
i know you're a very busy man, and i'm just a college student, but i would so appreciate your opinion on this matter. just a quick response--a few sentences even--it would mean a lot. (or perhaps you could direct me to a link or website where you address this issue more directly? i've searched and found relevant articles, but your stance was rather elusive, perhaps intentionally.)
i'd like to preface by saying that less than a year ago i had all but given up on christianity and especially on the church. but i read you're book "a new kind of christian" based on a friends suggestion and felt deeply, deeply moved--my concerns were legitimized and my hopes of what faith could be were affirmed. now, i finally feel like i'm back on track in my faith and my relationship with god, even if it is a bit of a different track.
now, the question i was hoping to ask you. i just finished reading another one of your books "adventures in missing the point" and i can really relate to and agree with most of it. but i felt that the chapter on homosexuality (by tony campolo) was conflicting and confusing. he showed such moving regret about the boy from his high school, he called out the church on their lack of compassion, and finally he went through all the verses in the bible that address homosexuality and picked them apart--explaining how each were not necessarily applicable to a life-long monogamous homosexual relationship.
there was such momentum! but despite all that, he ended the conversation on what i thought was an off-key note--that to contradict two millenia of church tradition was a bit "arrogant" (p. 185). the end. period.
if there was one thing i learned from "a new kind of christian", it was to question that exact mindset--that we SHOULD re-evaluate religious traditions of the past in a post-modern context. this is where my confusion lies. although you co-wrote the book, and surely edited it together, do you agree with his position?
one of my best friends is gay, and the church has torn him apart--especially the "accepting" ones that love the sinner and hate the sin, because they gave him a false sense of hope for inclusion. luckily, he's found an affirming church (i think it's an episcopal one) but still, the damage has been done. if there is even an ounce of uncertainty on an issue that effects people so very deeply (and according to this book, the uncertainty could even be considered substantial) mustn't we error on the side of generosity? if not, do you think this approach is sustainable in the increasingly accepting generations that follow? after all, nobody nowadays would be caught dead in a church that disapproves of interracial marriage. couldn't gay marriage be the same 50 years down the road?
i'm so glad that your book argued for the acceptance and inclusion of gay people in church (because many people have not even come that far) but ultimately, the gap between mere acceptance (and promotion of celibacy) and loving affirmation of life-long unions is a wide one. these people don't want tolerance, they want equality--and freedom from the heterosexism that has dominated the church for the last two millenia. i realize this could take a while for the average churchgoer to accept, but i believe it's possible, maybe even inevitable. every once in a while i see glimmers of hope.
because of your elusiveness in other online articles, i also wanted to encourage you--that if you are for gay affirmation within the church--to be more vocal about it. because very few other pastors share your open-mind, much less your wide audience. often it's the people who are oppressed that must stand up for their own rights, but this allows the oppressors to dismiss their actions as selfishly motivated people trying only to improve their own situation (heaven forbid!). but when straight evangelical pastors, or straight college students, who have very little to gain and very much to lose (congregations, friendships, status within the church, etc.) take such a stance, i think others really take notice..
i swear, i was just going to write you a quick question, but it turned into all this. (this letter may be longer than most of neo's!). my apologies. thank you for your time, thank you for what you do, and please know that it has made a difference in my life.
Response and additional questions after the jump ...
0 Comments24 Minutes
the spirituality of fly fishing …
Krista Tippett (not to be confused with tippet) explores it here ...
0 Comments1 Minute