Down goes DOMA! Guess it's time to celebrate...
God is doing a lot of great things in the world and for some reason, I still can't seem to get a lot of recognition; perhaps I'm just a nobody.
Back in November 2011, I took a flight to see my brother in Boston. He took care of me and since he was a lil sick, decided to be a jerk during my stay. That's okay though; here's the kicker. We went out to breakfast that Saturday and as we waited for our food I said, "...think I might run for President." At this point the lady at the table next to me (and possibly her guest), looks over and stops for a minute. Eventually she looks back and they continue their conversation. What does my brother say?! "I don't know what your views are."
"Man, are you freakin' kidding?!"
He's my brother. I didn't know what to say really. Jesus had the same problem #siblingRivalry Apparently blood isn't enough to guarantee a vote from your own kin. I think his primary concern was my stance on "gay issues" and perhaps some other things. It was really odd since we know each other too well.
...
Back in the day (let's say the 90's), there was this thing people would do because it was cool. Before "swag" was swag, you had to have the walk. I was going to do a video of me performing the walk; you're not ready. I'll "set it off" in here. It kind of was an "updated" version of a pimp's walk, yet anyone could do it.
Some people would take it to extremes.
Others just weren't that great at it.
Eventually we made a robot who perfected it.
Notice how in order to really be cool, you have to "drop your shoulder".
What's this got to do with anything??? Well, for starters many of us are walking around as if we're limping. How could this be? We're unsure about what it is that we believe or should do. Instead of challenging the status quo, we stay back in the shadows waiting for someone else to speak up. We'd rather stick with the majority and remain comfortable instead of taking a risk (which actually costs us something) to stand up and stand out. This is the case in the workplace at times, in our neighborhoods, and especially our faith communities.
I'm from the south so I was raised with somewhat of a conservative approach to religion. There's such a focus on what Christians can't do. Is there really anything we can't do?! What about simple things like: 1)Drinking, 2)Being friends w/ non-believers, 3)Money (having it, not loving it), 4)Studying alone (vs. going to church)? Especially in the black church where we've fortified the foundation of what's been passed down from generation to generation, there's too much which seems to be taboo because, "you just don't do it (that)".
Often times we may say, "I'm on the side of the majority", even when it comes to religious issues such as same-sex marriage. Since when does the majority determine whether it's right or just or even fair? And how is it possible that people who know better can't seem to reconcile what they've come to know with what they've been taught? I for one struggled with this last summer when I went home. This issue of having two opinions.
1 Kings 18:21 (NRSV) #verseOfReflection #d-shedRemix
21 Elijah then came near to all the people, and said,
“How long will you go limping with two different opinions?
If the Lord is God, follow him...”
The people did not answer him a word.
In our verse of reflection we see that Elijah (a Prophet of God) stands before the people of Israel and asks them, "how long will you go limping...?" A Prophet was/is simply someone who speaks on behalf of God and also is a guide. In the Old Testament Prophets also taught (i.e. Preached) because the Holy Spirit had yet to descend and allow people to have a closer connection with God (i.e. Via Christ's sacrifice; it hadn't yet happened). The story continues on:
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord;
but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty.
I recently had a spirited conversation with a coworker and they were wondering if (or what) my stance might be on certain things. Little did they know that this had been put on hold (as I originally intended it for last Wednesday). There was so much excitement with DOMA and the voting down of the Voting Rights Acts, that I decided to hold off and wait for the dust to settle. Although, this would have been timely indeed. Yet it remains timely and I'll show you how.
Within the church there are many controversies that have "split" us apart, which need to be addressed. Some of them I've gone into in the "Socially Engineering the Church" series. Others I may not touch at all because that would deprive you of the opportunity to search them out for yourself.
It amazes me how even though there have been progressions made we still have people who aren't sure:
- Pants, Dress, and the place of women
- By the way my former Pastor is a woman
- Homosexuality and other orientations
- What part of (love) all don't you understand? #formerPastor
- Christianity vs. Paganism
- Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas
- Can we celebrate Christmas?
- Easter, the Bunny, chocolate and new clothes
- Things to consider
- Festival observances (widely seen throughout the Old Testament)
It truly is time to settle these issues once and for all. Many of them aren't even issues, but a gross institutionalized ideological subset that has held us down for far too long. It amazes me how fundamentalists, evangelicals, and right-wing personalities can say and do some of the things that they say and do (especially when they set the worse example imaginable, let alone in direct conflict with the life of Christ).
Two things and then I'm done. The biblical dogma on homosexuality isn't as traditional as you think it is. I once explained to a member of my Bible study group, "Culture has influenced the Bible, and then the Bible influenced culture. It goes on and on. What you have is a level of (re)enforcement , because one complements the other, all too well." It wasn't that articulate (originally) but you get the point.
Secondly, we must continue to grow in our faith. So many people are living lives that are completely less than what they should (i.e. Could) be if we are really followers of Christ. Why is it that there are people who better exemplify what it means to be a Christ follower yet don't "claim" Christianity?
"..the way to Christian growth is often to allow oneself to be puzzled and startled by new apparent complexity...Is it after all Jesus we want to discover and follow,
or would we prefer an idol of our own making?" -The Challenge of Jesus
On this week the United States celebrates "freedom" and democracy and fireworks. Freedom comes in being released from that which you thought was true. That which really had you(r mind) bound.
So here's a question: When you gon' stop limpin'?! After all, that went out in the 90's.
Sumthn2Ponder (s2p):
- Was I taught that being gay is wrong or did I "accept" it?
- What do I have 2 opinions about?
- How am I going to address my "limp"?
Links for Consideration(L4C):
In case you need it
Same Love (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) Lyrics
Church Clothes (Lecrae) Lyrics
4 comments:
Hi, I'm new to the blog, but I really like what I've read so far.
I'm also a scientist (boo!), but I'm a thinking scientist, and your posts make people think, which is good.
One thing I don't like (perhaps this is what your co-worker took issue with) is statements like "What part of (love) all don't you understand?" This is an irrational statement unsupported by facts (or the Gospel). I'd really like to know what you think this means - that would help immensely as I try to explain it to others. More specifically, the question here is - what part of (love) all aren't people understanding? Knowing that will help the cause immensely.
Keep up the good work!
Welcome Cole! Sure is nice to have some freshness around here.
To give you a better context on the statement in question. My church has been going through a visioning process. During a conversation one participant quoted a Pastor in which they heard say, "What part of all don't you understand?"
I believe this was directly tied to our being a part of the Reconciling Ministries Network and their wondering what people don't get about loving their diverse/unique/distinctly different neighbors.
I found that to be interesting. Given the climate that we are in there are some in the "body of Christ" (i.e. Christians universal, as I understand it) who are selective/inclusive in those they (choose to) love.
For me, this means that we should love everyone. The 2 commandments that Jesus points to is to love God with everything, and the second is like it, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Instead of loving our neighbors, some might pick and choose who their neighbors are.
Even worse they may ask (as T.D. Jakes pointed out), "Who is my neighbor?" To which Jakes' "response" was, "Love has no loopholes". In that particular clip he doesn't ask the question "Who is my neighbor?", but I'm sure you can find video of it somewhere.
Before I go any further I'll tell you what I think is the cause(s) behind people not understanding.
1. People refuse to hear out others who view things differently (even when they are part of the same family). Think of going to a family dinner where everyone yells at each other but no one really listens ONLY b/c they disagree. If you like tube socks and I like crew cut, surely this is no reason not to be able to have a conversation.
2. There are those who have a firm grip on what the Bible says and you can't tell them differently. More importantly, they'd rather not talk about it (or remain in a place where all they do is try to counter what you're saying), which is not how Jesus approached people during his time on earth.
Why do you think he reclined at the table so often? I believe it's because this was ONE way to learn about the sinners he hung around.
3. Jesus loved radically. In the West (i.e. United States) we have toned down a lot of things. People don't know how to be radical. It scares them.
I know that's a lot. Let me know if you need further clarification.
Great points. I particularly like your comments about nobody listening.
I recently read another piece that seems to echo some of what you've said here (and in other posts) about some people focusing on what we can't do as Christians, rather than what we should be doing: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/27/why-millennials-are-leaving-the-church/?iref=allsearch
But for me, the biggest unanswered question in our discussion, now that we seem to have defined who to love, is what does "to love" mean? Of those you cite as poor examples, what are they doing wrong? And of those you see as good examples, what are they doing right? What should we all be doing to better love our neighbors? Be specific. (Sorry if that sounds like an exam question, I know you recently graduated - hopefully I didn't trigger any painful flashbacks.)
I checked out that article and also recently read another. This time an atheist suggested that they (i.e. atheists) are the reason millenials are losing faith in Christianity. There's a slight truth there; topic for another day.
What does it mean "to love"?
I believe 1 Cor. 13 has the answer.
In order to better love our neighbors we must first do our best (and by the power of the Spirit) to see them as God sees them. How does one do this? There's no formula. It does help to have a listening ear before thumping out doctrine.
If we took the time to apply what 1 Cor. 13 says about love in all of our relationships, we will see a change not only in how we view others but also in how they view interactions with us. This is the idea behind witnessing/evangelism. Too often we think it's about us telling them our story and how they can "get right" with the man upstairs before it's "too late".
What do we do wrong?
1. We don't listen.
2. We know it all.
3. We won't love someone because of who they are or what they're going through (i.e. Self-righteousness).
4. We rather "educate" sinners instead of providing for their needs (e.g. Hunger, shelter, thirst, etc), before force-feeding, I mean "offering" them the Gospel.
What do we do right?
1. (See: What we do wrong) Do the opposite.
No painful flashbacks. They seemed to be stored away in some place and I've "lost" the key.
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