The Church Denies the Power of the Cross

August 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

You know how the media is…always a slant on something and it takes months before we get more of the picture, but I can’t help but to speak up on this story where a homosexual middle school student is killed for being (allegedly) flirtatious and I wonder if the murderer would have shot a girl for flirting with him?

Does anyone else see the hypcrosiy in this statement from the article?

“We hear a lot from teachers who feel handcuffed because they don’t know how to respect those rights and create a safe space for children who aren’t comfortable with it.”

So where is the safety for those who are comfortable with it? After all, it was the homosexual student who got killed, not the heterosexual boy.

If it was a girl flirting with him, I doubt it would have escalated to aiming a gun in the back of a middle school student’s head.

But nonetheless, both boys and girls need to know when to stop. They need to understand when no means no and how to respect each other’s boundaries. The boy who brought the gun to school should be taught how to establish his bubble space and homosexual boys ought to know to respect it. However, the continual onslaught of hate is leading the next generation into a social war.

But aside from the obvious need to learn what respect means, this homosexual conversation just isn’t going away.

So until the public schools figure out how to handle this, maybe the faith community can extend some grace and wisdom. I am sure that many Christian churches still claim to have the answers for today’s culture, but somewhere along the line treating gays like they are a disease waiting to pounce on them just isn’t healthy for our society. So much of today’s oppression comes from the Christian community and it’s time that we say enough is enough.

I fully understand the concern about sexually transmitted diseases, but heterosexuals aren’t immune to getting diseases and it isn’t the fault of the gay community that the heterosexuals are getting STDs. But are STDs the only dilemma we’re facing in America? According to AbortionNo.org

Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as “Born-again/Evangelical”.

and

1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).

I just can’t help but to wonder if all these women getting abortions are heterosexual, because a lesbian can’t get pregnant from another woman and why would she get pregnant with a guy then abort? It seems to me (and I may be wrong) but there are more heterosexual women getting abortions than homosexual women.

But I don’t see middle school guys shooting girls who have gotten an abortion while they sit in front of them in class.

Whether it’s homosexuality or abortion, the church seems silent on this one thing…grace. We have seen an increasing number of homosexual suicides and as you saw from the stats above, many women who get abortions are Believers. Why do gays and pregnant women suffer so much in today’s society that has several churches in every town? It’s not about their ‘sin’, it’s about a tremendous deficiency of grace. It’s about the ‘sin’ of the church. It’s the non belief the churches have..that Jesus didn’t really pay for sin. Many Christians deny the power of the cross.

Pointing the finger with belittling and condemning messages is not going to bring healing to our country, only grace can do that. And isn’t the church supposed to be the deliverer of the message of reconciliation? Are we not to be the ones who brings grace in the name of our Lord?

You who are without sin cast the first stone.

I’m sorry, maybe I should make this more clear… you who has not committed murder in your heart by hating a brother, throw the first stone. That means if you hate gays, you can’t cast the stone! Because you have already murdered them in your own hearts.

You who has successfully forgiven everyone who has ever hurt you or other loved ones, hurl the first rock.

All those who have tamed the tongue in perfection, preach the first condemning sermon.

Those who feel as though they can accurately wield the Law as a weapon, cast aside Jesus who said he came to fulfill the Law and become your own god by sentencing others to death.

The letter of the Law kills, it brings death.

The Spirit comes and brings life through grace.

Maybe it’s the church who are the unbelievers…walking around with beams in their eyes, still veiled and lacking the clarity needed to understand that sin was defeated at the cross.

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Putting Grace Into Action

May 25, 2011 by 1 Comment

There are a good number of topics that seem to be difficult for the faith community to address graciously and over the years we have seen a lot of people struggling with some of these issues. At one time the city in our town had asked various churches if they would allow the homeless to sleep in their buildings, with supervision of course, and very few were willing to do that. It didn’t matter how cold it was, many churches refused to give the homeless a warm dry place to sleep. There’s also some challenges with finding a church that is equipped with helping addicts get back on their feet again.

Another issue is what to do with people who need serious counseling. Sadly, a lot of churches frown upon professional counselors and insist the pastor do the counseling. This is so foolish it makes my head spin. While my husband was getting his counseling degree and I began working on mine, I could see clearly how important it is for clergy to be certified as counselors, yet so many refuse to take the necessary classes to do so. I feel this leaves many church members at a disadvantage and I often recommend that people not go to a pastor for serious counseling if he doesn’t have professional certification. But this is beside the point I want to make in this article, so I’ll save that topic for another time.

The point I’m focusing on today is putting grace into action in tough situations. I feel a lot of churches have no idea how to put grace into action with serious issues in their communities such as the homeless, addicts, and even homosexuality. How do they put grace into action with a family whose parents come to a pastor for help because their teenage son is expressing strong emotional feelings for another teen guy? How do they walk through that valley with their son and help him in his journey to discovering who he is in Christ before making a decision about identifying with the GLBT Community? How does a pastor and the church handle a couple whose marriage is headed for divorce because the wife is leaving her husband for another woman? How does the pastor and church put grace into action when adult men church members from the singles class come out of the closet with feelings for one another?

I believe this is a tremendously difficult situation for many in the faith community and many lack the desire and wisdom to put grace into action with these kinds of scenarios.

I think the response is different depending on how those churches interpret the scriptures, but regardless of if a church acknowledges homosexuality is in the Hebrew or Greek scriptures or not, we need grace to be our guide.

I think of grace as a sort of super power. What I mean by that  is this, when you see a movie where the character discovers he has a super power he has some decisions to make. Will he become a villain or a hero? He needs to practice his super power to learn to temper it so he doesn’t accidentally throw a car too far out of the way of a speeding train and end up destroying the kids playground across the tracks. He will also need to decide if he is going to profit financially from his power or not. I see grace kinda like this. We know we are covered by grace no matter what, but we also see this principle in the New Testament called Sowing and Reaping.

We can look to the bible for a guideline, then seek the Spirit to show us how to have grace in all situations. We don’t want to live by the letter of the law because it kills. Yet we know that unwise decisions and actions can result in consequences that are difficult to live through. During our years of addiction recovery ministry we have had to take all this into consideration while helping addicts through recovery. If we ran our ministry by the letter of the law, these men and women would be back in jail in no time. So we have to use good judgment on developing healthy boundaries and sensible, attainable goals for sober living.

So lets just say that you find homosexuality to be totally against the Bible  and a hindrance to their relationship with God.

Grace.

Because of Jesus, we know we can go boldly to the throne of grace every moment of every day no matter what the dilemma is. Your friend who is deciding to identify openly with the gay community is under grace and can always go to God at any time he wants to. In all reality, the only thing that really hinders us from going to God is our own fear that he will reject us. But he won’t do that. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. Because of Jesus, we are reconciled and have nothing blocking us from a relationship with him. We are secure in our standing with God and we cannot lose that. Some churches teach that you can lose your salvation and it is used as a fear tactic to keep you following their prescribed religious lines, but those religious requirements are not needed to commune with God.

Now that we know our reconciliation with God is by grace and is totally secure, what do we do with difficult situations?

Wisdom.

Good old fashioned common sense.

Lets sit down and lovingly consider the pros and cons of the decisions they are making. Lets make sure they know they are secure in Christ, their identity is really in him and they are deeply loved by God no matter what.

Next, lets have a good talk about consequences. Do you know what you are about to face by going public with your feelings? Have you considered the ramifications of your decision in the lives of your loved ones? Do you think they will support you or reject you and have you considered how you will handle that? Will this affect your job or your relationships with your church friends? These are just a few relational questions I would ask someone if they came to me personally about this direction in their lives.

My next avenue of questions would be about practical every day living. Are they fully aware of the health risks if they have physical intimacy with someone of the same gender? Does that person have a history of being unwise with their sexual health? There are other questions I would ask, but I feel my blog is not the place to address those questions. I think it’s important to discuss the health risks and consequences with a doctor who has experience in this area. (By the way, I feel some questions like this are important to have with any person preparing for sexual intimacy, regardless of whether or not it is a same gender relationship.)

Now I would address long term questions such as, does the community you live in have support for gays? If you want to continue going to church, is there one where you will be accepted? Are you ready to face a neighborhood that may be considerably unkind to you? (Even missionaries to communist countries have very serious questions they need to ask themselves before moving to an area that may be hostile towards Christians.)

No matter how much discussion you have with a person who wants to be open about their lifestyle, the foundation of the discussion must be love. Without love, all your counseling and advice will be nothing but noise pollution.

A Christian friend of mine was faced with a divorce when her husband abandoned her and her children. It was a long rough and bumpy road and she did everything she could to reconcile. He refused. There were a lot of other factors that made it dangerous for them to be living together and he refused to get help. She came to me asking about taking the step into divorce court and only after a lot of loving advice to reconcile did she finally express to me that she felt this was her only option. I could not hold her to the letter of the law, she was already being ‘killed’ on the inside as it was. The only way was through grace. We discussed everything she would go through if divorce was truly her final decision. I asked her to think over all the consequences that a divorce brings and what she would face if she remained legally married, but never see him again. There’s a lot that goes into this. I asked her to bathe it in prayer and seek the Lord through grace. She chose to divorce. Where does that put me as her friend?

It puts me in the position to practice putting grace into action.

If everyone lived by the letter of the law (being perfect), we would never understand the depths of grace and what it does for our souls.

Grace in action by us, practiced with wisdom, is responsible and loving towards those we’re giving it to.

I would not tell a man who wants to murder someone, “Why not? Go for it, you’re under grace.” That shows a complete lack of love for him as well as the one he wants to murder.

Some in the religious community say ,”You can’t just go out and do whatever you want!”

Actually, they can, but they will suffer consequences suitable for their actions.

We reap what we sow.

So while gays have the grace to live as they desire, there are social and health consequences to be aware of.

While couples who get a divorce are free to do so, there are consequences to be aware of.

You can smoke all you want, but there are consequences to be aware of.

You can even eat cookies every day if you want to, but there are consequences to be aware of.

Everything we do in this life time has consequences, even when you are doing something good. Jesus did all the good in the world and was still persecuted and killed for what he was teaching.

No matter what decision you are facing, find someone who loves you enough to offer both grace and wisdom.

2 Corinthians 3: 4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Sisterlisa

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This Conversation is Not Going Away

May 6, 2011 by 1 Comment

When I was graduating from junior high and transitioning over to the local high school, I heard rumors about a couple that was attending that high school. A homosexual couple. Teen girls who were dating. The rumor mill was working over time that summer and by the time the first day of school came I expected to see several couples like this on campus. That wasn’t the case. It was just one couple and once we realized that the topic of homosexuality didn’t come up at all during my four years in high school.

I didn’t think too much of it for the next several years until we ended up in a fundamentalist church where it was preached about quite often. More celebrities were coming out of their closets and more preaching followed. Now we’re in the twenty-first century and the conversation about homosexuality is not going to go away, neither are the homosexuals. They’re here among us and we can’t deny that. No amount of preaching is going to make them go away and the more preachers condemn them the more the communities will struggle with being a community with them.

Each of us lives in a community and each community has divisions. That’s a part of life, but to be a healthy community we need to learn to live together in balanced harmony for the benefit of the whole community.

The church I came out of two years ago got involved in their first political rally when Prop 8 hit the ballot in California. The Prop 8 group couldn’t find a church that was willing to host the rally in our area. So the pastor took it on. It was quite impressive actually. I was amazed to see how many people came out for it. People from several counties all around ours. That was about a year before we left that church. Looking back now and remembering the things that were said, how it was handled, and looking at the US Constitution diligently, I came to change my mind about Prop 8.

My first thought about the Marriage Act is that the government should never have been given ‘marriage’ to begin with. If ‘marriage’ is truly of God then why is the government making a law about it? There was a generation of Christians that dropped the ball on protecting their religious traditions when they allowed the state to license marriage in the first place. I could go ever further by addressing the fact that Christianity also has allowed the state to license a pastor, but I’ll save that one for another article.

Now my second thought is about homosexual individuals as US citizens. The US Constitution is there to protect them as well. Is the US Constitution only protecting the right to pursue happiness for heterosexual couples? As I think back on our nation’s history I can remember there was a time when it didn’t protect women as individuals, nor African Americans. Our nation went through tremendous battles to bring about the freedom of women and African Americans. The idea that the US Constitution only protects the rights of white men would be preposterous!

Upon a closer look at the state’s individual constitutions we see that there is indeed a civil union law that gives homosexual couples rights in their state approved union. There are a lot of disagreements about the benefits that come with both civil unions and marriage. Are they equal?

Since Christianity gave ‘marriage’ over to the state’s authority they now run the risk of seeing it redefined to keep up with the Constitutional rights of all American citizens. This is where the problem rises to the surface and it is met with a lot of hostility.

A lot of the argument about homosexual marriage is coming from the religious community.

I find it interesting that before Prop 8 hit the ballot Fundamental Baptists and Mormons were sharply divided, but become quite unified to stop homosexual equality for marriage. All kinds of churches that otherwise have absolutely no communication, fellowship, or otherwise have suddenly agreed upon something. Enough of an agreement to send their money to the Prop 8 campaign to fight for marriage in court. If marriage was this important to them, why not just take marriage out of the state constitution and give it back to the religious community where they claim it belongs?

Then the state can have civil unions for all people regardless of their orientation and the church’s can maintain their own definition for marriage aside from the state.

There’s something very interesting brewing when the religious community actually wants the state’s approval on their religious ceremonies, pastors, and ministries.

For now we have this issue and each state has varying laws about this controversy, but aside from that there is this ongoing conversation taking place with churches and pastors all over the nation.

Are homosexuals allowed to become members of churches?

Can a homosexual couple attend a couple’s class?

Is it appropriate to allow a homosexual to teach God’s grace to a group of people?

For some people the argument becomes one of the Law. The Law was given to the Jews, not the Gentiles. I’m not a Jew and I think it would be fair to assume that most churches that consider themselves “New Testament Churches” aren’t Jews either.

We aren’t required to live by the Law, but if we choose to live by the Law we have to live by all of the Law. If we offend just ONE law we are guilty of ALL the Law. Each church certainly has the freedom to live by the Law, but if they do they need to uphold all of it and I’m quite certain they won’t be changing their Sunday services back to Saturdays any time soon.

Living in the New Covenant with Christ, there is this new way of living. It’s called living by faith. To live by the Law is opposite to living by faith.

We see an example of this when Paul is explaining the wisdom of allowing one another to eat certain meats that others might claim is a sin. The argument was that the Law forbade it, but under grace it’s allowed. I believe his thoughts in Romans 14 is quite fitting for this discussion.

In the New Covenant we reap what we sow. There are consequences in this life, therefore major decisions should be taken seriously.

I believe there is a balance for this ongoing conversation about the homosexual community and the religious community and I think we need to take this entire conversation very seriously, full of grace, and in the wisdom of God under the New Covenant of Christ.

I will close with these thoughts and another article is to come soon.

  • Each church has the freedom to live by their convictions as interpreted by their denomination.
  • The US Constitution is supposed to uphold the rights of all it’s citizens.
  • Not all Americans are religious, therefore should not be made to living according to religious convictions.

In my upcoming articles I will be examining the words in the Hebrew and Greek in the popular passages that many churches use to uphold their convictions about homosexuality and bring them into the Light of the New Covenant life in Christ.

I welcome comments, but I reserve the right to withhold publishing any comments that are belittling or condemning. I do hope you will let me know what questions and concerns you have so I can prayerfully consider those things while I am studying this topic.

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