Restoring a Bridge

Yesterday i read a wonderful article about the church, christianity, and the way that they interact with the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and trans-sexual) community. The article was written by Andrew Marin, a straight married man that was at one point signed on to play division 1 baseball at a big school. What, not really the type of person that you'd expect to be writing an article about gay or lesbian people? Well, he didn't expect it either. 

Marin begins the article by describing the way that he was brought up: conservative christian family, very heterosexual, Bible believing, and completely ignorant of the GLBT lifestyle. Marin goes on to describe his view of GLBT people what he saw on TV... "I believed I knew gays and lesbians very well because I saw them on TV, I saw the cross-dressing pictures of them at the Pride Parades and I heard "the" rumors." This line of thinking falls dangerously close to my own view and paradigm of gays and lesbians. I'm sure that it also is hitting pretty close to home for most everyone that reads this.

How many people do I actually know and have a strong relationship that is in the GLBT community? I know it feels like this is a little bit removed from most of the circles that we hang out in, but it really isn't. So the question then now is, how can I as a christian bring Christ's redeeming love, not the negative baggage associated with the church, to the GLBT community? 

Its really quite simple really. Its so simple that its often hard to identify. We are called to love people. Those people being gay, straight, black, white, old, young, cool, or hip, it really doesn't matter. How much different would your interactions with the GLBT community look if you approached it with a visage of love as opposed to one of condemnation? 

GLBT's have been beaten over the head by christians that being gay is wrong and they are going to Hell if they don't change. I don't disagree that being gay is wrong. The Bible explicitly states that it is a sin, but imagine how you'd feel if someone approached you and told you that judging people is a sin and you are going to hell. Personally, I would avoid the person! Focusing on whats wrong is not the way to show people the love of Christ. We should look at the GLBT community with eyes that see people, not a sexual orientation. I know that there are many other pitfalls throughout the issue of GLBT's and the church, but we could change the whole tone of conversation between an ever growing subculture in our lives and the church that we are a part of by simply being unconditionally loving.

After the sex scandal of President Bill Clinton, Billy Graham was seen at a press conference that Clinton was speaking at. A surprised press person asked Rev. Graham why he was there at the press conference with the knowledge of that Clinton had recently done. The press person expected Graham to condemn the president's actions, but Billy Graham had a different agenda. Rev. Graham simply stated to the press, "its the Holy Spirits job to convict, Gods job to judge, and my job to love."

Lets just love. 

If this interests you, check out this website.

Shalom in the culture

     So, this is blogging. This is my first blog ever to date, so i guess that this is a momentous occasion. We will see how it goes, depending on the frequency of posts and blogs. 

     I guess to start i can talk a little bit about the article that i have recently just finished. The article is called "The Problem of Good", written by Scott Kauffmann. The basic question that Kauffmann proposes in the article is, "if we're all so bad, how can the world be so good?" How can a fallen, non-christian firefighter run back up the steps of the world trade center during 9/11 to save a non-christian businessman whom he doesn't even know? If we are all so sinful, how can there still be many good things being created by humans? 

This is an interesting question. I don't think i've thought about this much. I more think of why do good things happen to bad people? or why does bad stuff happen to good people? All of these questions are answered generally by the same answer: God's common grace. God has given each existing human being the same common grace, which enables us to develop, grow, create, and imagine beauty, truth, love, and the good in life. It doesn't matter if you are a christian or not, God has given the same gift to everyone. 

Why would he do that though? What is it about humans that makes God give us such a gift? It is himself. Originally, humans were made in God's image. This is called Imago Dei. God loves the Imago Dei inside of us, and he blesses us because of it. He loves us because we carry His thumbprint. Common grace is the greatest gift that God can give us as humans (apart from salvation). 

Since we've been given such a mighty gift, what are we suppose to do with it? How can i incorporate common grace into my christian walk? First, we must recognize the place that common grace has within a believer's life. Common grace is a great gift and tool, yet it isn't the best. God's saving grace (salvation) is what sets a christian apart from a non-believer who lives a good life. We are called to spot the common grace in everyday life, point it out, and point that back to Jesus. When we do this we glorify the common grace and the saving grace, thus bringing the point of the Gospel full circle. 

When you listen to a secular song that is extremely well written or speaks of the good in life, that brings glory to God! You CAN say that a secular song is good! Go watch a movie and recognize the fact that the dignity of Imago Dei is reflected in one of the characters! We must become masters of finding life in life if we want to have a good impact on culture. 

This theme of actively finding the good in culture and fostering it can be considered the jewish concept of Shalom. N.T. Wright puts it as "...putting the whole creation to rights." Its the way that the world was meant to be. We have to point out the good in life. Once we begin to effectively do this, cultural impact will increase. 

...Jeez. I know that that was an extremely rough explanation of what Scott Kauffmann meant to say, but i feel as though thats the best i could do. Also, its readily obvious that this is my first blog. *sigh* Looks as though this is the first one of many more mediocre blogs! :-)