One of the icons of my youth was the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man. His secret to his great strength was eating a can of spinach, which he carried somewhere in his shirt and would consume just at the climax of peril. You knew it had arrived when he would say, "Enough is enough and enough is too much!" Having reached the limit, out came the can of spinach and his super-salad strength saved the day.
Two important lessons were taught in that children's cartoon: 1) Eat your veggies and 2) there is a limit to what we can contain. I'll let you chew on the first truth (pun intended) while I take a moment to entertain the second.
There is a flash-point in each of us, that point where enough is enough and enough is too much and we either implode or explode, neither being particularly healthy. And while there are times when our stress level comes from an outside source entirely, far too often we are the true source of our own stress. We say yes to that final straw that pushes our ability to stand up under the load to the breaking point. We say yes when our psyche is screaming "No!" deep inside us.
Perhaps you've heard the old adage, "If you want something done, find a busy person to ask." Why? Because those who busy themselves tend tto get things done and they seldom form the word "no" and force it through their lips. Even when they are beginning to wobble under the strain, "Yes, of course I'll do it," seems to escape from their mouths before their brain evaluates the overload.
What happens to these people? Generally speaking: Burnout! Were you aware that by the seventh year, two-thirds of preachers leave the ministry? Were you aware that of the ones who don't leave, 50% would if they could find something else? Why? We keep asking more of them and they keep saying yes to us. Tic toc, tic toc, tic toc.....
None of us, preacher, teachers, volunteers, et. al., are unlimited in our ability to take on burdens. Not even in the cause of Christ are we unlimited in our ability to take on one more thing. God is unlimited and his power working within us "can do more than we ask or imagine" (Eph 3:20) but that is the collective "we" of the body of Christ not each individual member. The church can accomplish all that God has purposed but you cannot as one part of that body. Eyes can't walk, ears can't talk.
God uses us individually with and within our weaknesses. Rather than take away Paul's limitation, God said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9). We are not equipped nor do we need to say "yes" to everything. We need to use a sacred "no" to ministry, family, community and vocational requests at times. Enough is enough. Jus' Say'n.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Monday, April 6, 2015
Normal Monday
Good Friday and Easter Sunday are behind us. The eggs are all gone, the baskets put away and the Peeps have been gobble up along with the Cadbury Bunnies. The rituals have been completed, the Resurrection sermons preached and the special services have come to a close. Now its Monday after Easter and life can get back to normal.
It could and likely will for most, but should it? I'm not suggesting that we keep up all the dressing and extras of Easter but I am questioning what is normal. Is normal to not darken a church building doorway again until Christmas? Is normal not to consider the Resurrection and it's implications to our lives until next Easter? Is normal setting aside all this religious trappings and get back to your real life, a life hammered out on the anvil of worldly enterprise instead of spiritual expectation?
What if instead, we lived in the shadow of the Resurrection? What if the Resurrection were a weekly celebration and a daily reality? What if the message of the empty tomb filled our empty lives? What if we walked according to the Spirit, embraced the Presence of the Living Lord and engaged the world as victorious children of Almighty God? What if the Resurrection set the tone for Monday?
What would normal Monday look like if each of us truly experienced a "new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ?" (1 Pet 1:3). If we were daily experiencing the presence of the Living Lord, how could any day be normal in the sense of mundane or placid. What is normal like for one who one who daily "denie himself taking up his cross and following Jesus?" (Mk 8:34).
Easter is a once yearly celebration in ritual and tradition to memorialize an epic event - the Resurrection. But the Resurrection is more than an event in history, it is a reality in daily life, a constant in the spiritual walk of the believer. Because he rose from the grave, he is not there and then, he is here and now. My Lord and yours did not leave us, indeed "he will never leave us as orphans, he will come to us" (Jn 14:18).
Yes, today is Monday, an average, normal Monday. But what will normal be for you? Will you walk lockstep with the crowds in worldly mediocrity and sameness or will you choose to follow the Resurrected Lord, praying and looking for divine appointments along the way as you allow the Spirit of the Living God to shine out of your life like the Risen Christ shining out of the empty tomb? Jus' Ask'n.
It could and likely will for most, but should it? I'm not suggesting that we keep up all the dressing and extras of Easter but I am questioning what is normal. Is normal to not darken a church building doorway again until Christmas? Is normal not to consider the Resurrection and it's implications to our lives until next Easter? Is normal setting aside all this religious trappings and get back to your real life, a life hammered out on the anvil of worldly enterprise instead of spiritual expectation?
What if instead, we lived in the shadow of the Resurrection? What if the Resurrection were a weekly celebration and a daily reality? What if the message of the empty tomb filled our empty lives? What if we walked according to the Spirit, embraced the Presence of the Living Lord and engaged the world as victorious children of Almighty God? What if the Resurrection set the tone for Monday?
What would normal Monday look like if each of us truly experienced a "new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ?" (1 Pet 1:3). If we were daily experiencing the presence of the Living Lord, how could any day be normal in the sense of mundane or placid. What is normal like for one who one who daily "denie himself taking up his cross and following Jesus?" (Mk 8:34).
Easter is a once yearly celebration in ritual and tradition to memorialize an epic event - the Resurrection. But the Resurrection is more than an event in history, it is a reality in daily life, a constant in the spiritual walk of the believer. Because he rose from the grave, he is not there and then, he is here and now. My Lord and yours did not leave us, indeed "he will never leave us as orphans, he will come to us" (Jn 14:18).
Yes, today is Monday, an average, normal Monday. But what will normal be for you? Will you walk lockstep with the crowds in worldly mediocrity and sameness or will you choose to follow the Resurrected Lord, praying and looking for divine appointments along the way as you allow the Spirit of the Living God to shine out of your life like the Risen Christ shining out of the empty tomb? Jus' Ask'n.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Rolling Stone
The backdrop of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a spiritual spectacular that fuels our imaginations but empties our human capacity to properly articulate or even understand. The heavenly forces set in motion by the power of the Holy Spirit of God on that first Easter Sunday are equal to the power unleashed in the creation of the universe: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive...has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand —with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him" (1 Pet 3:18-22).
Books could and have been written on the backdrop of the Resurrection. The finest minds and the greatest artists could collaborate and produce a masterpiece that would only the hem of the garment of the Resurrection reality in its fullness. But there are two facts, witnessed by humans, understood by humans and easily communicated by humans:
1. Jesus' lifeless body was placed in a tomb and a stone was rolled in front of the opening to seal and secure his dead body. The disciples bore witness to this, the Romans bore witness to this, the crowds bore witness to this and the Jewish leaders responsible for for the mock trial and unjust execution also bore witness to this rolling stone coming to rest over an inhabited tomb.
2. That same stone was not sealing that same tomb on the third day. The rolling stone that came to rest over the entrance of an inhabited tomb began rolling again and exposed an empty tomb. The grave cloths were there but the body around which they were wrapped was not. To this day, that once filled tomb remains empty of the Savior's body.
We could say that his disciples moved it during the night but they would have to have gotten by a detachment of Roman soldiers whose very lives were on the line if they allowed their charge to be taken. We could say Jesus only swooned on the cross and awoke in the grave but the Romans were experts at such things and he was pierced in his side with a spear to insure death. Besides, how would someone so weakened by a crucifixion roll the stone away from the inside?
Really there is only one reasonable answer to the empty tomb: By the power of the Living God, He overcame death, rising from its clutches, causing the stone to roll away, not so that he could exit as no power and no thing could hold him, but that others could enter to see that he was not in the tomb, that he was not in the grip of death, that he had risen! "The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay'" (Matt 28:5-6). Jus' Say'n
Books could and have been written on the backdrop of the Resurrection. The finest minds and the greatest artists could collaborate and produce a masterpiece that would only the hem of the garment of the Resurrection reality in its fullness. But there are two facts, witnessed by humans, understood by humans and easily communicated by humans:
1. Jesus' lifeless body was placed in a tomb and a stone was rolled in front of the opening to seal and secure his dead body. The disciples bore witness to this, the Romans bore witness to this, the crowds bore witness to this and the Jewish leaders responsible for for the mock trial and unjust execution also bore witness to this rolling stone coming to rest over an inhabited tomb.
2. That same stone was not sealing that same tomb on the third day. The rolling stone that came to rest over the entrance of an inhabited tomb began rolling again and exposed an empty tomb. The grave cloths were there but the body around which they were wrapped was not. To this day, that once filled tomb remains empty of the Savior's body.
We could say that his disciples moved it during the night but they would have to have gotten by a detachment of Roman soldiers whose very lives were on the line if they allowed their charge to be taken. We could say Jesus only swooned on the cross and awoke in the grave but the Romans were experts at such things and he was pierced in his side with a spear to insure death. Besides, how would someone so weakened by a crucifixion roll the stone away from the inside?
Really there is only one reasonable answer to the empty tomb: By the power of the Living God, He overcame death, rising from its clutches, causing the stone to roll away, not so that he could exit as no power and no thing could hold him, but that others could enter to see that he was not in the tomb, that he was not in the grip of death, that he had risen! "The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay'" (Matt 28:5-6). Jus' Say'n
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Grave Thoughts
Good Friday was the day in which everything seemed to have gone wrong but was vindicated by the glorious resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday. The abrupt end of Jesus' life on Good Friday would erupt in endless life on Easter Sunday. Friday death wins for the last time for on Sunday death is defeated for all time and eternity.
But what about Saturday? What happened in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? No nails were driven through flesh into wood, no stone was rolled away from an empty tomb - one might easily be tempted to say, "Move along, there's nothing to see here." Jesus' disciples were among that group who believed nothing was happening.
While the guards watched over the tomb, the disciples gathered to lick their wounds in disbelief of all that had happened instead of gathering to praise the Object of their faith in expectation: "Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen" (Mk 16:14).
If I were from Jersey, I might say, "Not for nothing Christ went to tomb." In truth, it was not for nothing, it was the place where death and the Deliverer met and our deliverance was found: "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit" (1 Pet 3:18). His body was laid to rest but his Spirit was wakened in the darkness. The victory over death celebrated on Easter was the result of the encounter with death in the tomb.
It appeared to human eyes that there was nothing to see here. But I can tell you that the armies of heaven and hell saw plenty. The Christ was not quiet in the tomb, only his body lay there. The Deliver and death were coming face to face, and the armies of the Lord of Light were in holding their breath in expectation while the armies of the Despot of Darkness were gasping in dread as they encountered the presence of the Living God.
Perhaps you are going through a period where it doesn't seem that God is at work in your life. Your prayers seem to go unanswered, there doesn't seem to be any forward motion in your life or circumstance. Don't make the mistake of thinking that God is inactive just because you can't see what is happening. As Jesus clearly proclaimed, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (Jn 5:17).
The seeming defeat of Friday and the spectacular victory of Sunday are connected by the grave darkness of Saturday in which God is working out his plans beyond human sight. Jus' Sayn.
But what about Saturday? What happened in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? No nails were driven through flesh into wood, no stone was rolled away from an empty tomb - one might easily be tempted to say, "Move along, there's nothing to see here." Jesus' disciples were among that group who believed nothing was happening.
While the guards watched over the tomb, the disciples gathered to lick their wounds in disbelief of all that had happened instead of gathering to praise the Object of their faith in expectation: "Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen" (Mk 16:14).
If I were from Jersey, I might say, "Not for nothing Christ went to tomb." In truth, it was not for nothing, it was the place where death and the Deliverer met and our deliverance was found: "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit" (1 Pet 3:18). His body was laid to rest but his Spirit was wakened in the darkness. The victory over death celebrated on Easter was the result of the encounter with death in the tomb.
It appeared to human eyes that there was nothing to see here. But I can tell you that the armies of heaven and hell saw plenty. The Christ was not quiet in the tomb, only his body lay there. The Deliver and death were coming face to face, and the armies of the Lord of Light were in holding their breath in expectation while the armies of the Despot of Darkness were gasping in dread as they encountered the presence of the Living God.
Perhaps you are going through a period where it doesn't seem that God is at work in your life. Your prayers seem to go unanswered, there doesn't seem to be any forward motion in your life or circumstance. Don't make the mistake of thinking that God is inactive just because you can't see what is happening. As Jesus clearly proclaimed, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (Jn 5:17).
The seeming defeat of Friday and the spectacular victory of Sunday are connected by the grave darkness of Saturday in which God is working out his plans beyond human sight. Jus' Sayn.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Friday Good
At the end of the work week, when I'm asked how I'm doing, I often say, "I'm Friday good!" As I encounter co-workers on this day of the week, I even wish them a "Happy Friday!" Friday is, without doubt, our favorite day of the work week. And yet, it is a day in which we have a lengthy weekly meeting and often a day when we must catch up and finish out the week, causing it to be busier and potentially more stressful than other days.
So why is Friday good? Why do we all look forward to Friday? Why is TGIF a universal rally cry for workers all over America? Why? What is the great thing about Friday? Saturday! It isn't that Friday is so good in itself, it's that Friday lives right next door to Saturday and we really like Saturday. Without doubt, the best thing about Friday is Saturday.
Today is not just Friday, which is good. Today is Good Friday, the day set aside to memorialize and celebrate the day our Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross. When you think about it, why would that be a good Friday? What is so good about being scourged, humiliated and nailed to a cross? What is so good about facing condemnation and death? What makes this Good Friday? Sunday!
Friday Jesus went to the cross. Friday his bloodied, beaten body was hung from a tree. Friday he was in the hands of sinners and under the curse of the crucifixion. Friday he was tortured, killed and placed in a tomb. Friday didn't seem to have any good to it. In fact, his disciples, feeling defeated, ran away, returning to their fishing nets. To them, Friday was anything but good.
But then came Sunday! On Sunday an angel rolled back the stone (cf. Matt 28:2). On Sunday the disciples found the empty tomb (cf. Jn 20:6). On Sunday they saw the Risen Lord (cf. Jn 20:19). On Sunday our Lord broke the strangle hold of death (cf. Rom 6:9). On Sunday his disciples were afforded the power of the Resurrection (cf. Rom 6:4). Friday was good because Sunday was great!
Friday was good because Sunday was coming. Today is Good Friday because Easter is coming. Friday may be a day of darkness but it in contrast with the light of Sunday. Your whole life may have been a Friday, filled with darkness and gloom. You may have more trouble just now than you have the time or energy to talk about. But, if you are in Christ, Sunday is coming and your Friday is good. Therefore, regardless of the stress you are under, in Christ, you are Friday Good! Jus' Say'n.
So why is Friday good? Why do we all look forward to Friday? Why is TGIF a universal rally cry for workers all over America? Why? What is the great thing about Friday? Saturday! It isn't that Friday is so good in itself, it's that Friday lives right next door to Saturday and we really like Saturday. Without doubt, the best thing about Friday is Saturday.
Today is not just Friday, which is good. Today is Good Friday, the day set aside to memorialize and celebrate the day our Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross. When you think about it, why would that be a good Friday? What is so good about being scourged, humiliated and nailed to a cross? What is so good about facing condemnation and death? What makes this Good Friday? Sunday!
Friday Jesus went to the cross. Friday his bloodied, beaten body was hung from a tree. Friday he was in the hands of sinners and under the curse of the crucifixion. Friday he was tortured, killed and placed in a tomb. Friday didn't seem to have any good to it. In fact, his disciples, feeling defeated, ran away, returning to their fishing nets. To them, Friday was anything but good.
But then came Sunday! On Sunday an angel rolled back the stone (cf. Matt 28:2). On Sunday the disciples found the empty tomb (cf. Jn 20:6). On Sunday they saw the Risen Lord (cf. Jn 20:19). On Sunday our Lord broke the strangle hold of death (cf. Rom 6:9). On Sunday his disciples were afforded the power of the Resurrection (cf. Rom 6:4). Friday was good because Sunday was great!
Friday was good because Sunday was coming. Today is Good Friday because Easter is coming. Friday may be a day of darkness but it in contrast with the light of Sunday. Your whole life may have been a Friday, filled with darkness and gloom. You may have more trouble just now than you have the time or energy to talk about. But, if you are in Christ, Sunday is coming and your Friday is good. Therefore, regardless of the stress you are under, in Christ, you are Friday Good! Jus' Say'n.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Abandoned
When I was four or so, my family was moving, I think to Fort Leonardwood in Missouri. We stopped at a service station (back in the days when service was provided at gas stations) to fuel up and empty out our bladders. When I came out of the restroom, I saw our family car pulling away. I stood there in disbelief as the tail lights shrank out of view. My little heart sank as the feeling of abandonment grew within me. My family had left me behind, I would never see them again.
At least that was what I thought. The service station attendant saw me standing near the pump crying. He came over and said, "Don't worry, your folks will be right back to get you." I looked up with tear-filled eyes and replied, "No they won't. We're moving away. They are never coming back!"
Well, it wasn't long before someone noticed the blonde-haired, blue-eyed kid wasn't in the car and they turned around (possibly at the protest of my siblings) and came back for me. I never was actually abandoned, there were simply so many kids and so many distractions that I was overlooked in the general mayhem of the Kensers on the move. What appeared to me to be a singular, world-shaking event, was actually a fairly common oversight. Even Jesus himself was overlooked when his family was returning home from Jerusalem (cf. Lk 2:43)
Jesus, however, as a boy of 12, did not feel abandoned when his family traveled on without him. He was busy in his Father's house (cf. vs 49), talking with the elders. He would not feel abandoned until much later, at the age of 33 as he hung from the cross, overwhelmed in pain and life ebbing from his body. In a moment of human desperation he cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:34).
God, of course, was not forsaking him. Everything that was happening was part of His plan for Jesus' victory over death and our redemption from the power of death: "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 15:56-57). What was God's plan in action looked and felt like God abandoning his Son. But nothing could have been further from the truth - a truth that Jesus wrapped his mind around in his final moments saying, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Lk 23:46).
As a child of God, there may well be times when your overburdened humanity may lose sight of God's purpose and presence. You may very well feel abandoned due to the awful circumstance of the moment. But it is not true, you will never be abandoned by God, who promises, "I will not leave you as orphans" (Jn 14:18). The feeling is real but that reality is only a feeling. The truth is that God never abandons his children. He is always near, even when we don't feel his presence. Jus' Say'n.
At least that was what I thought. The service station attendant saw me standing near the pump crying. He came over and said, "Don't worry, your folks will be right back to get you." I looked up with tear-filled eyes and replied, "No they won't. We're moving away. They are never coming back!"
Well, it wasn't long before someone noticed the blonde-haired, blue-eyed kid wasn't in the car and they turned around (possibly at the protest of my siblings) and came back for me. I never was actually abandoned, there were simply so many kids and so many distractions that I was overlooked in the general mayhem of the Kensers on the move. What appeared to me to be a singular, world-shaking event, was actually a fairly common oversight. Even Jesus himself was overlooked when his family was returning home from Jerusalem (cf. Lk 2:43)
Jesus, however, as a boy of 12, did not feel abandoned when his family traveled on without him. He was busy in his Father's house (cf. vs 49), talking with the elders. He would not feel abandoned until much later, at the age of 33 as he hung from the cross, overwhelmed in pain and life ebbing from his body. In a moment of human desperation he cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:34).
God, of course, was not forsaking him. Everything that was happening was part of His plan for Jesus' victory over death and our redemption from the power of death: "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 15:56-57). What was God's plan in action looked and felt like God abandoning his Son. But nothing could have been further from the truth - a truth that Jesus wrapped his mind around in his final moments saying, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Lk 23:46).
As a child of God, there may well be times when your overburdened humanity may lose sight of God's purpose and presence. You may very well feel abandoned due to the awful circumstance of the moment. But it is not true, you will never be abandoned by God, who promises, "I will not leave you as orphans" (Jn 14:18). The feeling is real but that reality is only a feeling. The truth is that God never abandons his children. He is always near, even when we don't feel his presence. Jus' Say'n.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Tolerance
I have some friends and co-workers that smoke. I like them, I accept them as smokers, I believe they have the right even an over-whelming compulsion to smoke, but I do not think they are right to smoke nor do I condone or encourage them to smoke. This is true tolerance. I am not required to agreed with them nor do I have to rail against them. I don't get in the way of their smoking and they do not expect me o join in. I wouldn't run to the store and pick up a pack for them or even offer to light their cigarette. They know I do not approve or appreciate their addiction, but that I do approve of and appreciate them.
If I lived in Colorado, where using marijuana recreationally is legal, I would not be partaking. I would, no doubt, have friends and co-workers who bought, sold and used the drug. I would not use it with them, I would not purchase it for them nor would I encourage their using in any way. I would not be in their face, I would not insist they give it up, but I would easily tolerate their choice, which runs so counter to mine. If we talked about it, I would not pretend I was in favor of it to make them feel good or rail at them to make them feel bad. I would tolerate their drug use and accept them as friends and co-workers.
I know that many, if not most believe that one is either born homosexual or heterosexual and has no choice in the matter. That may or may not be so. I have my doubts as I personally know of individuals who insist they were gay and now they are straight. I choose to believe the individual who went through the change. I also have noticed that individuals who are straight, when in prison often adopt a same-sex lifestyle and return to a heterosexual one when released.
I also know that being born with a particular sexual preference does not mean that one has to act on it. Jesus said that "there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 19:12). In other words, we don't have to act on our sexual urges at all. We can modify our sexual behavior "for the sake of the kingdom."
This is the distinct difference in one "born gay" and one born of a particular color or ethnic group. While one can go to prison and adopt the gay lifestyle, he will not be able to change his color. We are the color we are, regardless of how we act. Being gay or straight only matters when we exercise our choice of sexuality. I can become asexual for the kingdom if necessary, I cannot become a different race. There is a difference.
I have friends and co-workers that are practicing homosexuals. I love them and accept them as they are but I do not accept or encourage the lifestyle choice. I have no doubt that it would be hard to impossible for them to change without the inner work of the Spirit. I don't challenge them or encourage them in their choice but I am honest in my opinion when the subject comes up, which is not very often. I tolerate their choice and they tolerate mine. We appreciate each other but do not agree on this issue.
Their stance is that they were born this way and therefore God must be OK with the way they are. My position is that "from the beginning, the Creator made us male and female, and for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh" (Matt 19:5). We both have the right to come to the conclusions we have in the manner that we came to them. But that does not mean that we are both right.
I will tolerate the beliefs of others, whether homosexual, pagan, Muslim, fundamentalist, alarmist, whatever. But I do not intend to give up my God-given and First Amendment upheld right to embrace my faith and live it out in the manner I believe to be true. I do not seek to impose my beliefs on others and I would welcome the attempts of others to impose their beliefs on me. I believe in tolerance, do you? Jus' Ask'n.
If I lived in Colorado, where using marijuana recreationally is legal, I would not be partaking. I would, no doubt, have friends and co-workers who bought, sold and used the drug. I would not use it with them, I would not purchase it for them nor would I encourage their using in any way. I would not be in their face, I would not insist they give it up, but I would easily tolerate their choice, which runs so counter to mine. If we talked about it, I would not pretend I was in favor of it to make them feel good or rail at them to make them feel bad. I would tolerate their drug use and accept them as friends and co-workers.
I know that many, if not most believe that one is either born homosexual or heterosexual and has no choice in the matter. That may or may not be so. I have my doubts as I personally know of individuals who insist they were gay and now they are straight. I choose to believe the individual who went through the change. I also have noticed that individuals who are straight, when in prison often adopt a same-sex lifestyle and return to a heterosexual one when released.
I also know that being born with a particular sexual preference does not mean that one has to act on it. Jesus said that "there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 19:12). In other words, we don't have to act on our sexual urges at all. We can modify our sexual behavior "for the sake of the kingdom."
This is the distinct difference in one "born gay" and one born of a particular color or ethnic group. While one can go to prison and adopt the gay lifestyle, he will not be able to change his color. We are the color we are, regardless of how we act. Being gay or straight only matters when we exercise our choice of sexuality. I can become asexual for the kingdom if necessary, I cannot become a different race. There is a difference.
I have friends and co-workers that are practicing homosexuals. I love them and accept them as they are but I do not accept or encourage the lifestyle choice. I have no doubt that it would be hard to impossible for them to change without the inner work of the Spirit. I don't challenge them or encourage them in their choice but I am honest in my opinion when the subject comes up, which is not very often. I tolerate their choice and they tolerate mine. We appreciate each other but do not agree on this issue.
Their stance is that they were born this way and therefore God must be OK with the way they are. My position is that "from the beginning, the Creator made us male and female, and for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh" (Matt 19:5). We both have the right to come to the conclusions we have in the manner that we came to them. But that does not mean that we are both right.
I will tolerate the beliefs of others, whether homosexual, pagan, Muslim, fundamentalist, alarmist, whatever. But I do not intend to give up my God-given and First Amendment upheld right to embrace my faith and live it out in the manner I believe to be true. I do not seek to impose my beliefs on others and I would welcome the attempts of others to impose their beliefs on me. I believe in tolerance, do you? Jus' Ask'n.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)