(e)mergent Voyageurs

Previous Post – Tuesdays With Harry – The Cost Of Being Wrong

In an attempt to further develop the ideas I articulated in my article, “The Community Coming To Be Known As Missional”, I have been exploring it in more detail what I did and did not mean. I am examining each section, trying to share the heart of what I hoped to communicate, where I think it should go or how it should look and why it is important to me.

“For us, generosity trumps obligation, for all that we have is Gods. We give what we have, both financial and otherwise, because we cannot help but want to see His purposes come to fruition. We offer hospitality, opening our homes and our lives to welcome the other. 10% is more likely the amount that remains than what is demanded, and in our mutual generosity, none of us goes without.”

In a culture that teaches consumption and greed, we cannot be too careful on how this impacts our faith journey. In case some think it arrogant, this paragraph represents more of an ideal I hope to see emerge than a common reality I see practiced. While there are those who do, it is fairly rare. I am not opposed to tithing- when people are hesitant to give, it is a good rule of thumb to teach. However, it can become a cop out (even sin) when we end up thinking, even unconsciously, that the 10% is God’s and the rest is ours. Further, as church leaders, we need to be using those previous resources with a brutally demanding integrity.

Hospitality is, perhaps, one of the most significant and powerful aspects of being missional that has been lost to most of the Western church. While I am not arguing that “house churches” are the only or best way of doing community, I will say that in order to have true loving relationships and community, we must live our lives together, demanding that our homes be open to each other more than brief events or meetings. So much of the New Testament cannot be understood fully until we recognize the degree to which the early church embraced this communal hospitality, not only to each other, but also to the outsider.

“We are the Community Coming To Be Known As Missional. Our success is measured by our obedience to Gods calling on us, most evident in our love for Him, for others, for ourselves and for Creation. While we passionately work to build a Kingdom that will change the very course of history, we celebrate the transformation of even one life as though it were the greatest triumph of all, because it is.”

Too often we fall into the trap of defining our success by the worlds standards, as though numbers, exposure, bottom-line, etc. were what reflected it. While these things are important, they are secondary to our commitment to serve God regardless of the “pay offs”. I articulate the ideas of this paragraph in more detail in my series “What Is The Gospel?” (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5). As the final sentence explains, we believe and work towards the transformational impact of God’s love on the whole world, but believe it is also demonstrated in the “smallest” victories.

“We are ruthlessly committed to people over programs, demanding that the latter always serve the former or it will be abandoned. We cooperate, not compete, not seeking to win the praise or demand the submission of others. Neither do we serve buildings and budgets, but they must serve us as we serve others. We seek our greatness in our pursuit to becoming servants.”

Few can argue with the value of the opening sentence, but in practice it can be difficult to achieve. Programs represent investment in time, energy and passion. More often than not we expect people to adapt to the programs rather than considering their continued merit (see my post on systematic planned abandonment). This trend also reflects at times how much we have been shaped by our consumeristic culture, endeavouring to produce the best product for our customers.

Following this trend, we can easily become driven to be the biggest and the best, not primarily out of a sense of excellence or obedience, but in a competitive drive to be on top. While rarely expressed this blatantly, it is too common a pattern is rapidly growing communities, as numbers, programs and buildings become a status symbol of our “success”. In when driven by the right intention to see others drawn to the message of hope in Christ, the medium itself is a message that often contradicts the Gospel we are called to live and proclaim.

I have seen a pattern, both in churches and “parachurch” missions/ministries, where a newer and/or bigger building is looked to as the solution to growth. And yet, far too often, the realities and expenses of such facilities require an approach to ministry, fundraising, etc. that is more directed by sustaining the monster than following the mission. Growth itself is not enough, as we need to be guided by the “DNA” of Christ’s Body. Again, this is not saying mega-churches are wrong (in fact, I have seen quite small ministries fall into this trap while huge churches avoid it), but rather common enough of a problem to merit examination.

What say you?

Emerging Church, Missional

Previous Post – Exploring The Community Coming To Be Known As Missional – 1

I Didn’t Want It To Be My Fault
November 28, 2004 – Winnipeg Sun
by Harry Lehotsky CM, 1957-2006

I’m not shy about taking blame when I can see I’ve done something wrong.

It’s not unusual for people to take issue with things I do or say. I live and work in a place where I don’t always have the luxury of time to plan my response to every spontaneous combustion of circumstance.

Living in our neighbourhood, working on these streets, folks develop and trust instincts when they don’t have time to exercise lengthy analysis. Those instincts have helped me quickly cut through political mumbo-jumbo, assess physical threats, or discern when someone’s feeding me a line for a quick buck.

Despite years of experience, however, I know I can still make mistakes.

But this was a little much.

A few months ago, a woman accused me of forcing her into prostitution. That was a first for me!

I’ll tell you what happened so you can assess my guilt or innocence.

I was getting ready to leave the church to meet with someone. A woman I’ve seen on the street came to the door and struck up a conversation. As she spoke, it became evident that what she really wanted was some money.

It wasn’t like I had money to give that I didn’t owe elsewhere. But I decided to ask some questions anyway.

When I panhandle a funding agency for a little help in providing a service requested by the community, I usually have to go through a process. Typically the four-page application form requests articulation of goals, objectives, values, partners, and a business plan. Then they want to see my sustainability strategy and how they can evaluate whether their donation was well-spent.

I didn’t have one of those forms handy, so my questions for the woman were quite basic, starting with the purpose of her funding application.

After a while, she explained that what she really needed was some money to fill several prescriptions.

Sensing my suspicions, she addressed them directly. “Do you think I’m lying? Just wait here, I’ll go get the bottles.”

She left the church, returning in a few minutes with an assortment of pill bottles. The labels all bore her name, and she described the purpose of each prescription. The most important, she said, was the pill which would alleviate her anxiety.

I stared at the bottles while listening to her talk, fully aware of the reality of mental illness, but still suspicious of the woman’s story.

I considered the likelihood that someone smarter than me probably performed an expert assessment prior to prescribing all those drugs. But I had to weigh that against the knowledge that there are a few doctors who are said to prescribe almost any drug in exchange for financial or sexual kickbacks.

It’s not uncommon for people to be abusing combinations of falsely (or mistakenly) prescribed drugs. I had to consider this as an option. I’ve even seen some people resell their prescriptions, pill by pill, on the street.

Still uncertain as to the legitimacy of her claim, I took another look at the woman. I couldn’t escape the thought that the symptoms supposedly addressed by her combination of medications didn’t seem to suit the woman in front of me.

Outwardly she displayed an exaggerated anxiety which would lead me to believe her desperate need for anxiety medication. But in her eyes and spirit, she seemed cool and methodical as she tried to coax my charity.

Seemingly sensing my thoughts, she pulled out all the stops. She even admitted what I already knew. “Yes, I work the street. Yes, I’ve conned people for money. But I really need this $25 for this medication.

“I know the work you do in the community. I can even help you do it ’cause I know what’s going on out there.”

I made my decision. Believing I was right but knowing there was a chance I could be wrong. I said I would be glad to work with her, and even advocate for help from her worker, but there would be no money changing hands between us.

There were several seconds of silence as she stared at me in disbelief.

Then she hit me with the zinger.

“Fine. But I want you to know one thing. Since you didn’t give me the money I need to fill my prescription, I’m going to go onto Ellice Avenue and hook until I get the money that you wouldn’t give me.”

She continued: “You know how many women have died out there. Just think how you’ll feel if something happens to me while I’m out there because you didn’t give me what I needed.”

How would you have responded to that?

I tried to affirm my care combined with my belief that what she needed would not be addressed by the money for the “anxiety medication.” I said I was willing to try to get her some real help. But if she was going to do what she threatened, I knew I couldn’t stop her.

She left, and about an hour later I saw her working on Ellice.

We looked at each other silently across the street. Knowing further conversation wouldn’t change anything, I prayed she would at least make it home safely.

I didn’t want to accept the blame for putting her on the street. But not accepting blame wouldn’t diminish the pain if something happened to her.

She continued working Ellice for the remainder of the summer.

I haven’t seen her for a while. I found myself praying again this week that she survives long enough to have a chance to get better.

I have been encouraged to see Bill Kinnon’s provocative polemic, “The People Formerly Known As The Congregation”, make its rounds through the blogosphere, inspiring and provoking conversation. I am also honoured that he considered my piece, “The Community Coming To Be Known As Missional”, part 3 of a series inspired by him (Emerging Grace write Part 2; John Frye Part 4; and most recently, Greg Laughery Part 5).

In an attempt to further develop the ideas I articulated in my article, I thought it could be beneficial to explore in more detail what I did and did not mean. I will examine each section, trying to share the heart of what I hoped to communicate, where I think it should go or how it should look and why it is important to me. In order to avoid an overly lengthy piece, I will break it up over a few days.

“The Community Coming To Be Known As Missional”

The title obviously intentionally played off the title of Bill’s original piece. However, where Bill’s piece expressed what he no longer identified with, I wanted to try and identify with that which I hope we could become. As a Canadian, I know how easy it is to define ourselves (immaturely) by what we are not (i.e. “I am not American!”)- something that became apparent to me as I learned to embrace my Canadian/American dual citizenship.

Further, I used the phrase “coming to be known as” to reflect that we have not arrived yet. This is so critical, given the often heated engagement of missional ideals with established Christian traditions. It should ground us in the humility that we are very new to many of these ideas and expressions, therefore requiring us to extend (and request) grace to(/from) those outside our experience.

“Let me introduce you to The Community Coming To Be Known As Missional. There are millions of us, but even very few of us will change the world around us.”

While I do believe that (globally) millions of Christian identify with these values, both in belief and in practice, the second sentence is intentionally written to demonstrate that such numbers are not what is important, not lending us any sense of legitimacy or authority, but rather that the conviction and commitment of even a few holds the capacity to do great things through the Spirit of God.

“We are community because it is the incarnational reflection of the Triune God in whose image we are created. We are a community that prefers walking rather than sitting, going where the Spirit has already gone before us, be it in our neighbourhood or ends of the earth. We are united by relationship and vision, not locations and buildings.”

Anyone who knows me or reads this blog frequently will know that true community is a deep and residing passion in my life. My conviction is that being created in the image of God is significantly (possibly even central) a reflection of His Trinitarian nature. Therefore, it is when we live and love together in the sacramental unity that we best reflect God. That is, in large part, righteousness.

It is the very Trinitarian-centered community nature that drives us out of the doors of our churches- not in rejection of them- into the world where God is already at work, calling us to join Him. As my good friend Brother Maynard is fond of saying, “The best theology comes in boots, not books”. Not a rejection of theological understanding and knowledge, it is rather an attempt to respond to the dynamic tention between our beliefs and our lives. While too few Christians have been involved in their own communities, I do not believe that this move towards local missionality should come at the expense of global missional endeavours. Christ calls us to the end of the earth.

Whether it is churches, “parachurches”, volunteer organizations, etc. people tend to find themselves involved and commited on the basis of two major influences: relationships and vision. If you are there for the relationships, but do not embrace (or believe in) the vision, you risk creating nothing more than social clubs. If you are there for the vision, but do not work towards true relationship- well, as Corithians tells us, “if you have not love…”. It is not a rejection of locations or buildings, just a rearrangement of their priority. (I will explore the relationship to buildings and programs in a later post in this series)

What do you think? Anything you would like to add to each point?

Emerging Church, Missional

Recently, my friends over at Resonate.ca started sharing their results for a fun online test, “Which Church Father Are You?”. While a fair number of them came up as St. Melito of Sardis, I came up St. Jerome, with the following explanation:

“You’re a passionate Christian, fiercely devoted to Jesus Christ and his Church. You are willing to labor long hours in the Lord’s vineyard, and you have little patience with those who are less willing or able to work as you do. Your passions often carry you into temptation zones of wrath, lust, and pride.”

Now, as true as this might be for me, it is general enough that it could apply to a fair number of people. However, inspired to learn more about St. Jerome, I thought I would feature him here in my second Sunday Is For Saints (see the first post on St. Thérèse of Lisieux).

St. Jerome is most widely known for his Latin translation of the Scriptures, the Vulgate. Born in Strido, located today in Croatia, Jerome matured into a gifted rhetorician and philosopher. Pursuing his studies, he left for Rome in his early teen where he was later baptized. Despite his Roman education, he showed little interest in studying theology until leaving Rome for a life on the banks of the Rhine in Gaul. From their his journeys took him deeper into the lives and learning of the Christian faith.

It was not until he was on deaths door, however, that he received a vision to put aside his secular studies and devote his energies to God. After years of study and self-denial in the desert, he returned to Antioch (where he had received his vocational vision) and was ordained Bishop Paulinus, though he insisted on maintaining his ascetic living. St. Jerome went on the deeper study of Scripture and theology, being a man of great influence throughout Christendom.

Inspiring many people, including women, to follow his pattern of asceticism, coupled with his continued criticism of the clergy, false accusations against him were raised, resulting in an inquisition where his position in Rome was taken from him. With several friends, he decided to spend the last days of his life in the Holy Land, including Egypt, where the great ascetics once lived. It was during this time some his greatest works were written. He died near Bethlehem in his early 70′s.

St. Jerome is, perhaps, one of the greatest of the Western Fathers, unrivaled in the depth and breadth of his study of Scripture. Yet he is known (and often rejected by Protestant scholars) for his uncompromising submission to orthodox tradition and authority. Right or wrong, he was a man deeply committed to an ideal in which he was completely convinced.

St. Jerome quotes:

A fat stomach never breeds fine thoughts.

Action without a name, a “who” attached to it, is meaningless.

Beauty when unadorned is adorned the most.

Catch, then, O catch the transient hour; Improve each moment as it flies!

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.

Marriage is good for those who are afraid to sleep alone at night.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

What good is speed if the brain has oozed out on the way.
Edit post at Blog.com
Why do you not practice what you preach.

Other Resources:

-St. Jerome – Catholic Encyclopedia
-English translation of Jerome’s De Viris Illustribus

Missional, Saints

This is so funny, I had to share it with you. This is from the comic book “Alpha Flight” #79, Marvel Comics attempt at an X-Men like team of Canadian superheroes.

(In case the humour evades you, the above statements couldn’t be more ridiculous)

While not technically an art, there is something very creative in the practice of “spin”. For better or for worse, the “art” of the spin doctor to twist and turn things to give an specific intended interpretation is something we see employed in our world everyday. Most often the term is used as a pejorative, as it used most often used to manipulate facts or perceptions to achieve a selfish end, be it in marketing, politics, law, etc.

I recently saw the film (based on the book of the same name) “Thanking You For Smoking”, a humourous, if frightening look at the powerful spinning doctoring of a PR rep for Big Tobacco. Perhaps what disturbs me most is that, without the guiding beliefs of my faith, I think I might have had a fairly successful career in this field (but that’s another matter). While the video above is a great example of a positive spin for entertainment sake, it leave the ultimate questions behind this post:

Can spin be used constructively AND morally? Do we unwittingly play the spin game ourselves? If so, how and why? What say you?

Emerging Church, Missional

My friend, John Smulo, memed me in the “5 Blog That Make Me Think”. While I usually don’t go in for these memes (and this one is difficult to narrow down), I thought I would give it a go. It is a welcomed distraction from more intense conversations of late. So here is my list:

1. Scot McKnight

While I have never met Scot in the flesh, his generous and consistantly challenging posts have represented a significant part of my spiritual formation. Beyond that, through email, he has been an encouragement. For someone as busy as he, it means a great deal that he takes the time to continue to blog and write. Easily my number one.

2. Brother Maynard

Perhaps it is because he is a fellow Winnipeger, thus understand my context, or perhaps it is because he is just a great friend. Above both of these is his thoughtful, practical and honest material that his blog offers. I really hope we can engage some missional projects together in the coming years outside of the blogosphere.

3. Rick Meigs

In addition to his excellent blog, his “Friend of Missional” site has been a continual source of inspiration and encouragement. Both are worth your regular visitation.

4. Andrew Jones

This choice seems like a no brainer, as Andrew (aka tallskinnykiwi) is the Master to every Grasshopper in the blogosphere. Fun, relevant, honest and creative, he has his finger on the pulse of the emerging missional journey so many of us are on.

5. Jordon Cooper

Jordon’s blog is a great representation of honesty, insight and authenticity that the blogosphere would do well to emulate. As a fellow blogger on the Prairies, it is also nice to hear such a signficant and respected Canuck voice in the global conversation.

The norm for this is, if you’re one of the five that have been tagged, you would consider posting 5 blogs that make you think. If you do, leave a link here so others can read your five. Also, leave a link at the originating post.

How about you? Name your top five.

Emerging Church, Missional

Not Every Village Is Qualified To Raise A Child
January 2, 2005 – Winnipeg Sun
by Harry Lehotsky CM, 1957-2006

Have you ever heard the old African proverb which states, “It takes a village to raise a child?”

The proverb gained North American notoriety several years ago with the publication of Hillary Clinton’s book, It Takes A Village.

The book emphasized the impact of communities on growing children. No man — or child — is an island. No family raises children in a vacuum. Children are influenced by their surroundings, peers, extended family, media, and a plethora of other influences.  

Clinton’s popularization of the African proverb fostered a romantic notion of solidarity and community development of the family.

When I first heard the proverb, I cynically commented, “That may be true somewhere else, but we’re a long way from Africa!” I reflected on the large number of messed up children in our society.

Taking responsibility

I wondered if the misappropriation of a cultural maxim would become simply another way for errant kids to avoid taking responsibility for their own behaviour. Now they could pin their exploits on the influence of the village. And it wasn’t long before I heard Hillary’s phrase parroted by courtroom defence attorneys.

Recently, I’ve met a growing number of refugees and immigrants from other countries. And I ponder the old proverb as I listen to their stories.

Many individuals and families have come from distant villages to our North American cities. Many have left circumstances of extreme violence, poverty and political turmoil.

They come with dreams of advanced education, heightened civility, elevated culture, and hopes for accessing the success advertised so well by our society.

But as they pursue participation in our success they also discover that they are sucked into our dysfunction. There’s a flip side to the freedoms celebrated by our culture.

As I listen to their stories, some of their observations about our culture are painfully blunt.

“I’m not quite sure what we expected when we came here, but it’s harder to succeed than I first thought.”

“We thought we were leaving a land of danger for a land of opportunity. But even here, in the midst of great potential, there are new dangers for us and our children.”

I feel their frustration and fear as they share some of the ways their experience is devalued and their best values are systematically dismantled.

They are surprised to discover that our schools allow promotion through grades without passing grades.

They are shocked to hear that schools struggling to convey basic literacy and computation skills feel qualified to educate children in applying condoms and accessing abortions “necessitated” by irresponsible intercourse.

Some parents have expressed extreme dismay that schools teach their kids that gay is OK and that all authority — including that of parents — must be questioned.
Media bombards them with the commercialization of violence and promiscuity. Our free media provides daily lessons in the art of claiming rights without accepting responsibility.

They meet people who, despite their physical fitness, receive “social assistance” cheques without working. And they hear their own jobs mocked and rejected as “McJobs” by those who claim they inherently deserve more than what is offered to their neighbours.

Legally, they observe laws without consequences and courts without clout. They learn that government health agencies distribute free crack pipes and needles for illegal narcotics.

They notice that our provincial government runs casinos to squeeze more money from gambling addicts.

Our city licenses brothels in the guise of “massage parlours.” Our federal government imports strippers and routinely promotes bureaucratic graft which is obscene in its excess.

Our Supreme Court outlaws spanking, neuters youth justice, redefines pedophilia to allow sex with children, and forces conditional sentencing for offenders. Unelected officials obsess over definitions and words while ignoring the pleas of citizens for practical help on pressing issues of daily concern.

Ralph Abernathy, black civil rights leader, commented: “I’m sick and tired of black and white people of good intent giving aspirin to a society that is dying of a cancerous disease.”

Rules and schools and social workers ensure that newcomers are bureaucratized to play our cultural game and desensitized to its consequences.

Our moral incontinence masquerades as an enlightened appreciation for diversity. Newcomers are consumed by our multiplicity of standards and our duplicity of values. Dissidents are mocked as regressive, repressive and narrow-minded.

What a country!

The romantic notion, the sociological idealism of our “village” raising children is betrayed by the hard cold facts. Our North American village is in chaos.

The closest we get to a village raising children is when Child and Family Services takes custody of children in hotel rooms. And that’s little more than the child-care equivalent of hallway medicine.

We rightly bemoan the loss of culture and trampling of the identity of our First Nations people.

But we don’t consider how we continually trample the cultural identity and morality of so many other nations to accommodate prideful notions of superiority and enlightenment.

Delivering the truth

Perhaps Hans Christian Anderson was right. Sometimes it takes a newcomer to help us see that our proud emperor’s wonderful wardrobe has been spun with threads of delusion and denial. As in his fairy tale, a persistent delivery of truth is the best antidote for false pride.

Yet the newcomers are gracious. In the midst of their fears and frustrations, they are not ungrateful for the opportunity to build a new life.

They share their observations not with arrogance, but with the concern of friends who have something to contribute to our healing.

If it’s true that it takes a village to raise a child, then somebody better help us raise a better village — before our village raises too many more mixed up, messed up kids.

Perhaps we can learn a few lessons from the lands in which the old proverb actually had some meaning.

It has been just over two months since I stepped out and shared my personal experience with homosexual orientation (see my post “Homosexuality: A Personal Reflection”). As you might imagine, it was nearly a year of processing and wrestling over this decision before taking the step. You might be surprised, however, on the main cause of my hesitation.

One of my central concerns in sharing my personal experience and position on the issue of homosexuality and Christianity was how it would be perceived by those in the GLBT community. Further, I was concerned it might be used as ammunition by Christians who treat this issue with a violent and often casual bigotry. For the most part, I have been pleasantly surprised at the positive response, even helping several people find the confidence to come to terms with their sexual orientation rather than hide or ignore it.

However, last Thursday a new blog was launched called “Bad Fruit/ Bad Trees: Admonishing Those Who Preach Homophobia”. The site describes itself as follows:

“Conservative Christians go on and on and on about the alleged sinfullness of homosexuality, or homosexual lovemaking. But while same-sex coupling does not destroy lives or faith, the bias against homosexuality spawns hate crimes, discrimination, abuse, lies, and division and discord. It is long past time to call those who malign and revile homosexuals to repent of their sins against real human beings. That is what this space is about.”

In its inaugural post, “Sin of Arrogance”, a previous post of mine, “Homosexuality & the Church – Part 1″, was mentioned. It was cited in respect to the trend within Conservative Christianity to dismiss any other perspective but their own. It says:

“When challenged by evidence from the lives of GLBTQ people, or by challenges to the theology behind the condemnation, these authors consistently responded within the premise that their belief (homosexuality is condemned in the Bible) is unquestionably correct. These authors practice for themselves an intrinsic superiority – what they believe is automatically correct, they cannot be wrong, anyone who disagrees with them cannot be correct. The effort to even consider that their interpretation could be in error is simply not made.”

While it suggests that my post poses genuine challenges to these assumptions, he goes on to say that my subsequent posts dehumanize the GLBT community. My heart was crushed by this statement. Obviously, the author and I do not see eye to eye on this issue, but I am not sure the assessment is fair. I want to try and respond as best I can. However, I must first make a few things clear.

By and large, I believe the author is quite accurate it their portrayal of a large portion of the Conservative/Evangelical Christian community in its treatment of this issue and those people involved. For centuries homosexuals have suffered devastating and inhumane treatment- tortured, murdered, mocked, denied rights, etc., often at the hands of and/or with the blessing of the Christian establishment. While much has improved, too many Christians still arrogantly boast of their own moral superiority by using this issue, framed in the shallow simplicity of “black and white” language, as a way of proving their “righteousness” (and thus avoiding the deeper, far more pervasive culpability in other failings).

Further, talk about the so called “Homosexual Agenda” must stop. Portraying the work of the GLBT community to secure basic human rights and freedoms as a dark and secretive conspiracy aiming to undermine society is alarmist and offensive. Even if you do not agree with their purposes, to frame their efforts in such terms is propoganda that is patently false, manipulating people to believing dangerous untruths about the homosexual community to gain greater support for their efforts to stop this “agenda”. This technique has been used in the past (and sadly, still is in places) to perpetuate the evil system of racial segregation. As Christians we can have nothing to do with this kind of thing.

That being said, I struggled reading the post in question. While I agree with much of their critique of the typical Conservative Christian response to homosexuality, it does not allow any room for genuine dialogue. It argues that Conservatives are not willing to even consider that their position might be wrong, but I see no such willingness from the author of this post to do the same. The article uses words like “proof” and “evidence” that give more definitive authority to ideas and circumstances that are not so clear cut.

Given the history of Christian failure in our treatment of homosexuals and the current caustic atmosphere surrounding these issues, genuine and humble dialogue is desperately needed. While I convinced that, on both the merits of what our beliefs require of us and on our failings on this issue, Christians must take the lions share of responsibility in this process, it has to be a mutual commitment. For many of the Christians who believe that homosexuality is inconsistant with Christianity, it is not rooted in bigotry, fear or arrogance. Many struggle holding this belief, but in the context of their presuppositions about faith and truth cannot simply dismiss it. If this is not acknowledged by people, such as the other of the post in question, any chance for restoration or change is deadlocked.

As the blog does not provide contact information and because it is closed to outside comments, I have not been able to discuss this with the author. My hope is that they will see this post and be willing to engage in conversation. This what we all need to attempt to do. It will be risky, with both sides being very cautious, mistrusting and sensitive. However, it only in the journey through the Cross that Resurrection is possible.

So where do we start? How do bridge this very difficult gap?

Emerging Church, Missional, Homosexuality

May Christ peace be with you through this Easter Season.

I’ll return to posting on Tuesday. In the mean time, see John Fryre’s excellent post:

The People Formerly Known As “The Pastor”