The Big One

A lot of talk lately...a lot of chatter in the news, and on social media. The big one, the earthquake that will cause a tsunami that will destroy the Oregon and Washington coast, is coming. I am afraid. Even though I don't live at the coast, I am terrified. Do I have water and supplies in the garage? No. Maybe I'll start stockpiling. Maybe I'll forget to. But all of the water and supplies won't assuage my fears. Because what terrifies me most isn't the natural disaster. The thing that makes me shake in my boots is the aftermath. The devastation that will hit us when all of the water recedes and the dust has settled. This is when all of the voices will begin to speak, all of those sure-of-themselves, "I'm always right" Scripture-quoting voices will begin to speak for God. "I told you so. It was sure to happen. God is angry. Judgment was sure to come upon us. We are being punished!" Punished for...(choose one) abortion, homosexuality, flag burning, taking prayer out of school, not saying the pledge of allegiance every morning, and the list goes on. Trust me, friends. The big one is coming. I may not be sure about when or if this natural disaster will hit, but the disaster of its aftermath will surely hit. And it will be disastrous. It always is. When we superimpose our fear and false image of God onto things that happen to us in this life, it does tremendous damage. Not just to ourselves and our relationship with God, but damage to others and their relationship with Him, or their image of Him. I think that is the greatest disaster of all. That, to me, is the big one. The one we must prepare for. God help us.

Sinfully Ignorant, Perfectly Loved

After my last post "Gay Thoughts" I was asked if I thought homosexuality is a sin. I answered that I don't know because I'm not God. People say "How can you say you don't know? It is right there in the Word!!"

How easy it is for us to have our black and white Christianity, and our righteous judgments. But from where I'm sitting things aren't so cut and dried. Oh, but we fear falling into "situational ethics" don't we? We prefer to stay within the boundaries of the law.

One of the commandments is "Thou shalt not kill." It doesn't get more basic than that. We find little confusion in it, and we don't spend much time arguing about it. I know many Christians who own guns for "protection" and who fight adamantly for the right to do so. How does that compute?

Someone breaks into your house to steal your TV. You hear him downstairs, and grab your gun from the drawer by your bed. You sneak down, gun drawn, and confront the robber. He turns around, and he has a gun too. You feel  threatened, so you pull the trigger and shoot. You get lucky, and hit him right in the heart...he hits the floor. In an instant, you have taken a life. You have broken the basic command, "Thou shalt not kill." You have sinned. Even worse, you have chosen to sin.

I know, you say, "But it was self-defense."  I don't see that addendum to the commandment. "Thou shalt not kill...unless it is self-defense." Yet, that is how we have come to interpret it. Wait, isn't that situational ethics?
And is it really even self-defense when it was pre-meditated? After all, you bought the gun for this purpose. You chose to take it out and use it. Jesus taught that even if a man thinks it in his heart he has already committed the sin. Hmmm. Clearly sin.

The dead man's family feels he was murdered. "Thou shalt not steal" is pretty clear. He is a sinner. But wait. He had a very sick child at home who needed life-saving surgery. He had no insurance, and no money. Sort of changes our perspective, doesn't it?

You say you were protecting your family. He was trying to protect his. God knows both hearts. I don't. I can only judge on appearances. If I were to judge based on the law, both have broken it. Both have sinned.

God is a righteous judge, and only He knows our hearts. He knows every situation and every circumstance. He knows why we do what we do. He knows our fears. He knows our struggles. He knows our past, our future, our pain and sorrows. He knows our weaknesses and our strengths. He knows why we think like we think, and do what we do. God has chosen to forgive us in Jesus. In spite of it all, He loves us! And that's what makes His grace so scandalous!!

So, to the question "Is homosexuality a sin?"  I'm choosing to remain sinfully ignorant...and perfectly loved.

Gay Thoughts

I don't know much. I admit it. But I have known and loved gay people all of my life. These friends have been some of the kindest and most good hearted people to cross my path. Since becoming a follower of Jesus over 20 years ago, they tell me I am supposed to shun these dear people. Well if not shun them, then at least make sure they know their wicked and sinful ways are unacceptable to God...and to me!

But I cannot. I just don't see it as my job to condemn others. I also do not see it commanded that I try to change people or convict them of any "sin." From what I read, that is the job of the Spirit.

I also can't find the command telling me it is my duty to change a secular government system to conform to "godly" standards. I see where I am told to pray for my leaders. So I do that.

My "duty" as Jesus puts it, is to love God...and love others. To live humbly before my God. To serve others. My job is to love others as I love myself. To have grace for them, as He has had grace for me...and continues to have...every day.

My privilege is to see the Divine in every other human being, because God says we are ALL created in His image.

And my Bible tells me that Jesus died for us all. Every one of us. Yes...even people who are gay. (gasp)

So I am going to focus on loving God. And I will leave the rest of it up to Him. But I will continue to love, and allow Him to love through me. It is the one thing that I know for sure. And it keeps me feeling gay.