The First Soapbox

We have lost the art of the intellectual and reasonable conversation in this nation.  Today, the attention goes to the loudest, most obnoxious voice out there, and we as a culture live for it.  No longer do we take the time to worry if the view expressed has any factual evidence to back it up.  That doesn't matter.  The only thing we care about is does it have a shock value, will it entertain us, and will it hurt someone so badly that they will retaliate, break down, or start a war.  It's what reality TV is based off of, what we see in movies and in the news, and what we have come to accept as the norm.  Why do we settle for this as a country?  The more and more we waste our lives watching and indulging in rubbish, the more our country and our faith dies, and unfortunately, that is where we are headed.  This saddens me so much as I hear all the hate that continues to be exchanged between the far conservative right (who are all of course born-again Christians, essentially perfect non-sinners, and have impeccable tract records when it comes to how families should operate, businesses should run, and how to make America great) and the Gay and Lesbian community (who preach tolerance but are intolerant of any position that they disagree with, are completely unreasonable, and just need to stop living a life of sin and immorality) in regards to the Chick-fil-A issue.  I am not going to waste my time by taking a side and bashing the other one (too late, I just bashed both by means of sarcastic stereotyping...whoops).  I believe wholeheartedly that both sides have failed so much in the art of having a fruitful and intellectual conversation that almost no ground could possibly be made towards resolution.  

The issue at hand is sin...and its not the sin of homosexuality, its the sin of not loving our neighbor.  People ask me who is responsible for all the mayhem.  Is it the biblically founded company and its leader that took a stand?  Or is it the liberal media?  Or is it the minority of the G and L community that is just trying to make a mountain out of a molehill?  I don't think it's any of these.  If I am going to point a finger at anyone, its going to be the church and the Christians therein.  This is not directed at any one group or denomination, but as a whole, the Church universal has done a pretty terrible job of loving people, especially the G and L community.   Now Christians will say that this is unfair, and that the Bible clearly defines marriage between a man and a woman and that homosexually is a sin, and that we have to stand up for what we believe in so it doesn't ruin the Church with bad theology so the Kingdom will move forward and the Gospel reach the nations.  I agree completely, but what has happened is that we selfishly hold these truths as our own, and when another person that doesn't agree or says that it is too exclusive or that we are too intolerant, we write them off.  We then start to attack instead of love, we start to defend without regard to feelings, we start to categorize people as beyond grace, beyond hope, and as helpless groups lost in their sin and immorality, and we say "to Hell with them" (which is literally what we are doing now as we have in the past as believers).  I shudder to think where I would be if this was Jesus' attitude towards me, as a helpless sinner who chooses to spit in His face and accept cheap grace while He hangs there on the Cross for me.  

We have to be asking ourselves as a community of believers, "What did He do in His ministry?"  He ate and lived and had intellectual conversations about the Gospel with the very people we choose to hate, reject, and count as unworthy every day.  We have to start to view people the same way Jesus saw people...a people in need of a great Saviour (of which I am in great need of everyday).  This means we love people.  This does not mean we compromise on what we call sin, Jesus did not do that, and I am not calling us to that.  But what we must do is be willing to love, to listen, and to make a clear presentation of the gospel in the most loving way possible.  Be willing to go "outside the camp," because that is where Jesus went, and it is where our sin killed Him.  But thanks be to God that He rose again to bring life, peace, and joy through a relationship with Him.  Stop seeing people as unworthy of love, and instead of grabbing your sword and going to war, take some time to invite someone into your life that doesn't agree with you and just listen...don't talk just yet...just listen.  And while you are at it, go ahead and confess to them and apologize for how you and the Church haven't loved them as Christ has called you to love them.  Get to know them, love on them, then share with them the greatest free gift history has ever known, the gift of Grace from Jesus Christ.  They may not agree with you or change the way they are living, and they may even hate and resent you...all the more reason to fall down on your knees and thank God that He sees you worthy to be His ambassador.