iHOPE

Beyond Tolerance: 8/25/19 Class Tolerance

On August 25, I led a class called "Beyond Tolerance: The Bible and Issues of Gender."  

There is also a link to the PowerPoint slides I used and you can download them here.

We had a lot of people (75+) in a big room and I was working without a mic, so sound quality is not the best.  Someday I may be able to clean it up or even re-offer the presentation. Until then, you have the 'raw' material from the class (except for the Q&A afterward.)

 My intent was not to convince anyone that I was right (or that they were wrong), but just to share how I came to hold my views and my position with regards to same-sex marriage. People got that and appreciated the opportunity to listen, question and form their own opinions. The energy and interest were high, and I went away grateful for the folks who attended as well as New Hope in general.  This is a place where questions are welcome and we give people the dignity of their own thinking. 

As you have questions or thoughts, I look forward to them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

False Choices & Sexuality

I recently wrote about the False Choice of Either/Or.

It is almost always wrong and sometimes even dangerous.

One place it the Either/Or False Choice is particularly hurtful is in conversations about sexuality.

You know how it goes:

 

 

• You either believe in the Authority of the Bible, or you are lost in Relativism.
• You are either compassionate and loving, or you are judgmental and homophobic.
• You are either Conservative and believe in the Bible, or you are Liberal and hate God. 

Either/Or statements are simple, clear and easy.  Labeling and stereotyping people who disagree with us is satisfying- even fun.  Everyone is either on one side of an argument or the other. 

Except when they aren't.

False Choices

You've heard the choices. So have I.
The answer to a  complex problem is EITHER one thing OR the other.

The answer in Politics? EITHER be Conservative OR Liberal
In approaching Life? EITHER live from our heads OR our hearts.
Worship? EITHER be Contemporary OR Traditional

You name the problem and someone has likely framed the solution as a choice between EITHER/OR.

It's simple. It's clear. It is also almost always wrong, even dangerous.

It is like saying that if we want to move forward we have to choose EITHER our right leg OR our left, and then be frustrated that we just seem to be going in circles.

Rather than consider changing our perspective, we believe the solution is to double down on our choices. The answer is now to be MORE...
    Conservative/Liberal
    Left/Right
    Head-driven/Heart-driven
    Traditional/Contemporary

When that still doesn't work, EITHER/OR gets hardened into VERSUS:

    Pro-Life VERSUS Pro-Choice
    Pro-Israel VERSUS Pro-Palestinian
    Pro Immigrant VERSUS Pro Security
    How many years has the Church been fighting over Law VERSUS Grace? Where has it gotten us?

More to the point, where is it getting us? EITHER/OR is almost always a false choice. 

If we don't want to just keep going in circles, maybe we should ask if the answer might not be EITHER/OR, but BOTH/AND? Other than the ruts which have become familiar, what have we got to lose?

 

The Church Has Left the Building!

Tomorrow is our annual "Hand of Hope" day. That means if you come at the regular time for worship, you'll miss us. Hand of Hope is a day when we gather...to serve.  We meet at 8:00 for a brief service and then go out into the community to serve. There are lots of projects- some heavy, some light. For more about being part of it, click here.

Sometimes people think Hands of Hope is a good time to remind the community who we are. That may be true but I think it is just as important to remind the church why we are here. It doesn't do much good if we praise the name of Jesus but don't follow the way of Jesus and the way of Jesus is to serve others with love.

There are good reasons for churches to gather for worship, and we'll be doing that again next Sunday at 10:00. But for one Sunday, it is a powerful sign that rather than sitting within walls that divide us, we go out the doors into the community. Instead of being a place to gather, church tomorrow becomes a place to launch. 

In truth, that happens every week. We gather to worship and then depart to serve. Whether it is in the schoolroom, the boardroom, the living room or the waiting room, the Church is there because Christ is there. What we live out separately Monday through Saturday, tomorrow we get to embody together: A Church without walls.