Posted by CB on January 26, 2012 at 16:22:51
In Reply to: Re: Good post, Longtime Exer posted by long time exer on January 25, 2012 at 22:14:44:
Where I go to church, a great deal of stress is put on being nonjudgmental. We are costantly encourgaged to be open, accepting, and hospitable toward all kinds of people, most particularly those who we might find offensive. My local community is made up equally of social conservatives and progressives, such as myself. Sunday services are open to anyone--all are welcome. We don't talk politics--we talk about engaging suffering and living the Jesus lifestyle.
I've never heard any gay bashing at my church, but the leadership of the movement isn't exactly affirming, either. That's one thing about the larger organization that disappoints me--I would prefer to have been led to an movement that is affirming of people who are openly homosexual. But this is a very divisive area of church life, so I'm OK with an explicit policy of don't judge, condemn or reject. Folks in my church (including the pastor) know my stand on this issue, and no one tries to convince me I'm wrong or going to hell because I don't believe a committed homosexual couple are living in sin.
Although I think the condemnation of sexual minorities by Christians in the United States is a scandal, in the global scheme of things, this issue isn't the most pressing challenge to peace and justice. We had a guy named Rick Love come in and do a Christian/Moslem dialog that was very challenging for some folks. Rick takes a lot of heat from the larger evangelical community for his outreach, but my local group supports the dialog. There's lots of Muslims in my town.
Plenty of people in my church would agree with you that spirituality is a walk on the beach and gazing at a star-filled sky. They would also say that the quality of human relationships are what we need to pay attention to; that growing into loving, warm, gentle people is the point behind religious exercises lik praying, worshipping, Bible study, etc. (I don't make any claims to have mastered that idea.) Just recently the pastor preached something to this effect: If you want to get closer to God, work on getting closer (more honest, real and vulnerable) to another human being.
My husband does not identify himself as a Christian, and no one ever tells me I need to work on getting his soul saved. It's a long story (and hard to explain), but I would not have come out openly as a Christian or even joined a church were it not for my husband's support. I'm not waiting for him to come around to my way of thinking. He's wonderful just as he is.