June 28, 2006
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associating with "sinners".... ?
Or, even more controversially, this article...
Oughtn't we to examine exactly what and how Jesus went about interacting with these "blatant sinners"? When he interacted with the tax collectors, prostitutes, and "sinners", notice that they came to Him, not vice versa... Indeed, "they were coming near him to listen to him"... and in fact "they were following him" (Luke 15:1, Mark 2:15ff) Isn't Jesus Christ our example?
Your thoughts are solicited...
Comments (6)
hmm, very interesting points/articles. you know how i feel about liquid. on the whole issue, however, i feel like churches today have a very negative stereotype and most "sinners" would not voluntarily go to a church they perceive as right-wing, homophobic, and narrowminded, ready to bash people on the head for their sins. in Jesus' day such stereotypes didn't exist...in fact, there wasn't a church. one verse that comes to mind is that one in Romans where paul says "to reach the romans, i became as a roman...etc." maybe the principle is that we have to cross the cultural barrier before non-church attenders will listen to the message. however...i think christians have to be very clear that they do not support the particular sin. i think liquid made that pretty clear when they went to the gay parade. i don't know about the porn trade show thing. it's a tricky issue.
wow. i have so many thoughts, and questions, about this issue... too many for a xanga comment. suffice it to say that this has been the most significant focus of my spiritual study and struggle for the past several years. when i have it all figured out and can summarize it in a paragraph, i'll let you know.
until then, this issue... for me, at least... will always be a three-hour coffee conversation topic.
the tares are a plant called the bearded darnell and it looks exactly like wheat until it grows up - the only difference between the two is that the wheat produces fruit, the bearded darnell does not produce fruit. Isn't that awesome. So we judge by the fruit, not the outward appearance.
I agree, we need to be transparent and show others God's love.
Heather
I like the Liquid ministry's focus, from what I read on the link. I have gay and lesbian friends, and it is definitely an important distinction to realize -- accepting them as friends, conversing openly and non-judgementally, doing things with them, etc, but not implicitly validating their actions, beliefs, etc. I feel that it is important to do both.
The LGBT community IS a big subculture, and it isn't all bad, any more than any culture. The specific marker that binds these people together may be wrong-headed, but there is much to their community beyond that. For one, I think that straight males in America are way to closed off with their feelings than is healthy; it's absurd to suggest that "only women" like to be relational and talk about interpersonal issues and emotions. It's refreshing to me to talk with gay guys who aren't like that.
My point is that I have no qualms about accepting some friends' invitation to Trance (a gay bar with a quiet and conversational atmosphere), and I think that it's great that a church group handed out water at the festival. I think either case (especially Liquid) is very analogous to cross-cultural missionaries crossing boundaries to meet people and make themselves and their message a little better known.
The porn convention thing, on the other hand... I have a lower view of porn producers. I don't mean that they're worse sinners per se (although I have less tolerance for them, as their sin is directly and explicitly targeted at enslaving other people), but they are a business, and their conference is probably drawn together mostly out of business interests. They aren't there to affirm each other and enjoy one another's company, but to figure out better ways to sell porn, or so I imagine. A) I question the effectiveness of such a ministry. B) It seems closer to passing out Bibles DURING a murder than passing out Bibles AMONG murderers.
All that said, I don't doubt that there is, to some degree, a group in the porn industry that feels marginalized and stigmatized and as if churches just hated them personally. In that respect, I'm glad that someone is doing the Jesus loves porn stars thing. Whether this particular ministry is a good or bad idea, I of course reserve judgment, because I don't know enough and also -- it's not my job to judge, but to tell the truth with love!
Thanks for your thoughts, everyone... much appreciated! Brian, especially excellent point (B). I'll have to ponder the rest of what you wrote.
The second one is interesting. They both are, really; I think that it's couragous that those people can do that.
If you're going to say "Oh, Jesus didn't go to them, they were drawn to him," then the Christian church needs to get a lot better at making non-religious folks like myself WANT to go to it. I don't, particularly. So it's not doing such a great job, evidently.
~Sol
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