a comment I wanted to share

Recently I addressed the topic of having a friend who is gay in one of our church gatherings. I spent several months researching and preparing for it, especially since it is the controversial topic many established and emerging theologians are wrestling with.

Today on Andrew Marin's blog, I read a conversation taking place regarding how different denominations are making policies on this matter. Below is a comment I made and wanted to share here as well.

To be sure that fly by comments don't take place, I've turned off the comment portion of this post. And if you're reading this on Facebook or another feeder, I'd ask that you not reply to where it appears. Rather, if you wish to connect and have a real conversation about it, email me at tonymyles@hotmail.com

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This is simply not an emotional issue... it is a spiritual issue.

Jesus said to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In the next breath - or perhaps the same - He said to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

So much of this issue and the "gay" topic is often through the emotional lens only... as if we are trying to reason out a theology based on loving God with our heart, and our heart alone.

Yet Jesus said love the Lord your God with all of your heart... and your soul, mind and strength.

To be fair, others argue the issue with their "heart" and "mind" as well - trying to understand the context of this culture and that culture, research genetics, and so on.

Yet Jesus said love the Lord your God with all of your mind... and your heart, soul, and strength.

Then there are the "strength" theologians - if they are theologians. The louder they can make their argument, the better... they think.

Yet Jesus said love the Lord your God with all of your strength... and your heart, soul, and mind.

What about the soul, though? Why does that often get the short end of the stick in this conversation?

The soul.

Maybe because it's the part that is the most supernatural, and since we think we're talking about trying to understand if someone who identifies themselves as gay is making a "natural" or an "unnatural" distinction... we forget to factor in the supernatural.

The soul... that piece of us that occasionally has an Isaiah 6 moment where we stand before a Holy God and cry out, "WOE IS ME! I AM RUINED! FOR I AM A MAN OF UNCLEAN LIPS, AND I LIVE AMONG A PEOPLE OF UNCLEAN LIPS, AND MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE KING, THE LORD ALMIGHTY!"

You know those moments?

How often do we enter those moments *before* we have a conversation on this topic?

Perhaps the problem is we feel so deeply on one side or the other that we forget the heart isn't the only way we need to approach this topic.

Or we think so well and have so much study underneath our belt that we have become builders of our own Babel... I mean, babble.

Maybe we are so strong vocally and have enough James Brown-esque back-up singers behind us saying, "YEAH!" and "YEAH!" and "YEAH!" that we think we're right, whatever we're saying.

I am not saying approaching God through our soul is ever at the expense of those three, but I am saying the other three are never at the expense of standing before a holy God, feeling small, and attempting to understand something so awesome and amazing as who He is and who we are because of who He is.

Never... never... the other way around.

Yes, feelers... I know that you feel so strongly about it that "God must have put it in you." Don't miss the point.

Yes, thinkers... I know that some Greeks and the Jews viewed the "soul" through a certain lens that is different than we do today... don't miss the point.

Yes, strengtheners... I know that there are "righteous things" to fight for and fight about. Don't miss the point.

May we never, though, create theology of of only these three (or blindly accept what our denominations have decided without the willingness to have a "lover's quarrel" about it).

May we instead always seek to *discover* theology... on this matter and others... which is only possible when we allow the soul to engage as it is designed.

Because if we do... I get the sense "loving our neighbor as we love ourselves" will be the very next breath... or perhaps the same.

who's the boss

Over the weekend I read a buddy's blog post about how hard it must be for a Jewish person to reimagine their faith (should he/she consider becoming a Christian). To many people, this is a spiritual shift - hard enough in itself. A Jewish individual, though, faces a shift on a cultural and familial level as well.

When I was in Israel some years ago, I saw this firsthand in the dramatic ways the whole city shut down on Saturday to honor the Sabbath... from towns of businesses that shut down to how elevators automatically went from floor to floor in buildings (so you wouldn't have to do the "work" of pushing a button). Perhaps "dramatic" is too misleading a word... maybe this is actually normal, but our Western departure from it is what is actually "dramatic." There is something a cultural Jew seems to get that many Christians don't.

On the other hand, there is that whole Messiah matter. Christians recognize that the Messiah figure in the Hebrew Scriptures is Jesus Christ... and many Jews don't.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. (Is 11:1)

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King [the Messiah] who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land” (Jer 23:5)

Perhaps it would be easy for a Christian who feels he "gets it" to critique a Jew for this, but maybe one should walk in their shoes for a moment.

Imagine that you have tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in concert... live... front row... direct access (which is good in case he wants to pull you up stage during "Dancing In The Dark" and help launch your career as he did Courtney Cox) .

Whether or not you're a Springsteen fan, you're stoked.

And then you get there... the crowd is crazy... and finally the emcee announces, "And now... the moment you've all been waiting for... THE BOSS!!!!"

Only...

instead of Bruce coming out, actor Rick Moranis takes the stage and begins singing, "Born in the USA."

"He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:2)

I wonder sometimes if this is how the Jews feel, while we say, "Well, I know He didn't show up as you thought He would, but... you know... he did do Sprinsteen songs, so technically..."

hero - part 2

As a bit of follow up, my boys and I had an amazing morning together. You never know what a bit of investment can do in someone else... and you in the process.

Which kind of brings me to today - I had a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses stop by my door just as I'd turned on the TV (which happened to be on Playhouse Disney, which happened to cause my boys to run in the room).

I have to give you a bit of a side story, for when we first moved in a couple months ago (yikes - has it been that long?) we had some Mormon boys stop over to see if we needed a hand. Of course, we did... but because I had a few of my homies hanging out who are in a place where they could be easily influenced spiritually I felt responsible to take a pass. That day they asked what I did and I mentioned that I was a pastor looking to start a church in the area. Because at that time, well... I was (more on that later). I invited them to stop over again when they had a chance.

Since then, though, I can't get the Mormons to come by. They visit people on my street 2-3 times a week, but they always walk around my house. The other day they even visited a neighbor so I went over and started talking with him and them. Right away I noted that one of the Mormon boys (because they are quite young) was rather sweaty. So I offered him a drink of water - and he took it.

As another side note - which is more ethical? To give a human whom God loves a drink of water even though he is proclaiming things that are false to people I live next to? Or to let his throat get dry so that he's not at his best? Interesting dilemma, eh?

So I can't get the Mormon boys to come over. I'm not looking for a debate, by the way. All I want to do is get to know them as people, hear their story, and see if the Holy Spirit has something for me to share with them. If not, I'm totally cool just loving on these guys in the name of Jesus.

Which brings me to the Jehovah's Witnesses. An older guy and a younger guy knocked on the door today and wanted to pass out some literature to me on terrorism. They said it was from the Bible, and I asked what denomination they were from. Of course, I knew, but the conversation went something like this:

Young guy: We're Christians... Jehovah's Witnesses.

Me: Oh, Jehovah's Witnesses. Then you aren't Christians. (To self: "HUH? DID I ACTUALLY JUST SAY THAT OUT LOUD?")

Young guy: No, we are. Why would you think we aren't?

Me: I don't mean to sound blunt, but I am a Christian and I believe part of the deal is we need to trust in Jesus as God and equal with Him. What are your thoughts on the Trinity? (To self: GOOD GRIEF, MAN - YOU'RE STILL IN YOUR PAJAMAS AND YOU'RE ASKING THEM ABOUT THE TRINITY?)

Young guy: Well... it's not in the Bible. I don't see any evidence of Jesus claiming to be equal with God or the Holy Spirit being around in the process.

Old guy: (putting handouts away, getting out two or three books) Well, it says in our guidebook here that the Trinity isn't biblical and the word is never used in the Bible.

Me: Then again... there is that whole event at Jesus' baptism, eh? (To self: NICE JOB - NOW YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN THAT WHILE YOUR BOYS WATCH PLAYHOUSE DISNEY... AGAIN)

And on it went.

In fact...

the Jehovah's Witnesses are my heroes today.

Um... let me qualify that.

About five years ago I went through a crisis of faith... and it was right at the beginning of the summer. In June, some Mormon boys knocked on my door and we started to dialogue about matters of faith. Ironically, by having to articulate what I believed and why I believed it in the first place I began to find my way back into a groove with God. Those boys came back three more times and every time my faith got stronger.

The same thing happened today. The Jehovah's Witnesses asked if they could come back next week to talk some more because at one point in the conversation they were stumped by my questions. Perhaps more specifically, they didn't know what to do with some of the Bible verses I was quoting them. (Which, by the way, when the HECK did I memorize those to be able to spout them off like that? Holy Spirit? Hmm...)

So today the Jehovah's Witnesses are my heroes because they forced me to grow stronger in my faith. In fact, I got to know two new people, too... and I get to see them again next Saturday. Maybe we'll even become friends.

That will be fun.

And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." (Luke 12:10-12)

church ball

Don't know if you've seen this - I'd hate to think that the comedic musings of Gary Coleman and Clint Howard (Rob Howard's odd looking brother that shows up in all his movies) are being wasted. Guess it's a Mormon propoganda movie (attempting phrases like "Scriptures" and "Christian" to sneak in under the radar of the average viewer) in the guise of a Dodgeball style movie.