The notion that religious liberty is at stake, which thereby makes such laws necessary, is absurd. No one is forcing anyone opposed to same sex marriage for religious reasons to marry someone of the same gender. No one is being forced to give up dearly held religious convictions. Instead, homosexual couples are simply asking businesses to provide services that are normally rendered to any heterosexual couple -- whether they were of the same faith background or not.
The tragedy is that adherents and defenders of evangelical culture who promulgate such laws fail to recognize the destination toward which their social issues are directing the Church. The trajectory is definitely down toward marginalism and irrelevance. Christians are seen as insensitive and hatefully discriminatory. As a result, individuals who were either never at home in this culture or no longer comfortable within its confines continue to move steadily away from the Church.
I believe there is a better way to do and be church. I believe it is possible to be faithful to the apostolic, orthodox center of Christianity in a way that will see the Kingdom of God come alive within individuals, families and communities. I believe this Kingdom life will be joyfully experienced and expressed in heterosexual and homosexual individuals, families and communities resulting in a vibrant future for the Church in North America. For this future to be realized, believers must discard the dominant cultural norms of evangelicalism and reclaim the gospel.
The norms that evangelicalism holds dear include a literarily and historically uninformed theory of the inspiration of scripture. This is the approach that claims everything written in scripture is fact, is exactly what the good Lord meant to tell us and is completely historically accurate. Yet the insistence that the story of creation in Genesis 1 must be seen as historically factual tells believers and non-believers that critical, scientific thinking is unwelcome in the church. This is tantamount to saying that to be or become a follower of Christ, you must shut off your mind and discard the quantifiable, verifiable insights into the world that scientists have discovered, such as a genetic predisposition toward homosexuality. People realize the insistence that they stop using their brains is nonsense and naturally assume all the rest of it must be nonsense as well.
If the church is to grow, this faulty approach to scripture must be set aside. Instead, people must be encouraged to approach the Bible on its own terms. It is a collection of stories and reflections from people doing their best to describe God’s interaction with them and the world God created, not a factual, historical description of how God created. Since the language of scripture is often metaphorical and poetic as well as historical, it must be allowed to speak as metaphor and poetry as well as history. Yes, it is language that expresses truths, but those truths do not preclude the possibility that humanity can discover truths through scientific discovery. Suddenly, a tremendous barrier that keeps people out of the Kingdom of God falls allowing lives to be changed by the Gospel. Suddenly the Church is able to grow.
Another norm that the dominant Christian culture stresses is the weekly worship meeting. Featuring music and lecture usually led by at least one religious professional, these events occur within the walls of a specified building at a set time each week. For most believers, attending this meeting is church. Bible studies, or group meetings at other times are ancillary to church, but they in themselves are not church. These secondary meetings serve the goal of increasing attendance at church. And it is believed that for the church to grow, it must have more highly polished elements resulting in a better show, which enables the congregation to more easily enter the presence of the holy.
In a recent blog post, Donald Miller spoke of his dissatisfaction with this form of church. He was roundly criticized by denizens of the dominant church culture as selfish, unbiblical, and as likely not having experienced “good” worship. What the criticism betrays is the belief that church is what takes place in the set meeting time and place where the professionals lead from the stage and the rest are entertained and consume as an audience.
I believe the type of community Miller describes is the Church; and I know I am not alone in this belief. Like me, these people no longer wish to strain against the binding strictures of “proper” belief based upon a “proper” reading of scripture in the “proper” format at the “proper” time. I would like to leave that behind. I would much rather hold to the apostolic faith in the resurrection and work with a growing community to understand the implications for this belief in our day-to-day actions. I would like to share the Good News with those around me, inviting them into a community of faith that values nuance, individuality, historical inquiry, scientific discovery and depth of thought.
As Miller points out, the problem is that there is no money in this model of church. How could I be a religious professional within this paradigm when I cannot pay for food, clothing, a warm bed and a roof over my head? I would undoubtedly need to support myself with a different job.
Ever since we met, this is the model of church for which my wife has expressed an affinity. It is the model I now believe I will feel most comfortable with; and I believe it is a model that vast numbers of unbelievers would feel most comfortable with. I trust that God will continue to work in my spirit and guide me into this if it is where God wants me to move. The only thing I am certain of is that remaining within the thought patterns and practices of the dominant evangelical Christian culture no longer satisfies me. As I said before, I believe I am not alone.
I see the Church of near future composed of people whose lives are full to overflowing with faith, hope and love. These are people who move through the world bearing the fruit of the Spirit, sharing the Gospel story as it comes from the Bible and as it has been manifested in their own lives. These are people who are in the community of faith even though they do not meet together regularly in the manner most commonly seen today. These are counter-cultural people who are daily growing in grace and love, advocating for faithful, godly actions on behalf of the poor and oppressed, the widow and the orphan. This is the Church that I intend to be part of. This is the body of Christ growing in the world he redeemed through incarnation, death and resurrection.
Who else wants in?
