I'm so glad I moved from Indiana . I want nothing to do with a state
that legalizes and encourages hatred under the guise of "religious
freedom."
Does this mean I stand for nothing or will stand against
nothing? Hardly. I'm trying to follow Jesus in this regard. What I discovered
is that I had to leave the evangelical church to do so.
Jesus demonstrated his contempt not against sin, but against
the effects of sin. What is the controlling dynamic of sin? It is
separation--from God and His plans and purposes. Jesus battles the effects of
sin by demonstrating how a "curse-free" person should live: through a
lifestyle of outrageous acts of inclusive love. Culture wars legislation that
empowers religious folk to legally separate themselves from "sinners"
only enhances the power of the curse.
When do we see any human given divine license to rail
against "sin"? It is when God turns the prophet loose on His own
people. Modern evangelicals have embraced the idea that they can turn a
"prophetic" voice against those whom they see as the perpetrators of
our cultural slide. The institutional church has embraced hatred under the
false rubric of "hate the sin but love the sinner;" which, by the
way, is seen by everyone outside the evangelical circle in its true distillation:
"Hate."
Why do church people do this? Maybe because it's fun to hate
people and somehow think that we are getting away with it--even approved by God
for it. Besides, it's infinitely easier to point an accusing finger than to
spend oneself in true compassion.
Let's see--who were the first century cultural warriors who
stood opposed to and perplexed by a God who demonstrated true culture-changing
power through love and compassion? It was the Pharisees; in this regard--and in
the most important way Jesus interacted with the world around
him--"pharisee" is now spelled "evangelical."
Jesus never embraced the culture wars. He embraced people.
The reason for his magnetic personality was that his love was immediately and
intuitively understood as genuine. It had no filters, expectations or
membership requirements.
Maybe this is why Jesus was able to perform miracles. His
unfiltered love gave way to pure, powerful compassion that opened a clear and
unobstructed channel to the power in the center of God's heart.
Meanwhile the evangelical church in America is gathering in their
buildings and lighting the roof on fire.
The cheering they hear is not God and all of heaven
applauding because religious folk now have another legal degree of separation
from "sinners." It's the "sinners" cheering because maybe,
just maybe, this means the religious haters will go away that much sooner.
