Friday, September 7, 2007

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

A clergy friend of mine who no longer considers himself a "Christian," wrote the following that I wanted to share with you. He wrote: "My job is to be the loving arms that hold, comfort and protect the person longing for God. My job is to be the hands of the God who feeds the hungry. My job is to be the ear of the God who hears the cries of the marginalised and disparaged. My job is to be the heart that welcomes everyone to the Banquet of Love."

I responded with the following:

"If this isn't the very definition of the "Christian Life," I don't know what is! Rules, regulations, do's, don'ts, creeds, dogmas, doctrines, etc. have, unfortunately, become stumbling blocks to the the living out of the Gospel of grace, which has been replaced by the false gospel of legalism, perfectionism, and exclusion that has come to characterize most of the institutional Church. Those things, coupled with the preoccupation with incestuous socialization and building beautification programs, have caused most churches and denominations to align themselves with the State, taking their cues from those in political power; thereby, merely being handmaidens to those who oppress others.

"Christians worthy of the name must, and do, flee those oppressive institutions that are toxic to the spirit, and spit in the very face of God!"

Fighting for LGBT equality is enmeshed in fighting for the very soul of Christianity as it is also enmeshed in fighting for the future of our Democratic Republic. Only when we see this fight as of one piece, will we be able to truly have, and maintain, the fire in the belly to remove yokes of bondage, of oppression, from others, as we, ourselves, are quickly becoming "the other," and can very easily become "the other," if the quick and increasing embrace of one-dimensional fascistic thinking gains any more traction, and is not confronted for the menace that it truly is.
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