6.20.2011

Day 28

Today was interesting.  I got breakfast, showered, and went to church.  I saw the Churchs and Vandekoppels, but I couldn't see if there was room for me so I stayed where I was.  I got pretty frustrated with the sermon and almost left, but decided that would be rude and unfair for me to not listen to the entire sermon in context so I stayed.  After the sermon was over I talked with Mr. and Mrs. Church for a little bit, then I found mom and we went to Wal-Mart to get my father's day gift to dad (new atlases for the cars) and mom got some groceries.


During the car ride mom asked what I thought of the service and I told her how frustrated I got.  So I explained that one of the scriptures references was from 1 Timothy that says that women are to be submissive to their husbands as to the Lord, husbands are to love their wives, children are to obey their parents, and husbands are not to exasperate their children.  Over the years of discussing this passage, I realize how touchy this subject is so I tend to get pretty defensive about it.  The way our pastor was portraying it seemed very focused on wives submitting to their husbands even though the husband will not always be right.  Our pastor's point was the the husband will have to answer to God for any misguiding he does.  Personally, I don't know how I feel about this interpretation.  I don't think that husbands necessarily have to be the head of the household if the man is not as good at the job as the wife.  I think that whoever is more fitting for that role should do it.  However, since most couples (at least from the discussion I had with mom and dad it seems to be this way) split decision making or come to agreements on most issues, I don't know what the big deal of needing the label of "Head of the Household is."  If it's a pride thing.... ok.  Have your label.  But if people are making joint decisions most of the time, perhaps we're spending too much time arguing arbitrary semantics.  I don't believe that either men nor women are dominant.  I think that men tend to be more physical beings and women tend to be more mental beings, but this does not account for every human being and this does not make one gender dominant.  And because I do not believe either gender is dominant, I don't understand why one gender automatically gains superiority.


This was all part of my discussion with mom and dad.  Then... I'm not sure how it got to this, but then the topic of homosexuality came up.  That was a treat.  Mom and dad are both believe that the Bible explicitly states that homosexuality is a sin, end of discussion.  But I don't know what I believe.  I'm still working on it.  I understand what the Bible says, but I've also spent time trying to understand the people involved.  In my life time I have only been able to meet a hand-full of gay or lesbian people.  Because I do not know more people, it is difficult for me to make a better assessment, but I make do with what I have.  Personally, I believe that every person sins and that every sin is equal.  To God there is no continuum of sin, only a check box: yes or no. It doesn't matter if your sin was one "white lie" or daily cold-blooded rape and murder... sin is sin.  So regardless of whether homosexuality itself is a sin, gay and lesbian people have probably sinned just like I have (and just like every person has... except Jesus.  He's always the exception).  As such, we need God to help us.  I believe that God is powerful enough to help us get back on track, no matter what our situation is.  And I also believe that even if it hurts in the process, God still loves us and has our best in mind.  None of us are going to heaven without his help and we all need his help.  With this in mind, God did not give me the job of deciding who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.  That's his job.  My job is to show people through my actions that Jesus loves us and wants to hang out with all of us in heaven some day.  I believe that is every Christian's job: to show people love of Christ.  To me it does not matter how good or bad your theology is, whether you're a pacifistic or anarchist, or whether you think that yellow Runts are the best (which they're not).  What matters is that we are doing loving acts to/for other people as a way of showing that God loves us.  Frankly, sometimes I get fed up people.  But I know that when Jesus was here he hung out with and helped people that were far more annoying and tiresome than I will ever deal with... and Jesus was a real trooper.  So it would be wrong of me to think I should try for less than Jesus did.  If Jesus' example is to show love to every person then I should too.  And it is my job to help that person live a life that glorifies God.  If that person is engaged in a lifestyle that is not in line with what God wants, I think that he is big enough to let that person know and change their heart.  So is homosexuality wrong?  I don't know.  I've seen convincing evidence on both sides.  What I do know is that there is something far more important than being right or wrong, and that is being loving.  I would rather be loving than right.  Every person alive deserves love and mercy because God showed us love and mercy.  And it doesn't matter what a person does or how many times they do it, they still deserve love and mercy.  I do not always portray this... but I need to.  We all need to.  It's something that I'm working on and something that I believe every person should work on.  When I look at life, I use a framework that we must first love God, and then love his creation.  And so that's what I try to do.  I try to love God and love all his people, his animals, and his non-living things.  For anyone interested in reading a phenomenal book that has helped me shape some of views and understand people, read Love is an Orientation by Andrew Marin.  If you read this (which I highly recommend that you do), I ask that you do so with a completely open mind.  If you go in with your own biases, you will gain very little.


Ok.  Off my soap box.  That was a summary of part of my side of the conversation.  I think it would be wrong of my to try to portray mom and dad's view because I do not believe I would do it justice and am likely to misspeak it.  So I will say that it was  very good discussion and they would be more than happy to share their views with you if you desire.


After all that business (and lunch), I started to cut the grass while mom and dad dismantled some shelf-things in the basement.  But then it started raining!  Boo.  So I stopped cutting the grass and helped them finished their stuff.  Umm... after that mom went to the grandparent's to go help them do things while I played Assassin's Creed and dad.... did something.  So I played Assassin's Creed for a while, then I switched over to Crysis.  Then I ate dinner.  And sorted out my kitchen stuff for next year.  After that I did some homework, played TF2 with Derrick, and now I'm finishing writing my blog.  But it's very late and I need to sleep.  So good night.

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