Flawed Glass

  This concern may be the most difficult for me to comprehend and may be the biggest barrier in my ability to communicate with and understand people whose religious and political standards and principles are to the right of mine. Without stereotyping everyone to my right, I recall very few times when I have been able to engage any of them in a civil conversation on any topic more wide-ranging than Aunt Myrtle’s hysterectomy. And the deal-breaker almost always is selective literalism and/or selective inerrancy. We all are inconsistent and imperfect in living out our faith and all of us put greater emphasis on some biblical passages than others; but there’s a world of difference between giving emphasis versus absolutizing a verse or passage taken out of context and eliminating or ignoring other related passages. Perhaps the clearest example is the iconic anti-gay passages (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13) and the word, “abomination.” There are significant translation issues within the pri...

               In the destructive partisan chaos that defines our national identity, the principles and values in our Constitution have long been forgotten. Differences and disagreements, if approached with maturity, can be resolved, but only if both sides elect to work for reconciliation instead of just wanting to “win the fight.” When adversaries truly listen to each other, they almost always discover that they have more in common that in opposition. But we’ve fought for so long that we’ve forgotten why we’re fighting--what's at stake. Causes and ideals have been discarded and now the only important thing is to destroy the “other side,” and the bloodier the better. In the 19 th  chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament there’s an interesting story. Paul and the missionaries were successful at Ephesus, and many Ephesians believed. Consequently, the economy took a dip. The economy centered on the Temple of Diana...

  People of all persuasions are dumping Christianity, and for several years I tried to reason that it’s not Christianity they’re rejecting, it’s “bad” Christianity. But lately I’ve begun to see that bad Christianity, although affecting specific tenets of faith, stains the whole name of Christianity. Some groups have opted for the prosperity gospel and rationalized wealth as a sign of God’s favor. They use verses like II Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to provide you with every blessing [For a definition of “blessing”, look at Matthew 5:2-11; however, in the original language, II Corinthians 9:8 uses a different word:   χαριν (Ka – riv), meaning, literally, gift or grace.] in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.” Note the reason God gives the blessings/graces/gifts is “that…you may share abundantly in every good work!” The gifts are given, not to own or hold, but to empower good works! Some Christian ...