Working at getting along:

Like many of you, I've been thinking about the increasing polarization of our culture.  The casualties of the culture war, that has been raging cold and hot for some time now, are relationships.  Often on one side are those who won't give an inch, because it may lead to losing a mile.  They face-off against those who demand not only tolerance, but heart acceptance--or at least a publicly acceptable synthetic version thereof.  I've been doing some reading and thinking about alternatives--are there any? what are they?
Some of you may find these articles thought provoking as well.  I welcome your thoughts.

Here is an article recently posted on Patheos.  I appreciate that the author is trying to sort it out.  I fear that in our zeal to maintain Biblical absolutes, we conservative Evangelicals too quickly allow our positions on issues to harden and then we label them as absolutes.  Maybe, maybe not.  I'm saying there aren't absolutes; I absolutely believe there are; I'm just saying that we shouldn't be so eager to label all our conclusions as such.  Let's think and talk a bit.  When you read this article be sure to click on the links at the beginning to previous articles.  Also, if you are familiar with Andrew Marin, or the Marin Foundation, (much of the article is written by Marin) I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Would Jesus Fight a Legal Battle Against Same Sex Marriage?  Timothy Dalrymple

The statement, below, which has been making the rounds on Facebook, etc., by Rick Warren, reminds me of a recent conversation I had with someone struggling to maintain a relationship across the "Gay Divide."  If one side doesn't require that every conversation has to include a condemnation of homosexuality and the other side does not demand a surrender of honestly held sexual prohibitions, and if both sides will attempt to leave hypocrisy at the door, maybe people who love each other can find ways to get along.  Or maybe me and Pastor Warren are just Naive.

“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”  (Rick Warren)

Steve Cornell is a thinker, a Biblical thinker.  I appreciate his thoughts.  He is not a Johnny-come-lately to this conversation.  His stuff is worth reading.  Here are three recent posts that I have appreciated:

New Pope fails litmus test

Responses to My Sunday Column

The Marriage Debate

Can We All Get Along?

Here is a post I offered on this blog, about a well known preacher's (He is not alone.) public announcement of a change of view on homosexual marriage.
This one reveals that I'm somewhat conflicted on this.  I figure I'm not alone.

Maybe some of this will help generate, or continue, some profitable discussion.

As I say on the other blog, "It's Something To Think About."

Evil, A Demonstration of God's Love:

Last Sunday I presented the first message in a three part series on John 3:16.  I found my thoughts stimulated by J. Sidlow Baxter.  In the opening pages of his book he raises some objections to the concept of God’s love.  One of the problems he and others raise has to do with the horrendous evil in this world. 

The following few paragraphs, taken from my sermon notes, are some of my thoughts on the matter.

How can you talk about a God who loves when you look around at the mess this world is in?  Read the newspaper, or if you are more up to date, surf the web.  Either way you will find this world is a mess.
Disasters manmade and natural abound. 
In a 15 minute span the other day I personally—not via any public media--heard of two, one an utter display of depravity, the other a severe blow to a family.  I have no doubt that some research would have revealed thousands of instances of injustice, tragedy, and mayhem that took place in that quarter of an hour.  

God’s plan is not thwarted by this evil around us.  The fact of the matter is that God’s glory—and that is the grand purpose of creation—will ultimately be enhanced by God’s redeeming a group of people for His very own, from out of this suffering, perishing world, to live with Him in harmony  for all eternity.  (See  Romans 8:16-39)

The concept of God having people who would love Him and the possibility of evil in the world are not incompatible at all, in fact they are more related than you might think. 

Love, by its nature, involves a choice.  As any person who has tried and failed at love knows, you can’t make someone love you.   God did not create a race of automatons who are programed to act like they love Him--a world full of Stepford Christians.
Rather He created humans, who have the capacity to love.  The same abilities that enable us to love, also make possible sin and rebellion, and all the ugly results that brings. 

It will likely make your head hurt for a while as you try to wrap your mind around it, but there is evil in this world because God is a loving God.  God is so committed to the concept of love that He made the world so that people—the pinnacle of God’s creation in this world—could choose to love Him.  In making them with that ability to choose, it was necessary that we also have the ability to choose not to love, to not relate to God as we should.

In the end having the new heaven and the new earth populated with people who genuinely love Him will bring the greatest  glory to God and greatest good to all creation.