Can't You just...
I once heard a pastor I very much respect, be asked what he thought about the fact that there were homosexuals, and homosexuals partaking in same-sex relationships, in regular attendance at his church. His response, to paraphrase it, was: "Well, we here can't keep in control those of opposite sex who are cohabiting, not to mention having premarital sex. So the few of those who choose an alternate lifestyle are the least of our worries."And he said this all with a confident smile.
I fuckin' love this response. Because to the casual already polarized listener, it sounds like what the pastor is saying is that he himself is choosing a the biggest blaze to fight and slouching on the small few fires. It sounds like he's saying, we as a church have to choose our battles, and I choose this one and not that one.
But if you hear that, then you're missing something much more grand, and really more extraordinary. What the pastor is really alluding to is the idea, that no matter the sin, no matter the folly, we are all fallen. He is not worried on the cost of one particular sin, but the fact that the entirety of the church, and more so, humanity is broken. And for him, and for the church that he shepherds, to focus on a very polarized political gamut of homosexuality versus the bigger and more real aspect of brokenness would be slighting his community. He would be making one sin big, and making graciousness small. He would be selling out the gospel while making evil the victor.
I don't want to ever get too involved with any political bullshit. And I understand a company standing up for what they believe in. But c'mon Chik Fil A, you sell chicken and you use cute ads with cows in it. That's it. Oh, and you have good mints and Sundays off.
Can't you just sell Chicken?
-Remoy
I fuckin' love this response. Because to the casual already polarized listener, it sounds like what the pastor is saying is that he himself is choosing a the biggest blaze to fight and slouching on the small few fires. It sounds like he's saying, we as a church have to choose our battles, and I choose this one and not that one.
But if you hear that, then you're missing something much more grand, and really more extraordinary. What the pastor is really alluding to is the idea, that no matter the sin, no matter the folly, we are all fallen. He is not worried on the cost of one particular sin, but the fact that the entirety of the church, and more so, humanity is broken. And for him, and for the church that he shepherds, to focus on a very polarized political gamut of homosexuality versus the bigger and more real aspect of brokenness would be slighting his community. He would be making one sin big, and making graciousness small. He would be selling out the gospel while making evil the victor.
I don't want to ever get too involved with any political bullshit. And I understand a company standing up for what they believe in. But c'mon Chik Fil A, you sell chicken and you use cute ads with cows in it. That's it. Oh, and you have good mints and Sundays off.
Can't you just sell Chicken?
-Remoy