The Fellowship, Pt. 2

"There are people who go after your humanity, Sister, that tell you that the light in your heart is a weakness. Don't believe it. It's an old tactic of cruel people to kill kindness in the name of virtue." — Father Brendan Flynn, "Doubt"

"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." — 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Jesus Christ transcended the things of this work, including politics. Unfortunately, too often, the church cannot. The political battles that plague the modern church create division, derision, and anger if we let them. But the question is whether there is a better way.

I have strong, personal, Bible-based, moral convictions about theological interpretations of the Bible, and I have struggled since the PCUSA, the denomination we are a part of, decided to muddy those boundaries. The past few days I have gathered with others who feel similarly grieved.

There have been a couple important things that I've taken away from two days of speeches. First, is the need for a spirit of peace, even and especially during times of disagreement. One speaker this morning, Ken Bailey, talked about the need to turn anger into grace, something Jesus modeled time and again through his teachings and parables.

I have often argued that in all situations — but particularly when advocating for a lifestyle that conforms to Biblical teachings — Christians must be mindful of the way they present themselves to those they are trying to reach, and that includes fellow believers. This is something Paul talks about in Colossians.

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14.

The second thing I took away, which was especially the focus of the final session, is the need to remain true to Scripture, and to have the courage of our convictions. The church is at a crossroads — not just the PCUSA, but the global church. One by one, we've seen many denominations and groups adopt standards that more closely mirror the world. In fact, that is one of the things that has bothered me most since the passage of 10A at the General Assembly last summer.

One pastor said at the time, "This is something the world has long accepted and the church is finally catching up." I don't want to "catch up" to or mirror the values of the world. As Christians we are called to a higher standard, and we're called to be set apart.

My biggest take away from this weekend is a conviction that we need to let our light shine for the world, we can't be afraid to stand up to current thinking, we must cling to the truth of the Scriptures, and at all times we must represent Jesus in love.

It's a big task, but I look forward to seeing how this Fellowship puts those ideals into practice.