For The Bible Tells Me So

Last night I caught the latter end of a documentary called "For the Bible Tells Me So." It's about the issue of homosexuality, the way the church has dealt with the issue over the past several decades, and the way that the Bible has been exploited to condemn homosexuality and gay people. I found it to be quite balanced (for what it is) and extremely gentle in its' presentation. I'm sure that when it first came out there was plenty of discussion on the topic so I'll spare you my deeper theological affirmations and critiques. But I will say, this is an extremely well made documentary that inspires hope in me--hope that perhaps we may someday get to a point where we are willing to seek justice for homosexuals, find unity in the church, and take the Bible seriously in its context all at the same time. It makes me wonder what it might look like for a church to be "Open and Affirming" without really being "liberal." Impossible, you say? Well, let me dream anyway...

I recommend this documentary to anyone who would like to see the issue from an alternative angle. For parents with gay kids, for churches who haven't found their "position" on the subject yet, and for anyone who's willing to take a serious and discerning look at the issue.

As for me... I guess I'm still sorting through the issues surrounding homosexuality. I'm as concerned about "rights" and justice as I am about finding unity in the church--the kind of unity that is truly centered on Christ. I want to know how we can move "forward" without creating more alienation and disunity. The church is my primary concern--the Body of Christ and the community of love--and thus I am forced to hold the whole thing in tension, perhaps as long as the church experiences tension. I feel I must find myself not on one side, fighting against the other, but standing in prayer in the very middle of the pain and struggle.