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06/23/2003 Entry: "Let's talk about sex ...again"
I didn't mean it, though if you've spent any time around Christian blogs recently I'd forgive you if you'd thought I did. Should the church bless homosexual "marriages"? Gays in the church. Premarital sex. The blogosphere, in it's interest in sex, seems to me to be reflecting accurately the situation in the wider church. The latest furore in the Church of England over the appointment of a homosexual bishop even though he is now celibate is witness to that.
But why? Not because it reflects anything of the ministry of Jesus. You will search in vain for anything but compassion from Jesus towards the sinners of his day. His condemnation was kept for the rich, powerful and respectable. Yes, he called all to repentance. All. There doesn't seem to have been any special place in his life and teaching for the less than sexually pure. In the "sermon on the plain" recorded by St Luke, the Beattitudes are contrasted with woes - woe to the rich, the satisfied, the happy, the well-thought of. Nothing there about sex.
Looking more widely at Jesus' teaching, it is apparent that it is our attitude to the poor which receives the greater attention. Luke's beattitude's are explicit. "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God". Jesus begins his ministry proclaiming "good news to the poor". The song which Mary sang announces "He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty." The parables of Dives and Lazarus and the Sheep and the Goats have condemnation to hell for those who ignore the plight of the poor and the downtrodden. His parable of the vineyard owner turns capitalism on its head by paying the workers according to their need rather than by the work they've put in. (And I find ironic that those who are quickest to tell me that parable isn't about economics are precisely those who tell me I should be more willing to take the Bible at face value) Which ever way you cut it, Jesus said an awful lot about money and next to nothing about sex.
Most of us who've been around the evangelical movement a while will know of situations in which the sexual line has been crossed. I recall an incident in which a teenage girl got pregnant by her boyfriend, both of them members of the same church. When she told her pastor not only were they made to stand in front of everyone to receive their dressing down, both were refused communion until long after the baby was born. I've heard this sort of story over and over again. But I've never once heard word of warning, let alone condemnation, to those who are wealthy. Far from it. The richer members of the church are fawned over and held up as examples of God's blessing. So much for "Blessed are you poor ... woe to you who are rich."
Replies:
No, I haven't seen that letter Wood. i'll see if i can find it though.
Posted by Richard @ 06/23/2003 10:07 PM CST
Oh I knew you knew Wood. But others were not so astute...
Posted by Richard @ 06/23/2003 09:40 PM CST
Incidentally, has anyone seen Rowan Williams' open letter to the bishops?
Posted by Wood @ 06/23/2003 09:32 PM CST
Richard! I KNEW you didn't mean it!
That was the point!
Posted by Wood @ 06/23/2003 06:37 PM CST
A ticklish business it is, loving people without condoning their sin.
Thanks for expressing your characteristic thoughtfulness.
Posted by Randy McRoberts @ 06/23/2003 05:57 PM CST
