Why tell the truth according to the scriptures? Because we are to follow in the footsteps of Christ and He has commanded that we not hide our Light and that we share the Truth as lovingly as possible (To avoid a redundant post, the scriptures re: this can be found in the "Why be Salty?" thread).
To continue on with the metaphor, a method of subjugation after war would be to salt an enemy's earth, so that nothing could grow there later. Not only had a people been humbled, but their children's children would starve, if not simply have to emigrate and become foreigners in strange lands. To Jesus' parable of the seeds and soils I'd add the salted earth, that which has been so overly exposed to the vital elements (which would otherwise help it support life) that it no longer even admits life.
Christians know that overfamiliarity with the gospel inoculates people
against it. I grew up in such proximity to Jesus that it seemed like I was saved by proximity. I wasn't Christian by conversion, I was Christian by birth. Jesus didn't sound blasphemous - he sounded
boring, because we all knew where the story was going. God becomes man (yawn), dies (yawn), and rises from the dead (yawn). Familiarity, as they say, breeds contempt. How Christians as a group have chosen to handle their discussion of homosexuality is similar.
Every single Christian I've had this conversation with reports that he's just doing his duty, tossing a moderate bit of salt around, but the cumulative effect is devastating. By the time I was ten, much less twenty, I'd heard all these arguments at least more than once. If nearly every honest interaction with a Christian comes back to the "gay thing," then the relationship with Christianity at large is poisoned even if any single Christian is just tossing out their little bit.
For instance, is Liamson's initial post all that outrageous? No, it's just a lazy, angry rant that I could have passed over without comment. But taken in context of the whole of Christianity's conversation with homosexuals, it's an entirely unnecessary addition to an already heaping pile. Which person here needed that additional drop of vitriol? I imagine his time would have been much better spent on gossip, corporate greed, maybe anger. Is it necessarily the case that every attempt at communicating truth is following Jesus' mandate? Obviously not, and I think you agree:
At that point, the scriptures indicate that it’s okay for us to shake the dirt off of our sandals and move on.
I imagine a line of Christians standing outside Sodom, each waiting with the same message on their lips, each going through the ritual of leaving the town behind when they're not accepted well. Each lamenting to the one before and behind him how unpopular his message is. Each believes he has to try his own hand at it before the message can be considered delivered. Let me put this into context:
Liamson said:
They can call it whatever they want to call it but, leave marriage alone.
The deal is that we
can't. The Christians in my state have passed laws to prevent me from doing precisely that. This last election cycle, millions were spent telling the world what Christians thought about homosexuals and their legal rights. I drive by billboards on the way to work. The pastor outside of my office building reminds me daily what he thinks of sodomites. I log in to CC to further explore the faith and see my sin focused on with a disturbing frequency.
I sit in a pile of salt left by (sometimes not so) well-meaning Christians, each of which thinks they're doing the unpopular, difficult thing. Each thinking they're Abraham, God's appointed messenger to the clueless city. Each pays lip service to love. We're not sure how to communicate that we get it, that we'd like a safer environment in which to have a conversation. The few of us who do choose to continue in dialogue with Christians are trying to do a public service. The message is, admittedly, couched in frustration if not simply anger. I've winced, reading some of our recent defenders on CC.
But, how should someone in my situation handle the incessant flow of self-appointed Abrahams? I've take sabbaticals from CC and Christians in general a couple of times, because I get soul-tired. Liamson's post was enough to make me consider another. I wonder - do you know we're listening? That we're real people whose agendas are more about daily living and happiness than tearing down society? That we're not merely opportunities to spew the rhetoric you picked up a couple of weeks ago?
I doubt it, every once in a while.
I hang out here because, wherever two or more are gathered in his name, there he is.
But every once in a while, I doubt that too.
Everybody has their justifications. Yours don't seem different at all.
