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I was thinking about this the other day. I know we've been arguing about this a lot lately, but it seems most of us here on CC are coming to a sort of ... well, not an agreement, but a truce. It seems that those who are more liberal, are leaning more towards "yes, it is a sin, but we shouldn't judge ... love the sinner, hate the sin," and those who are more conservative / traditional are leaning more towards, "yes, it's wrong, but it's no more wrong than any other sin, so we shouldn't pick it out for special treatment.
It seems to me that as soon as these two sides start coming together, start almost reaching a truce, someone will bring up, "Yes, but what about those churches that are ordaining gay ministers?"
And here's my thinking on that.
There are a lot of churches (denominations) out there who teach things that I think are wrong, that go against the Bible as I understand it. I could bring up a lot of examples, but probably one of the best is the churches who celebrate "closed communion." Catholics and some Lutherans say that if you are not a member of their denomination (some would even say you have to be a member of that particular parish) you may not partake in the Eucharist (communion). Now, that seems so very wrong, and not at all what Jesus would want. Jesus shared that meal with his disciples -- including one who was that very night going to betray him, and another who was going to deny him three times over the next 12 hours. If Jesus could share this meal with these enemies, certainly we should celebrate the meal with anyone who wants to come. After all, it is not "our" table to allow or deny attendance: it is God's.
But Catholic and Lutherans teach differently, and have very good reasons for teaching so. (They believe that if you partake of the sacrament without "right understanding" you do so to your own damnation, so it is really out of love for the non-member, that they don't want that person unwillingly damning themselves ... maybe one of my Catholic or Lutheran friends can explain it better than that.) I disagree with them, but I'm not about to tell them that they're "not allowed" to have their own rules in their own denomination. When I worship at a Catholic Church, or at a Lutheran church that has this rule, I abide by their guidelines, and out of respect for them, do not partake in their Eucharist. I might grumble a little, but ultimately, I have no right to tell another church what to do.
I wonder if we can be the same with these churches that allow for gays -- even openly gay ministers? I could even see saying, "Well, they certainly aren't Christian," -- but then, Unitarians aren't Christian, and they have churches, so I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Can we "live and let live," knowing that these denominations may be completely wrong, even grumbling about it, but in the end allowing them to operate as they see fit?
Open to hearing what others have to say.
It seems to me that as soon as these two sides start coming together, start almost reaching a truce, someone will bring up, "Yes, but what about those churches that are ordaining gay ministers?"
And here's my thinking on that.
There are a lot of churches (denominations) out there who teach things that I think are wrong, that go against the Bible as I understand it. I could bring up a lot of examples, but probably one of the best is the churches who celebrate "closed communion." Catholics and some Lutherans say that if you are not a member of their denomination (some would even say you have to be a member of that particular parish) you may not partake in the Eucharist (communion). Now, that seems so very wrong, and not at all what Jesus would want. Jesus shared that meal with his disciples -- including one who was that very night going to betray him, and another who was going to deny him three times over the next 12 hours. If Jesus could share this meal with these enemies, certainly we should celebrate the meal with anyone who wants to come. After all, it is not "our" table to allow or deny attendance: it is God's.
But Catholic and Lutherans teach differently, and have very good reasons for teaching so. (They believe that if you partake of the sacrament without "right understanding" you do so to your own damnation, so it is really out of love for the non-member, that they don't want that person unwillingly damning themselves ... maybe one of my Catholic or Lutheran friends can explain it better than that.) I disagree with them, but I'm not about to tell them that they're "not allowed" to have their own rules in their own denomination. When I worship at a Catholic Church, or at a Lutheran church that has this rule, I abide by their guidelines, and out of respect for them, do not partake in their Eucharist. I might grumble a little, but ultimately, I have no right to tell another church what to do.
I wonder if we can be the same with these churches that allow for gays -- even openly gay ministers? I could even see saying, "Well, they certainly aren't Christian," -- but then, Unitarians aren't Christian, and they have churches, so I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Can we "live and let live," knowing that these denominations may be completely wrong, even grumbling about it, but in the end allowing them to operate as they see fit?
Open to hearing what others have to say.