It’s odd to me. So many times in the last few years something’s come up that is totally unrelated to my daily life and changes my daily life. I had an odd period of this a few years ago when I was in thought of Presidential candidates. I didn’t know what to believe. God, do I side with the conservatives and reduce spending to aide other countries or side with liberals and give money to help them? Fiscally, I don’t necessarily believe that it’s America’s responsibility to save every other country in the world. Biblically, I feel like it’s my duty to help those people. What do I do? The same happened today when I got online and read about Jennifer Knapp’s departure from good to the supposed “bad side.”
For anyone who hasn’t heard or doesn’t know what I’m talking about: link.
So as I sat reading that I had to wonder: what’s next? A Christian recording artist is now gay, or has realized she’s gay…or chose she’s gay and has now told the world. Where do I go from here? She’s no longer on a Christian label with her new release to come out. Still though, how do Christian radio stations respond to her now? To further emphasize the point of my second sentence in the post; I never liked her, listened to her or owned any of her albums. Furthermore I avoid CCM radio stations like….well it sounds to harsh to say the plague but as a general rule, I’d probably rather not listen to anything than listen to K-Love. Where do they go from here? Will all her old music, pre-gay days be pulled from the airwaves?
Where do I find myself in this argument? This is one of the most classic debates of the supposed “Christian life” in that it appears as though it’s a black-and-white issue. The Bible states in numerous places (some Old Testament, some New) that homosexuality is a sin. (Romans 1:26-31 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless. and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.) Just the same though, there is the classic verse in the Old Testament which claims that those who tattoo themselves are also sinning. Sorry, that’s paraphrased because I can’t recall the scripture reference. In the same scripture it also says not to wear clothing woven of different threads and not to eat meat with the blood still in it. Two things that everyone does.
I’ll even give that one some lenience because I’m pretty sure it’s old testament and even still not as blatant as “homosexual offenders” “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” I don’t know how to wrap my mind around this. How do I feel about homosexuals? How do I treat them? How should I treat them? Is it really my place to try to change them when they believe they were born that way and never had the opportunity to be straight? Do I believe that people are given a choice? Do I believe that people are born predestined to homosexuality?
My mind is full of questions and I’m nearly at a loss. I don’t know how to get my head around this one. It doesn’t effect me, but it scares me that I don’t know what to believe. Where does Jennifer fall in this? How do I deal with it? Do I side with people I don’t agree with on everything and cut ties with homosexuals and stay ‘pure and holy?’ Or do I risk the opposite side of the issue and accept them for who they are, not what they believe? It’s a bold step to side there and claim that homosexuality is acceptable. I don’t know if I could be honest with myself and ever say that so is there no middle ground?
In the last year I’ve really come to see myself and my identity in Christ as a very different person than I did a few years ago. I know that I’ll never fit the same ideals of conservatism and goody-goodness that I feel as though much of the Church does. I know I’m called to get my hands a bit dirty. I’m called to be different and I like that because honestly, I don’t like the Church. Not a church, not a building, not going to church, but the people that comprise the body of Christ. Jesus paid far too great a price for us to live in stagnance shrugging off our own sins and condemning others.
He never said though that our faith would make our lives easy on us and that’s not why I accepted Him. I find the exact opposite to be true actually, my Faith complicates my life in the burdens I carry for the lost, unsaved and confused.
MuteMath you’re the only thing that makes sense to me right now:
Feeling overload
Carrying bottled skies
Around
I’ve been drowning all along
Wearing out in a faltered sea
And I give up
Common sense failed again
Meddling in a foreign scene
Foreign dream
Time won’t spare another son
Daring me with another choice
Another choice
Anymore,
I don’t know who to fight anymore
I don’t know what is right anymore
Anymore.
Anymore,
I don’t know how to feel anymore
I don’t know what is real anymore
Anymore.
Current music:
Clipping
MuteMath
Armistice
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