Third Way Christianity

Third Way Christianity

There has been lots of discussion lately about many social issues, especially gay marriage, in Christian circles. The controversy centers on two different ideas: (1) gay marriage is a sin and therefore those who claim to be gay or believe in gay marriage should not be accepted into the church and (2) gay marriage is proper, and therefore we need to be accepting of such people in the church. This has come to light because Pastor Danny Cortez encouraged his church to be a “third way church.” The pastor’s son had confessed to being gay and it eventually led the pastor to challenge his views on homosexuality and how his church should minister to people who struggle with that problem. Albert Mohler takes the conservative view that “there is no third way when it come to church and gay marriage.” People like Zach Hoag at Patheos, and Kirsten Powers at USA Today, present the opposing view.

The debate brings out the two polar extremes of liberalism and legalism. Liberalism says that in order to reach out to people who interpret the Bible differently, we need to bend and accept all people, no matter how sinful. Legalism says that we should strictly adhere to our interpretation of the Bible, and in the process, we may have to exclude people from our group. Legalism flows freely from the conservative (fundamentalist) side, and liberalism flows freely from the liberal (emerging) side of Christianity.

There are those (like Jim Belcher) who propose a “Third Way Christianity.” People like Belcher would say that instead of either/or, a church should have both/and. Emerging and Traditional can get along. The problem is that people are leaving the church. Some are leaving and not coming back (or not even coming) because the church is too intolerant of people with opposing views (which is the way they couch the language about gay marriage.)

Do I personally have an answer to all of this? No. I know that we must accept what the Bible teaches about controversial subjects, while recognizing that our proper view of these subjects may sometimes change. This happened with the view of the solar system and slavery in the past. However, if there is a “Third Way Christianity,” then it must not be formed out of the molds of liberalism, nor legalism, but out of Christ-like love which Jesus demands of us.