Remember when reading my blog was fun?
Yeah, those days are over. Sorry. But I’m running a cult now. And say what you will about cults, but they’re not funny.
Oh sure, occasionally the so-called Brady Bunch was mildly amusing. But I think we’ve all seen that manic gleam in Alice’s eyes. I think we can all agree the fun stopped in that house once the cameras were off.
Anyway, what a week! Many improvements in the ThruWay Christians’ brand-new website and forum. And TWC got its logo, courtesy of famed Logomeister Lisa Salazar. (Soon, all my minions will be wearing a pendant of the TWC logo. That’s how they’ll know each other in public. To secure final identification between members, we will next need a secret handshake. The one I’ve developed so far involves tongue-wagging, one’s right nostril and a hip-bump. Still honing.)
But to this post’s pertinent primary point:
For the record, ThruWay Christians are no more naturally affiliated with the left than we are the right.
We loathe how the right throws under the train gays and, in too many way, anyone who’s not Christian.
But we’re also extremely not crazy about how the left rejects the idea—or waffles so hard on it that it amounts to rejecting—that, to quote the teen version of the TWC founding doc, “Jesus Christ was, and is, absolutely real. He performed miracles (duh: he was God); he sacrificed himself on the cross so that everyone could be forever reconciled with God; he rose from the dead; he left behind, for everyone, the Holy Spirit.”
Most “progressive” Christians can’t take that clear, Gospel-based definition of God. In the main they prefer the idea that Jesus Christ was essentially an inspiring social worker who got mugged.
Forget that. We say: If you’re in, get all the way in. Commit to Jesus. He sure committed to you, we say.
And we’re really not thrilled with how soooooo many Christians on the left don’t quite renounce the idea that homosexuality is a sin. They always come agonizingly close to saying that—but don’t.
Exhibit A: This, under “What We’re All About” on the website of The Christian Left:
The Christian Left sometimes differs from other Christian political groups on issues including homosexuality. This is often not a matter of different religious ideas, but one of focus — viewing the prohibitions against killing, or the criticism of concentrations of wealth, as far more important than social issues emphasized by the religious right, such as opposition to active homosexuality. In this case, similar to philosophies expressed by writers such as C.S. Lewis, these members of the Christian Left believe homosexual sex to be overemphasized when compared with issues relating to social justice, or even matters of sexual morality involving heterosexual sex. Bottom Line: We welcome ALL to their place at God’s table, just as they are. All means ALL. No exceptions. We reject all attempts to define our Faith by the two wedge issues of Gay Marriage and Abortion. [Bolding theirs.]
Would they like a little syrup with that waffle? Because they’ll need something sweeter than “We welcome all” to choke down that doughy lump.
That statement isn’t good enough. Okay? Not. Good. Enough.
Not good enough! Commit! Say that homosexuality is an offense against God, or say it’s not! But don’t duck and hide and wiggle and squirm. Stand up, already. Proudly declaring that you don’t want to get your hands dirty doesn’t fix the car.
Are you listening, leaders of what used to be the emergent church before you guys waffled that movement straight into the ground? We know you have your wallet to protect; we know your fear of alienating your church-based readership keeps you from making a clear declaration about what you really believe about Christianity and gays. But that doesn’t make not saying it right. It’s not fair of you to keep gays locked in the basement so that you can keep partying upstairs.
And it hurts me to say these things. In practical terms, even. Because … well, for instance, “The Christian Left” likes ThruWay Christians. On their Facebook page (which has an impressive 7,102 members), they’ve listed this, my personal website, as one of their “Favorite Pages.”
And Spencer Burke, pretty much the founding father of the emergent church, publicly praised my work.
I like Spencer Burke. He’s a totally nice guy! And I’m sure I’d like whomever is behind “The Christian Left.” How could I not? I find it really hard not to like people who like me. Because … you know: we have so much in common.
But I have serious issues with any sort of Christian organization or leader who, on the one hand, claims to be liberal or “progressive,” but on the other hand won’t publicly commit on the gay issue. That’s not being on the left. That’s pretending to be on the left. How is that helping? If you’re at a KKK rally in a white hood and robe, who cares what you really think? Who cares if you’re really against racism? You’re at the rally. You’re wearing the outfit. You’re standing with the other KKK morons.
Not helping!
So, to reiterate: We ThruWay Christians have issues with those on the left; and we have issues with those on the right.
Hence our thruway between the two.
Now let’s get those pendants made!
*****
Don’t you think it’s time you committed to joining my Facebook fan page? Me too.
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