{"id":1053,"date":"2010-08-09T11:41:15","date_gmt":"2010-08-09T18:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groansfromwithin.com\/?p=1053"},"modified":"2011-07-06T20:01:45","modified_gmt":"2011-07-07T03:01:45","slug":"dear-reader-deconstructing-religion-moving-beyond-in-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/2010\/08\/09\/dear-reader-deconstructing-religion-moving-beyond-in-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Reader… Deconstructing Religion – Moving Beyond "in" & "out""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dear Reader\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Growing up, I was taught that there are certain \u2018things\u2019 that a person has to do to earn favor with God. Don\u2019t drink, don\u2019t smoke, don\u2019t watch certain movies\u2026 don\u2019t! In other words, a large part of Christian discipleship was focused on the negation of \u2018things\u2019 rather than the freedom that comes from being released from the captivity of religion. The great \u201cdon\u2019t\u201d that my Christian community focused on when I was giving my life back to Jesus as a teenager was secular music. Now, I do have to say that forsaking secular music was a good thing for me at the time because it allowed me to set my mind on \u201cthings above.\u201d However, eventually I started looking at my other friends musical genre choices and it became easy to cast secret stones of judgment. The negation had led to a religious mentality of picking who was \u201cin\u201d and who was \u201cout.\u201d This is because I chose an overall perspective of faith that is described in Religious No More<\/a>, (by Mark Baker) that is called a \u201cBounded Group.\u201d I drew an image like this in my book as I read this section\u2026
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There are several things to point out about this first image.\u00a0 Notice that there is a clear wall that has been built to contain those who are \u201cin\u201d and to exclude those who are \u201cout.\u201d\u00a0 The space between the dividing wall is where religious ideals are, and for many people this is where God dwells.\u00a0 God is held captive within the walls of religion and as long as we stay inside these walls (remember: \u201cDon\u2019ts\u201d), then we are part of the elite \u201cin\u201d group.\u00a0 In this view, everything we do must be focused on how to protect the \u201cwall\u201d that has boxed religion\/God in, so that we have security in our categories.<\/p>\n

This Bounded Group mentality is what is at the core of the religious right politics concerning issues of homosexuality.\u00a0 The boundary wall approach, plus a traditional reading of the 6 or so relevant texts, creates a clear way of knowing who is \u201cin\u201d (heterosexuals) and who is \u201cout\u201d (gays).\u00a0 This brings much security and stability to people who want to know what behaviors constitute Christian discourse.\u00a0 The problem here is, even for those of us who hold to a \u201ctraditional\u201d view of homosexuality, it leaves no room for people who may be hermaphrodites or gays who are attempting to be celibate.\u00a0 This view would say that homosexuality does not fit into the walls of our religion or definition of God, and therefore they are all part of the \u201cout\u201d group.\u00a0 This does not allow for ambiguity of personal circumstances.\u00a0 This is why I like the approach that is demonstrated by another image I doodled in my book: Centered Group approach\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This approach is all about one\u2019s orientation (no pun intended) towards that which is in the center\u2026 God.\u00a0 Each arrow represents a person who is on a spiritual journey.\u00a0 If they are moving relationally toward God in Christ, then the arrow points in the direction their God-quest is on.\u00a0 Each arrow has traveled a different distance in relationship to the center, and no one (in this life) has fully arrived at knowing the vastness of God.\u00a0 Some arrows are pointing away from God because they have chosen a path that leads the opposite direction.\u00a0 So, in the case of homosexuality and the church, this approach leaves room for those who may be wrestling with how their sexual and spiritual identity interconnect<\/em>.\u00a0 If their eyes are \u201cfixed on Jesus\u201d (Hebrews 12), then they are part of the \u201cin\u201d group.\u00a0 (Please do not read this statement as an \u201cargument\u201d for a more progressive reading of the relevant texts [because that is not the point of this post at all], but rather as something even the conservative reading ought to be wrestling with).\u00a0 This is based fully on relationship and NOT on religious practices!<\/p>\n

Now here is the HUGE caution that must be mentioned: is there a danger that the centered approach does not define boundaries or that it can become an \u201canything goes\u201d approach?\u00a0 Well, here is what I have been thinking about.\u00a0 If this is truly a relationally centered approach, then does is it not follow that out of that relationship our Christian ethics will naturally flow?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t this the pattern we see played out in the book of Acts, especially regarding the Gentiles.\u00a0 They had to tear down old \u2018religious\u2019 ideals because their orientation towards God through the Holy Spirit was telling them to do so.\u00a0 This completely differed from their traditions and the Law of Moses, but their common center was moving them toward a new ethic.\u00a0 So, the more I am centered on Christ, the more that relationship is going to create a natural discernment process to know what actually moves people towards the center (God), and what turns them in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

So much more I could say, but I want to limit the length of this letter so I will make a brief final thought.\u00a0 We looked at Luke 15, and the part of the story that griped my attention was the end that deals with whether or not the older brother will actually go into the party.\u00a0 Now, this is interesting if we observe that the religious leaders (bounded group mentality) were being paralleled to this older brother.\u00a0 Jesus ends the story without concluding what the big brother will choose to do.\u00a0 In other words, Jesus leaves the \u201cball in their court\u201d and expects that the Pharisees will choose to finish the story by either entering the metaphorical party or staying outside\u2026 and thus, they may choose to be the \u201cout\u201d group.\u00a0 This is a message that I need to hear, because sometimes my judgment mechanism is triggered and I need a reminder that the party is open to anyone, and centered on a relationship with the Father.\u00a0 All other things will fall into place in the Spirit\u2019s timetable.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Reader\u2026 Growing up, I was taught that there are certain \u2018things\u2019 that a person has to do to earn favor with God. Don\u2019t drink, don\u2019t smoke, don\u2019t watch certain movies\u2026 don\u2019t! In other words, a large part of Christian discipleship was focused on the negation of \u2018things\u2019 rather than the freedom that comes from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,92],"tags":[173,189,301,19168,499,618,19191],"class_list":["post-1053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dear-reader","category-theology","tag-bounded-set-ethic","tag-centered-set-ethic","tag-faith","tag-holy-spirit","tag-mark-baker","tag-religion","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nDear Reader... 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