A Christian Worldview from Silicon Valley

Should homosexuals and gay couples be allowed to be part of the church?

This is the topic we discussed this past Sunday morning.

Here’s a few things I think I think -

1. Homosexuals and gay couples absolutely should be allowed to worship with the Church.

2. Homosexuals can be offered communion.

3. A gay marriage and a Christian marriage are not the same thing.

4. It is up to the leadership of the local church (elders) to determine if a homosexual or partner in a gay couple can serve in a leadership position.

5. Homosexuals and gay couples, like all Christians, should participate in a small group Bible study that requires confession and accountability in their walk with the Lord.

What do you think you think?

Years ago I saw a science program on TV about vision. In one of several experiments that were conducted, volunteers were fitted with special “corrective lenses” that made them see everything upside down. The devices could not be removed by the volunteers, and although they were not allowed to drive, they were encouraged to live the rest of their lives as normally as possible.

Some of them got physically ill, which was pretty easy for me to imagine, and many of them stumbled and fell as they tried to do something as simple as walk down the street. Aside from various bumps and scrapes, headaches and feelings of nausea, none of them were really much worse for the wear. And not a single one of them “got used” to the idea of seeing the world upside down. No real surprises there.

But the test yielded one incredible — at least to me — result: within about 24 hours, every one of the volunteers saw the world as right side up. After that happened the scientists removed their special viewing devices so that the volunteers were all looking just through their own eyes… and the world was upside down again!

Add that to your list of amazing things about God’s creation: our brains can figure out that the image we are seeing is upside down, learn to make the correction, and change how we see everything.

Are we that adept spiritually? Can we see when things are upside down, or do we only look through the eyes of the world? Too many times I fail to use the vision God has given me to see things as they really are, and not as the world would have me see them. But when I do see properly, I fall down far less often.

Rocco needed more rocks. David picked up five smooth stones and used one, Rocco brought at least a dozen dimpled Callaway balls and 14 clubs, but they weren’t enough. After it was over, Rocco said he threw everything he had at him, including the kitchen sink, but even that wasn’t enough. He said, “I just about got him.”

What does all that say to us? Do David’s usually lose? From my perspective, David never loses. Sure, Tiger Woods won and got the U.S. Open title and the trophy, Rocco Mediate got the runner up check and the respect and admiration of lots of people, and life goes on. But David, the shepherd who became the king, put his trust not in specially forged weapons of steel and not even in his sling and stones, but in the Lord.

Put your trust in the Lord, and you, too, will prevail. You may die along the way, but you will prevail.

Back in some year long, long ago, a shepherd boy named David slew a giant named Goliath. As I write, a journeyman golf professional named Rocco has the advantage over a giant named Tiger.

Rocco Mediate vs. Tiger Woods. The 158th ranked player in the world vs. the number 1 ranked player in the world. A 45 year-old who has never won a major against a 32 year-old who has won 13 of them. Lots of people are rooting for David (Rocco), but not many people have been betting on him to win.

In the press room the day before this playoff for the 2008 U.S. Open championship, Rocco said he was looking forward to the match. He noted that they were just playing golf, not fighting. “If we were fighting, I’d be in big trouble.” Most observers figured he was in big trouble anyway, but with just two holes left to play, Rocco is not only not in trouble, he has a one shot lead.

It’ll be a compelling story if he wins, but is it really David and Goliath? David was risking his life for the Lord and for Israel, and was relying on the Lord for help. Goliath was trying to help wipe out or take over the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. Rocco and Tiger are playing for a big title, for big money, and for a place in history.

But maybe, just maybe, as the media folks keep talking about David and Goliath, people who are watching Rocco and Tiger will think about the originals.

Stay tuned…

How do you decide which candidate to vote for? If you really sat down and analyzed that process for yourself, you’d probably be surprised at all the elements involved. Just over a week ago, my wife, Judy, and I sat down and tried to make decisions about voting on at least one judge to be selected for our county, and on a few other folks. All in all, not that many choices, but still something to be taken seriously.

I try to be somewhat informed, but there was no information about some of the people running for various offices, so how was I supposed to make an informed decision? Well, I did what any red-blooded American would do, I looked at the list of names and picked out one or two that I liked and voted for them. They can thank their parents for getting my vote.

Somewhere along the line, I believe, I also asked God for guidance on all of this, but I did not lift up each name and wait for a word from God on how to cast my vote. Perhaps I should have, but I didn’t. Something else I didn’t do was try to figure out about their hearts. That might have been an important consideration, especially for the judge, but I went with the name thing.

As we begin the process of selecting elders for PACC, I hope to personally do better about making my decisions. I already know, though, even before one man has been nominated, that I’m going to be more inclined to support someone with a great name more than someone with a crummy name. After all, who would vote for Archibald Leach when they could vote for Cary Grant? Who goes for Marion Morrison when they can have John Wayne? And doesn’t Fred Astaire get your vote when Frederick Austerlitz does not?

My message here, of course, is that if we are sometimes swayed in our decision making by the sound of a name, think how much we should be on guard when it comes time for us to nominate and affirm those who might serve as elders.

Let us use our knees to decide, calling on God’s Spirit to guide us. Let us, wherever we can, not decide based on the things on the outside (reputation, accomplishments, degrees, appearance, or even name), but let us examine the things on the inside, especially the heart. That is a much better way.

I was intrigued by an excerpt from a recent TIME magazine article on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair:

Blair is always careful to downplay the role his faith played in complex matters of life and death, such as the invasion of Iraq. “You don’t put up a hotline to God and get the answers,” he says. At the same time, he plainly thinks his faith has helped him make tough decisions. “The worst thing in politics,” he says, “is when you’re so scared of losing support that you don’t do what you think is the right thing. What faith can do is not tell you what is right but give you the strength to do it.” But in a nation like Britain, where cynicism is a way of life, that distinction—between faith as a guide to action and faith as an aid to decision—is almost bound to be lost.

Frankly, I think that distinction deserves to be lost. In light of our culture’s fondness of political correctness, I will give Blair the benefit of the doubt, but a faith that merely enables you to follow through on what you think is right, seems little more than humanistic.

No wonder religion is so often viewed as a crutch rather than a force to contend with! We restrict God’s influence in our lives by compartmentalizing Him (separation of church and state, anyone?), and yet we know we can’t do it alone, so we’re reduced to asking God to bless our efforts while we limp along as best we can. And we wonder why we don’t see Him?

What’s that Pogo saying? “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Real faith is not getting in God’s way. Let’s see what God can do when we let Him!

As I read Lewis’ blog on putting on the Armor of God, he said something like, “children are given little, if any, say in what they wear.” That reminded me. . .

When my kids were young, a friend told me that one of the hardest things for kids to learn was how to make choices. Everyone faces choices, and in our culture, the choices are myriad. (Another acquaintance from a Soviet bloc country hated shopping in the States because he felt paralyzed with indecision over the selection of dozens of cereals, t-shirts, watches, and so on.) I resolved to train my kids from their earliest moments to make choices. For example, when D was an infant, I’d hold up two outfits and ask her to make a choice. When she appeared to point to an outfit, I would use that outfit and praise her for making a choice.

In life, I think a lot of our choices (from God’s perspective) are similarly inconsequential. Why would he want to control which outfit, job, or road we take, as long as our eyes are fixed on him and our desire is to serve him?

If we sense that God is nudging or calling us in a certain direction, by all means we should go that way. And of course we should continue in prayer about everything.

But when it’s time to make a decision, make one!