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Covenant MCC Birmingham August 13th , 2000
Those of us that come from the more liturgical churches feel theology is best
left up to experts. Those of us from the younger Protestant churches
disagree. There is nothing daunting about theology. Theology is nothing more
than thinking about God. There are several kinds of theology, each determined
by approaching the data from different angles. In all, God acts and we are
left to understand why God acted the way God did. Although many people avoid
discussions of theology, in a real sense, all of us think about God at some
time or the other.
As God acts in time God reveals things about God's self. I want to take a
closer look at God, ourselves and what we think about each other.
There are several kinds of theology that vie for our attention. There is
Biblical theology, the way the Bible writers thought about God. There is
Philosophical theology, the way philosophers have thought about God; usually
thought of as the theology of the Mediaeval Roman Catholic Church. There is
Natural theology, for which the Anglicans are noted, thinking about God's
revelation about God's self in the natural order of things. Why, for
Christians who do not want to think, there is even "Revealed" Theology-
theology given by God about God's self that is not open for discussion, you
just have to accept it on Faith. I am the most suspicious of this type of
theology. It tends to reflect more about us than God. When examined closely
as to just how we know it was revealed by God, the reasoning breaks down and
the proponents for this position become very antszy. No matter what is
claimed for this Faith Alone position, I find it is really not that
satisfying for me.
Time once was (back when I was in Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in
Louisville Kentucky, getting my Master of Divinity degree.) I thought the
only legitimate theology was Biblical theology. What the Bible writers
thought about God had to be the most valid because they were closer to the
Christ event in history. Then I slowly came to the realization that God is
acting today, all around me. An obsolete Biblical world view should have no
more validity for us today than a modern world view. So now, I focus on God's
current activity and look anywhere I can for insights into God and the human
situation. The Bible is just one of several sources for examination.
Take the doctrine of the Trinity. The reading from John's first letter,
specifically 5:5-7, is one of those rare places where the word Trinity could
have been used but was not, although the passage says the three are
definitely one. When we say that God is a Trinity, just what are we saying
and how are we acting to show we believe it?
By saying God is a Trinity, we are saying that the deepest, most abiding
reality that stands behind all and under all is God, is Relationship, is
Community, is Mutuality, is Love - the give and take experienced by two
entities that are involved with loving one another- the lover and the beloved
and the aliveness exchanged between them that takes on a life of its own!
People who believe in God this way act despotically. They are the typical
rigid personality; tight fisted, self-confident leaders who want to control
everything, because they think they are the only ones who know best. They
inspire people to go along with them but will not tolerate any dissension.
If you saw the miniseries Nuremberg, you know what I mean, people who were so
self-absorbed, that they had an inability to empathize. As an aside, the
American churches have still not come to terms theologically with the whole
Nazis phenomena. It challenges the very foundation of so much pop-theology
being espoused today. I find it interesting that American consciousness seems
to be being guided back to this time period and reexamining the causes of
that whole historical event. Upon examination, the "unthinkable" is not that
far removed. It can be uncomfortably close to tomorrow
The leader who believes in the Trinity is geared to be more of a team player.
They value consensus and encourage open discussion to check their perceptions
of all the facts involved. They lead by encouragement. They delegate easily.
They give everyone under them the space to develop their own talents and
gifts. They represent what we today would consider "Enlightened Management".
First of all he is the only divine writer to define God, to make the
connection of the spiritual with human feelings - God is Love! This has
profound implications! In clear and simple, unambiguous terms he tells the
reader how they can tell if they are in God, how they can tell if others have
God in them, and how to tell if other's are lying about having God in their
lives. What he says is most condemning to the "homophobes". Their thinking is
so turned around, they see love between two people of the same sex and call
it Evil. They see God and call it the Satan! You can't get more twisted
around than that! They are literally committing the unpardonable sin against
the Holy Spirit, mentioned in the New Testament. (Math 12:32)
All the while, they think they are defending God's righteousness! It just
boggles my mind! If they hate another person so strongly, God is not in them
for God is not a God of hatred. Lamentably, around the world, religion is
used as the theater for humankind to express all their hatreds. When they do,
God is not in them, for God is Love. You can't get it clearer than that!
When you get yourself involved with such hard feelings, you are exiting
yourself from God's Kingdom.
By tying God to a feeling -Love- John is being even more profound. He has
connected God to human love. In all the sermons we heard as children, I heard
that there were three types of love - agape, philos, and eros. Many of us
thought this meant three different kinds - Godly love, brotherly love and
erotic love. Because of our inborn prudishness about being biological
entities, we thought of these three as different kinds of love, when we
should have realized they are three forms of the same thing! This is what the
doctrine of the Trinity does. Tying God to erotic love makes a perfect place
for that less often recognized exposition of human erotic love- the Song of
Solomon- , as the love God feels for the Church, the Bride of Christ. But
this connection of the Divine with lust makes many very uneasy!
If we were on a roller coaster, I need to warn you to hold on to your seat. A
lot more uneasy stuff is just over the next hill! Lets take the Trinity one
step further. By being created in the image and likeness of God, humankind
also possesses a Triune nature. We are created in the form of the Trinity.
But just what does that mean?
So much so, that the Spanish and European churchmen could come to no
agreement concerning the natives of the New World, as to wether they had
souls or not and thereby necessitating treating them as human beings,
instead of animals. While they argued, we systematically destroyed their
cultures in the name of Christianity and kept the gold flowing out of the New
World to pump up the decadence of the Old.
Allow me one karmic comment. As to what goes around, comes around ... sowing
and reaping. I can only watch with bewilderment as the gold of the West
moves back in the opposite direction, back to the Mexican and South American
drug cartels as drug trafficking wrecks havoc on our western societies, this
time making slaves out of us to drugs. These two historical events are
morally connected and that is not so surprising at all! It will not be over
until we have suffered all the pain and injury we inflicted on them!
From the early portions of Old Testament, we are told the human being is made
in the Image of God, meaning we share the same Triune nature - not a nature
of three parts but a similar nature. We were created to enjoy intimacy with
matter as we express ourselves in this three dimensional world. We are driven
to seek intimacy and interaction with other entities in this world. I am
saying we are created to be attracted to intimacy with others. To put it
bluntly, lust was divinely implanted into us so that we would not get lost in
self-absorption, but relate to others in a Trinitarian way. Human beings were
created as entities wanting to interact with other entities in the most
meaningful way imaginable. In this we are only following God's example.
Some of you have already started turning red as beets. Keep holding on to
your seats, we are almost finished.
God created human beings as sexual. He pronounces "it is Good" but many
people would beg to differ with that assessment. Every prayer you make asking
God to take change your sexual preference is a slap in God's face. It comes
from a rebellious spirit who is rejecting it's very nature. Every attempt at
abstinence says you know better than God, and is cursing the way you were
made. The road to peace is a quiet acceptance of the way things are, of an
acceptance that you were created the way you are for a reason and that God
loves you all the same.
But, since the roller-coaster ride is almost over, lets go one step further.
God created us as sexual beings but when it comes to the physical world, some
of us have male plumbing and some of us have female plumbing.......and in
rare instances, the plumbing doesn't match the mindset. God said it was good
that we were created sexual, then he plunked us down into this world so that
each would function somewhere on that 16 point Kensey scale between absolute
male and absolute female.
As any good physiologist will tell you, we all begin life with a complete set
of plumbing. As the baby develops certain hormones come into play and cause
certain sets of organs to over develop at the expense of the others. As human
adults we still have the remnants of the complete set within our bodies. For
me, this means that we are both male and female in our bodies, with one
predominating. Psychology shows that mentally we are also a combination of
both male and female in mindset.
This being so, it is not psychologically sound for us to identify exclusively
with one extreme or the other, with masculine traits or feminine traits. It
is theologically and psychologically unsound for us to hate the other gender,
for in so doing we hate a part of ourselves. In this there can be no real
peace. You are all aware of those segments in the gay world who hate the
opposite sex. You are probably aware of how unbalanced they really are as
human beings. The truly human being moves freely in their minds from male to
female, from active to passive, and relishes the physical interaction with
other persons on an intimate level, no matter what sex. All of this because
we are made in the image of God and God is Triune in nature.
God created us humans with this Triune nature to serve us as we project
ourselves into this reality. God expects us to exercise our sexuality
responsibly, causing no harm to anyone. In the midst of all this loftiness
let us not fall into the same trap as the average church person. According to
them, the only conversations allowed about sex must be highly somber in tone
because they revere sex to the point of idiolatry. There is no room for
lightheartedness with these people, only deadly seriousness.
Many church people disagree, but there is a place for playfulness within the
Trinity. Consequently there is a place for playfulness within each of us. For
many, it is really a hard thing for them to let their inner child come out
and play! They age prematurely and their Spirit dies long before their body
does. God has a sense of humor and enjoys playfulness. How can anyone look at
a giraffe and not see the humor in it!
You are created in the image and likeness of God. Since God is triune,
you should handle yourself and others as a democracy among equals.
Since God is Love, you were made with a similar nature, being attracted
to all kinds of love - physical as well as spiritual love.
God made you a sexual being, a good thing, but God did not intend it to
rule over you or enslave you. To deny being sexual, is to deny Life - to deny
God!.
Total abstinence from sex is rarely an option for everyone. Most folks
just aren't made that way. We have a craving for companionship "It is not
good that the man is alone. We will make a helpmate for him." Some there are
who disagree and are celibate. But they are the minority and can not be held
up as a model for all. When examined closely, you can see how highly
eroticized their everyday world is, as a compensation, but ultimately is a
temptation.
Asking God to remove your homosexuality is like wanting to be an Aztec
sacrifice, is like wanting your heart ripped out of your body. It is just not
a option for most human beings. Some there are who function right in the
middle of the two polarities of male and female, according to the Kinsey
scale. It is relatively easy for them to function one way and "change" to the
other. But they are not the average, and it is cruel for them to be held up
as a model for gay people to follow. They are simply humans for whom behavior
modification works. When you inquire deeper, the impulses are still there but
they are manageable.
God expects you to exercise your sexuality with responsibility and
respect for the other. That is what it means to be gay and Christian. This
does not rule out playfulness, so long as there is a mutual give and take
among equals.
So what am I really saying. If you think you have three parts - a body,
spirit, and soul, your jar lid ain't fitt'in right. You are a soul, a
spiritual entity who is incarnating into this three dimensional reality for
purposes. Every millisecond you are recreating every atom of your body by
bundling up God stuff, or energy, and arranging it into a pattern called your
body, which is a three dimensional statement about who you are. This is a
sound theological basis for miracles or for instant healing. As the Dalai
Lama says in the movie Seven Years in Tibet, snapping his finger as he does,
"Things can change, just like that!" As Einstein says, matter can be
rearranged into different forms, but energy, the God stuff of the universe,
cannot be created or destroyed.
Sexuality was created by God for reasons far beyond mere procreation. Its
roots go down deeply into the Godhead itself! To try and deny our sexuality
is to slap God in the face. As homosexuals get older, they eventually come to
this understanding and accept themselves for who and what they are, but not
without much pain, suffering and distortion.
Hear the Good News today. You don't have a soul, you are a soul - a spiritual
being, whom God loves because it is God's nature to do so. You have been made
in God's image and likeness. Just as God loves loving, we too quest for
loving, in all its many forms. To deny this is to deny our very nature.
As Saint Augustine said "Our hearts are restless, til they find their rest in
thee!"
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Sex and the Church : Gender, Homosexuality, and the Transformation of Christian Ethics Kathy Rudy Gary David Comstock
Websites:
Also In This Issue:
When in Danger, When in Doubt, Blame God
Oral Roberts University Alumni Come Out of the Closet
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