Justice and Respect
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Justice and Respect
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A long-awaited essay has been written!
The Conservative Church's Response to Homosexuality:
A Quantum Leap of Honesty and RelationshipBy Sonia Balcer
January, 2002As a conservative Christian who believes God's will as revealed in Scripture forbids homosexual relationships and who has witnessed growing divisions in the Church over the issue, I often find myself asking, "What is the work that You, Lord, are doing among Your people?"
While the past few decades have revealed significant problems of mission and character which I believe have yet to be fully reckoned in conservative circles, they also reveal what I believe to be a tremendous opportunity for the Church as a whole to make a quantum leap in how we entrust unto God our relationships, our identity, and our place of witness in the world.
God is indeed doing "a new thing" among His people (Isaiah 43:19). But it will require some intentional effort on our part.
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Homosexuality in the conservative church has largely been cast in oppositional terms of how to respond to those who earnestly want us to agree with homosexual relationships to the point of embracing and blessing something which we with equal earnestness believe we cannot bless without compromising truth. And indeed there is an unavoidable discomfort arising from such conflicting positions. But "what we believe" is only part of the dilemma presented to us by this issue. It is in the "how we treat one another", including those with whom we disagree and/or whom we see pursuing something not of His will, that we find the other half of the equation.
The article continues here on the Spirit Restoration website.
The bulk of material on this website is contained in the letters and essays sections.
An upcoming area for expansion in the J&R website involves thoughtful examination of some of the claims (particularly, some of the judgements and fears cast as science) being made about persons who experience same-gender attraction, as such claims can distract us as conservative Christians from responding in a manner that honours Christ.
Beyond the theological questions of what the scriptures say about homosexuality, it is crucial that we pursue certain questions about the issue of homosexuality itself that will inform how we approach and relate to people who experience same-gender attractions. If we take a closer look at the scientific and social evidence, we may find that not everything represented about gays and lesbians by those who agree with us theologically hold up scientifically.
An overview of such topics can be found in the new article. When expanded, these resources will appear in a separate "research" section.
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Created on 11-23-1999. Last updated 4-06-2002 | Visits: