civil war
hear hear, 3 cheers for lauren's comment here:
http://winsty.livejournal.com/101972.html
I could not agree more.
To be honest, i can't believe i actually got involved in this exchange. I rarely weigh-in on things like this. As i've said to Lauren many times, i'm a "simple faith" kind of guy.
I guess its because this kind of stuff just ends up making me really sad. I think about the fact that, too often all of us (as christians) stand armed against one another. It breaks my heart that christianity has changed from something pure and simple...built upon love and grace, into something that resembles neither. Why do christians spend such effort attacking other christians? Each side engages in nearly unending pontification-whose goal is to convince the another that we are right and you are wrong.... It really just breaks my heart.
And its sad too. Think of how many hurting people we collectively leave behind, turn our backs on, as we face inward, fists flailing under pretenses of Godliness and truth, in conflict with our own brothers and sisters-in christian civil war.
I'm not saying these discussions are unproductive. Actually, they probably do have the power to be very informative and enlightening for those who are willing to both LISTEN and LEARN. But sadly, that seems to be pretty rare. (And truthfully, the Sumatanga crowd is one of the most open and accepting i've ever been a part of. More often, these [unproductive] conversations occur between 'camp people' and non-camp folk-who tend to be less open, less accepting.) It's just that more often than not, these kinds of discussions involve two sides, both very closed off to new ideas, both very set in their thinking, neither side listening to the other, creating greater divisions where there should have been none to begin with.
Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. I guess its been welling up because i see, from so far away, this exact thing happening in my home church...and its tearing everything apart.
http://winsty.livejournal.com/101972.html
I could not agree more.
To be honest, i can't believe i actually got involved in this exchange. I rarely weigh-in on things like this. As i've said to Lauren many times, i'm a "simple faith" kind of guy.
I guess its because this kind of stuff just ends up making me really sad. I think about the fact that, too often all of us (as christians) stand armed against one another. It breaks my heart that christianity has changed from something pure and simple...built upon love and grace, into something that resembles neither. Why do christians spend such effort attacking other christians? Each side engages in nearly unending pontification-whose goal is to convince the another that we are right and you are wrong.... It really just breaks my heart.
And its sad too. Think of how many hurting people we collectively leave behind, turn our backs on, as we face inward, fists flailing under pretenses of Godliness and truth, in conflict with our own brothers and sisters-in christian civil war.
I'm not saying these discussions are unproductive. Actually, they probably do have the power to be very informative and enlightening for those who are willing to both LISTEN and LEARN. But sadly, that seems to be pretty rare. (And truthfully, the Sumatanga crowd is one of the most open and accepting i've ever been a part of. More often, these [unproductive] conversations occur between 'camp people' and non-camp folk-who tend to be less open, less accepting.) It's just that more often than not, these kinds of discussions involve two sides, both very closed off to new ideas, both very set in their thinking, neither side listening to the other, creating greater divisions where there should have been none to begin with.
Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. I guess its been welling up because i see, from so far away, this exact thing happening in my home church...and its tearing everything apart.