Kingdom Job Description - Deeper Love, Greater Courage
Today, after our My Refuge House Board Meeting, I decided to follow the group to their home church, New Heart Community Church. Pastor Dan Cortez (who is also an MRH Board Member) leads this church. What I witnessed was one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed in church. Let's just say that it took a lot of courage to even think of doing such a thing - to talk about the issue of homosexuality and have a member share about her struggles with same-sex attraction. In return, the church body expressed their love and support for their sister. Amazing.
This is one tough issue, but one that I believe the Church needs to seek more deeply Christ's heart, which is always full of grace and truth. The Church has failed miserably in balancing these two things. Even more tragically, some churches have avoided the subject all together, thus leaving its members to fend for themselves in confusion with no guidance or teaching. I praise God for Pastor Dan's bold leadership here.
This incredible church service reminded me of Andrew Marin, who also envisions a Church emboldened with courageous love. On January 31, 2010, I heard Marin speak at an event at Mariner's Church here in Irvine called "Lumen 1.31". I attended it because one of the guest speakers was from International Justice Mission to talk about the church and human trafficking.
The most convicting presentation to me, however, was Marin's, who is on a mission to transform the church's attitude and involvement towards the gay and lesbian community. He founded the Marin Foundation, whose mission statement is the following:
Below is a video of Andrew's presentation that day. I was inspired and tweaked - knowing that all of us, including myself, have a long way to go to love like Christ. One of the things that Andrew said that struck me was this notion of a Kingdom job description: (1) Holy Spirit's job to convict; (2) God's job to judge; and (3) My job to love.
The church has gotten so passionate about convicting, judging, but loving seems to be an afterthought. Can someone show me a group of people who seek to be professional lovers? My guess is that Pastor Dan and his church are on their way to raising such people, and I'm honored to know some of them. By the way, this is the same church that decided to build My Refuge House to care for sex trafficking victims, instead of build a home for themselves. This is foolishness if you really think about it because many other churches have their priorities somewhere else.
By the way, if the Church is not a safe place for homosexuals, then can it be safe for any of us? If we aren't serious about loving then let's just close shop, including all the pretentious praise music and Bible studies, and call ourselves the Rotary Club.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!"
It's so easy to lose the offensiveness of Christ's words here. But make no doubt, truth sometimes really really hurts. Or it should.
I have since developed my own job description or life mission and it is captured in four simple words:
Deeper love; greater courage.
In order to love God deeper and to love others more deeply, it's going to take a greater courage. Obviously, I need every bit of the Holy Spirit to help me to do this. This job description is not for the faint-hearted, but instead for the brave misfit.
This is one tough issue, but one that I believe the Church needs to seek more deeply Christ's heart, which is always full of grace and truth. The Church has failed miserably in balancing these two things. Even more tragically, some churches have avoided the subject all together, thus leaving its members to fend for themselves in confusion with no guidance or teaching. I praise God for Pastor Dan's bold leadership here.
This incredible church service reminded me of Andrew Marin, who also envisions a Church emboldened with courageous love. On January 31, 2010, I heard Marin speak at an event at Mariner's Church here in Irvine called "Lumen 1.31". I attended it because one of the guest speakers was from International Justice Mission to talk about the church and human trafficking.
The most convicting presentation to me, however, was Marin's, who is on a mission to transform the church's attitude and involvement towards the gay and lesbian community. He founded the Marin Foundation, whose mission statement is the following:
Wow. Imagine focusing on changing yourself first before trying to change others.
The Marin Foundation’s New Christian Paradigm challenges the broader Christian community to look inside themselves first; examining their own life-long presuppositions of what it truly means to build a bridge with the GLBT community. Our goal is not to change the GLBT individual first, but rather change our own hearts, minds and souls by distinctly refreshing, renewing and refocusing our intent, approach and applications in how to productively build a God-centered bridge within the broader social context of today’s society.
Below is a video of Andrew's presentation that day. I was inspired and tweaked - knowing that all of us, including myself, have a long way to go to love like Christ. One of the things that Andrew said that struck me was this notion of a Kingdom job description: (1) Holy Spirit's job to convict; (2) God's job to judge; and (3) My job to love.
The church has gotten so passionate about convicting, judging, but loving seems to be an afterthought. Can someone show me a group of people who seek to be professional lovers? My guess is that Pastor Dan and his church are on their way to raising such people, and I'm honored to know some of them. By the way, this is the same church that decided to build My Refuge House to care for sex trafficking victims, instead of build a home for themselves. This is foolishness if you really think about it because many other churches have their priorities somewhere else.
By the way, if the Church is not a safe place for homosexuals, then can it be safe for any of us? If we aren't serious about loving then let's just close shop, including all the pretentious praise music and Bible studies, and call ourselves the Rotary Club.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!"
It's so easy to lose the offensiveness of Christ's words here. But make no doubt, truth sometimes really really hurts. Or it should.
I have since developed my own job description or life mission and it is captured in four simple words:
Deeper love; greater courage.
In order to love God deeper and to love others more deeply, it's going to take a greater courage. Obviously, I need every bit of the Holy Spirit to help me to do this. This job description is not for the faint-hearted, but instead for the brave misfit.
posted by ERuss at
4:09 AM
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