I
haven’t blogged in 2 years. I guess a
last minute blog about Amendment 1 is as good of a place to begin again as
any. I do not claim to have it all
figured out; I have more questions than answers. Please read my thoughts with grace. I tried to write them in that manner. I
have also written them in a verbose manner. Be warned.
have also written them in a verbose manner. Be warned.
Self-Interrogation: Asking Christians
Hard Questions Before May 8th
Do
you want to see me shrivel up and shrink away from a conversation? Do you want to see me shut down or re-direct
a topic? Well, bring up politics. Nothing shoots pangs of discomfort through my
mind, and even body, like the topic of politics. Do you want me to talk for hours and never
shut-up? Bring up Jesus. Nothing strikes
me to the core like the love I feel from Jesus of Nazareth. One can imagine then that in the past couple months North Carolina's Amendment 1 has been pulling me in multiple directions.
Amendment
1 has forced me to think about how my identity as a follower of Jesus Christ
informs my identity as a citizen of North Carolina. And through these past
couple months I have concluded that the political use of Christianity in
creating and supporting North Carolina’s Amendment One is ultimately harmful to
both my faith and to my state. This reflection
will not be a cohesive or well-developed argument against Amendment 1, and it
will not be a presentation of arguments that have been discusses thus far such
as adverse affects of the Amendment or the definition of marriage. I do not know what I believe about the homosexuality;
therefore you will find places where my wording will offend both sides of the
debate. Maybe my view from the fence has
helped me to have a different perspective on Amendment 1. This reflection is
simply a last minute attempt to raise some questions for my fellow ministers of
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I
am writing to my fellow believers, to my Christian community that extends
throughout NC and includes a vast diversity of beliefs. I want to write this blog not out of polemic
or judgment, but with a level of concern and care that is sensitive, but still
true to the urgency I feel about the issue of Amendment 1. I am trying my best to clothe myself in love
for my brothers and sisters in Christ, despite our disagreements.
It
matters to me that I work towards unity in the church, even when I must stand
appalled or ashamed of another Christian’s actions or choices. It matters to me that I not think lazily
about my brothers and sisters, simply discarding them when I disagree with
them. That is why I feel it necessary to
do the hard work of searching and seeking in the midst of difference and
disagreement. And as May 8th barrels towards us in just a few days,
I want to ask my faith family to do this hard work with me.
I
am not asking for us to all agree, I know that in the end, many believers that
I look up to and respect will think I am straying because of my views about
this Amendment. Please, before you
dismiss me, think and maybe even pray about the questions that Amendment 1 has
risen for me. What I am asking is that
Christians not blindly accept this amendment as “the Christian thing to
do”. What I am asking is for us to
introspectively reflect on where our intentions are rooted. Can we please think critically about our role
in society and about how we are to form our witness to this world? I am asking
that we question the relationship between scripture and secular governing
documents. I am asking that we purely
and simply ask questions.
I
beg that we’d stop assuming that we have everything figured out and that we’d
stand before each other with ridiculous honesty and transparency, asking
ourselves “Are we acting justly? Do we love mercy? Are we walking humbly with our God?” I ask that we vote “For” or “Against” on May
8th only after we interrogate ourselves in relationship to this amendment.
The
following are very short reflections that raise more questions than they answer
and are not exhaustive of all the issues raised by Amendment 1. My goal is not to sling scriptures around as
leverage, nor do I desire to “convince” or “convert” anybody to an
anti-amendment stance with my meager words.
My goal is to present questions that we can think about as we walk
prayerfully into the polls on Tuesday. Furthermore, my goal is not to present
myself as some sort of theologian, ethicist, or political analyst. I am fully aware that I don’t have everything
figured out; I am just a young believer who has questions about the kingdom of
God. And if you’ve read this far, I
thank you for walking along side me in my questioning.
“The Christian Thing to Do”: Is
Christianity a Homogeny or a Diverse Family?
I
have heard over and over again that voting “FOR” Amendment 1 is the “Christian
thing to do.” I’ve been given multiple
reasons, particularly surrounding scriptures about sexuality. But my question is—What does it mean to do
the “Christian thing”? I have really
struggled with this outlook amongst my fellow believers because there seems to
be a mass assumption that all Christians believe exactly the same thing or that
all Christians interpret all scripture in a unified manner.
Since
I have began my studies in seminary, I’ve come to realize that there is a vast,
and I mean vast, variety of Christians who live out the work of the church differently
and who see scripture differently. While
this is often problematic, it can also be one of the most beautiful things
about the church. The church is a
diverse family; it is not a homogenous clump of people who are the same gender,
race, or political party. I have been feeling that as a Christian, I
need to reflect on the diversity of my religion and possibly see this diversity
as something to respect.
It
seems to me that many Christians attempt to ignore our diversity because to
assume Christianity is a homogenous entity (typically one that exactly matches
your own worldview) is to use the faith as a social force. One can flippantly use the term “Christian”
to convince and condemn and to get their way in society. This is at the expense of acknowledging
Christianity as a living, moving, body with all its different parts.
What
is the “Christian thing to do”? I don’t
know, ask two Christians from two different traditions, and you will get two
very different answers; both of these answers will be rooted in scripture and
driven by a desire to live a faithful Christian life. I exhort my fellow believers to acknowledge
the complicated and diverse make-up of the church and to think more deeply
about the complicated issue before us as North Carolinian Christians vote “for”
or “against” Amendment 1.
We
must ask ourselves, “Do I represent all Christians when I say voting for
Amendment 1 is the ‘Christian thing to do’?”
The Root of Our Intentions: Fear or
Faith?
Amendment
1 is the first time I have ever publicly stood against other Christians. I have been honest about where my vote would
be cast and I have been very vocal about how it has been based on my Christian
faith. I have done this mostly through
the vehicle of facebook (for the good and the bad). This has led to multiple fruitful conversations,
which have enlightened my understanding of why many Christians are voting “for”
Amendment 1. One particular reason that
troubles me is the reason of “protection”.
I have heard two different arguments that are centered on
“protection”. I want to touch on both of
these arguments about protection and ask whether these are rooted in fear or
faith.
The
first is the political and public discussion of protection. This is the legal protection of the
institution of marriage as defined by God in the bible. I have also been told
that it is critical to place in legal protections from “rogue” judges that
might try to overturn NC’s marriage laws.
My question is this: what does it mean that Christians need a
constitutional law to “protect” the sanctity of marriage? What does it say about our faith in the
church and in the Holy Spirit that we choose to turn to lawmakers to enforce
“biblical marriage”?
I
don’t know if I have clear answers to this.
All I know is that there is a dissonance in my spirit about where our
intentions are rooted. They are rooted
in fear, fear of the “other”. Humans
resort to conscious protection when they are living in fear. What are we afraid of? And what do we have
faith in? Christians are afraid of rogue judges, of marriage as an institution
being undermined. When one’s Christian
convictions are based on fear, I just can’t help but wonder whether faith is
truly playing a role. Can we live out of
fear of the “other” and simultaneously live out of faith in the God of all
creation?
The
second type of protection is one with which I am more frustrated. It is a more subversive discussion that has
been confined within the walls of some church buildings in NC. This “protection” is the protection of future
Christians from discrimination if gay marriage is legalized. Here is a response from a Christian who I truly
respect and love as a brother, who I know has a heart for God, yet that I
heartily disagree with on this matter:
“If
a stand is not taken now, the next step for the LGBT community is to want to
have their weddings in a church, and if the church refuses to perform the
wedding, then the church will be guilty of discrimination and possibly a hate
crime. Pardon the cliché, but with this decision [Amendment 1] we are at the
edge of a very slippery slope.”
I grew up in a tradition
that preached about the future persecution and discrimination of Christians as
our nation slips more and more into the abyss of “worldliness”. I think that I have a lot of issues about how
this mentality is rooted in fear. I want
to be bold and say that this is a dangerous incitement of paranoia that is
causing Christians to not think critically about the issue of Amendment 1.
Where in the argument above do we see faith?
Where in the argument above will Christians be acting out of love? Self-preservation is not cohesive with the
example of Jesus Christ.
I leave each of my brothers
and sisters to ask themselves, “Where are my decisions rooted? Fear or Faith?”
Christianity: What is Dual Citizenship?
Another
set of questions that has been raised for me through Amendment 1 is the
question of citizenship. How do we
understand the relationship between our identities as citizens of the Kingdom
of God and our identities as citizens of North Carolina? Both of these identities reside within me at
this moment, so how to they work together and how do they not work
together?
I
am only a student, and I have so much to learn, but I do know that my
citizenship in the Kingdom of God is eternal and that my citizenship in North
Carolina is not. I know that my
citizenship in the Kingdom of God marks my relationship with the Creator and
that my citizenship in NC marks my relationship to my neighbors.
For
me, my eternal identity as a follower of Jesus trumps all other identifiers in
my life. Ultimately I do see my state citizenship as a space to testify to
Christ. But how do I form this witness?
What does it look like for our Christianity to inform our politics? Does it look like cultural power or social
power? Does it look like “othering” our
fellow citizens? Does it look like
villainizing our neighbors? How does
creating sub-citizens in our temporal context testify to our eternal context?
Maybe you don’t see this amendment that way, but I do wonder if there are other
ways to testify to Christianity besides picking one issue (Christian sexual
ethics) and driving through the grinder of governmental law.
Can
we ask ourselves, “Have I thought critically about how my faith informs my
Christian citizenship? What does
Amendment 1 do? Does it “protect”
holiness or oppress those who with those whom Christ would have sat down to
dinner, does it ‘other’ those which Jesus would have ministered to through
relationship?”
Christian Banners: Leviticus 18:22 or
John 3:16?
How
do we feel about the fact that non-Christians of North Carolina are looking at
Christianity like they are cultural crusaders carrying a banner that reads
“Leviticus 18:22”? If our neighbors see
us that way, could it possibly be that our emphases are in the wrong
places?
Copy and Paste: Scripture in the
Constitution?
My
response to this will be very short and blunt.
But, where I am right now in how I understand scripture and how I
understand the authority of the bible for the Christian life, I find Amendment
1 to be appalling. My question is this:
Do we dare copy and paste the Word of God into a public document like it was as
article from Wikipedia? Could we possibly be depleting the words of Scripture of
their spiritual truth when we alienate them from their genre, context, and
audience?
The
Bible is a cohesive canon that cannot be pulled apart without disrespecting the
Holy Spirit that participated in its formation and canonization. I am seriously questioning the influence that
scripture has had in the writing of Amendment 1. I believe God’s word is for all of creation. But, I also believe that the truth of the
gospel as communicated through the Word of God must be lived out in the context
of the Christian life, lest is be distorted.
I question whether a governing document is the correct context by which
the word of God will flourish.
So
I ask my fellow believers to ask themselves, “What is the Bible to me? Where does the truth of the scripture
flourish? What is a constitution? Is it
the right place for scripture to be communicated to the world? Could this
amendment be distorting the message of the gospel?”
Questions
I
have presented only a few of the many questions that have been raised for me by this Amendment. As frustrating and confusing as the past
couple of months have been to me, they have also been a journey of
learning. I have been prompted to think
critically about Christianity and myself as a believer and about how I should
faithfully live out my Christian life in a changing world. I have been pushed to reflect deeply on what
it means to vote as a Christian.
This
is what I desire for my faith community, for you, my brothers and sisters: not
that you automatically agree with me, nor that you be manipulated into voting
one way or the other, but that before you go out to polls tomorrow, that you
ask yourself some hard questions. I beg
for some self-interrogation from the body of Christ here in North
Carolina.
So
I ask my fellow North Carolinians who have been washed by the blood of Christ,
who live in this broken world to testify to the redemption brought to us in Christ’s
death and resurrection to ask themselves, “Have I asked myself the hard
questions? Before I choose between two
short but momentous words, FOR or AGAINST, Have I interrogated myself?”
Thank
you for your time. Even if you stand on
the other side of the issue from me, I thank you for walking along side me in
my questioning simply by reading this reflection.
“This isn’t an issue about Christians defending
the gospel or campaigning against sin. This is about mercy, this is about
grace, this is about decency, this is about humanity. Treat people like human
beings and have some compassion. That’s
what it’s about. The law is such a blunt instrument for dealing with things
like this…” - Sam Wells