Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

Christian Issues

Is God in Control?

by Chuck Queen in Christian Issues

How does God interact with the world? Does God directly manage and determine the course of global and human events? Many Christians think so.

Several years ago a parishioner who was dying of cancer and had only days left said to me, “I know there must be a reason for this.” She was not asking me what I thought. She was telling me how she made sense of her suffering and impending death. It was not the time to engage her theology. I simply tried to be a pastoral presence in her final days.

Not long ago I inquired about another friend fighting cancer. She informed me it was in remission, which she attributed to the power of prayer. She spoke of a song that meant a lot to her, which she had been listening to and “affirming in her heart.” The song is by Twila Paris and proclaims,

God is in control
We believe that his children will not be forsaken
God is in control
We will choose to remember and never be shaken
There is no power above or beside him, we know
Oh, God is in control, oh God is in control

I beg to differ.

I can affirm that God’s children (which includes all of us) will never be forsaken, but I cannot affirm that God is in control. God is clearly not controlling much of anything. Terrible, tragic things happen every few seconds in our world and God does nothing about them.

Theologians debate the question of theodicy: if God is all-powerful and God is good, then why is there is so much horrible evil and tragedy in the world?

Process theologians question God’s… [Read more…] about Is God in Control?

"This is why I don't believe in God"

by in Christian Issues

“Gina” is a 3-minute documentary film made by Loading Docs about a woman with a connective tissue disorder that has left her unable to talk, deteriorated her muscles, and causes light and sound to further damage her body. She is bed-bound and endures ongoing and excruciating pain.

The film makes the case for voluntary euthanasia. Gina, by means of touch-alphabet communication, says “I think a compassionate god would want people to have the option of a humane death.”

I find it difficult to argue against that idea. We readily put animals out of their misery when we understand that prolonging their life will merely prolong their suffering. Why should we have a less humane standard for humans? Is a human life that is entirely consumed by pain really of more value than no life at all?

Though I recognize that the ethical lines can be challenging to clearing define, I can’t see any good reason for an absolute ban on voluntary euthanasia. If Gina wants to end her suffering, shouldn’t she be allowed to?

Along with euthanasia, the film raises another troubling issue. In the film, Gina claims she is an agnostic. But I happened to watch the film with a friend, who, after seeing it, declared, “This is why I don’t believe in God.”

And after encountering Gina’s story, I also find myself confronted with the ultimate challenge to faith: how can one believe in a loving God in the face of such meaningless suffering?

What possible reason could God have for allowing Gina to suffer?

What… [Read more…] about "This is why I don't believe in God"

Encountering Christ on Death Row

by Darryl Ward in Christian Issues

 

View image | gettyimages.com

 

One of my most memorable experiences of being in church as a child was hearing “The Judgement of the Nations” (Matthew 25:31-46) read aloud, which includes Jesus saying:
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
No other text from the Bible has ever resonated with me so much. It helped me understand that through loving those who are the most unloved and the most outcast we can demonstrate our love for God. Few in society are more unloved and more outcast than those who are in prison — especially those who are on death row.

The row is not a pleasant place. “We all die a little bit on the row each day,” wrote Richard Michael Rossi, who spent more than 20 years on death row in Arizona before dying of natural causes. Depending on which state they are incarcerated in, death row inmates could be locked up for 23 hours a day in tiny cells with no natural light and fed only inadequate servings of inedible food which is shoved through slots, all while waiting in anguish to be killed.

No matter what they may have done, nobody deserves this. For some inmates, it becomes too much, and they willingly give up all their appeals to hasten their executions. These prisoners, who have abandoned hope, are euphemistically called… [Read more…] about Encountering Christ on Death Row

Why I'm a Christian Who (Still) Supports Planned Parenthood

by in Christian Issues, Current Events

Last week an undercover video was released purporting to show that Planned Parenthood is in the business of selling fetal body parts. The video reinvigorated the anti-abortion movement and renewed calls to defund Planned Parenthood.

But despite what many are so loudly proclaiming, the video — when watched in its entirety and with a dose of common sense — doesn’t actually support the claim that Planned Parenthood is using “partial-birth abortions to sell baby parts.”

What it does show is that Planned Parenthood facilitates the donation of fetal tissue for medical research. This is entirely legal and entirely appropriate. Why shouldn’t cells from aborted fetuses be used for medical research with potentially life-saving applications? Would those opposed to abortion prefer that these resources be simply squandered? Since the abortion is going to happen anyway, what possible reason is there for not utilizing the aborted tissue?

Perhaps the biggest fallout from the video, however, comes from the “tone” with which the medical procedures are described, something for which Planned Parenthood has already apologized.

I don’t think there’s a need to apologize. Conversations between medical professionals are often seemingly callous and matter-of-fact. Anyone who’s spent time around those in the medical field — doctors, PAs, nurses, EMTs — has likely heard gruesome stories recounted in a completely offhanded manner. What’s unsettling to us is commonplace for those who deal… [Read more…] about Why I'm a Christian Who (Still) Supports Planned Parenthood

Your "Deeply Held Religious Belief" Isn't Biblical

by April Kelsey in Christian Issues, Current Events

Most of us know the story. An Oregon bakery was found guilty of discrimination and ordered to pay $135,000 in emotional damages for refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, the business owners claiming that such an act would violate their “religious beliefs” against gay marriage.

The phrase “deeply held religious beliefs” has taken center stage in several recent legal battles — most notably in the Hobby Lobby birth control case, and again when a photographer in New Mexico refused to photograph a gay wedding.

The more I hear the words “deeply held religious belief,” the more uneasy I feel. I wasn’t sure why until I had read through the umpteenth article on the subject. And that’s when I realized that the so-called “beliefs” being defended aren’t actually rooted in scripture.

The verse that nearly all of these Christians cite in support of their behavior is Romans 1:32, claiming that it says God not only judges people who sin, but also those who simply approve of sin.

First of all, there is absolutely nothing in the Bible that says selling someone a product in the course of legal business shows approval of the buyer’s lifestyle or behavior. Nothing.

Second, that’s not what the scripture even says. Here it is, in context:

“Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness,… [Read more…] about Your "Deeply Held Religious Belief" Isn't Biblical

Flags, Guns and Christians

by in Christian Issues, Current Events

Last Friday the Confederate flag came down in South Carolina, the result of a national debate prompted by photos of Charleston shooter Dylann Roof proudly holding that flag.

I fully support the exclusion of the Confederate flag from public life. It’s a symbol of hatred, violence, and divisiveness that has no meaningful place in modern American society. When a symbol becomes a constant reminder of the worst of human behavior, when it instils fear and incites violence, when it divides and provokes, then it’s time to relegate it to the dustbin of history.

But amid all the hullabaloo over the Confederate flag, we’re ignoring a far more important issue. How is it that nine innocent people can be brutally gunned down by someone who shouldn’t have had a gun in the first place, and we end up talking more about a flag than the murder weapon?

The decision to ditch the Confederate flag is a small concession that, though symbolically important, overshadows the far more significant issue of gun violence in America. We’re living through an alarming rise of gun-related violence, yet as a society we remain frustratingly divided on the issue of guns.

Why haven’t the shootings in Aurora, Oak Creek, Newtown, Charleston, and myriad other locales across the United States spurred us to action?

Why aren’t Americans united in an effort to pass tougher gun laws, to plug legal loopholes, to develop better mental health resources, and to end the epidemic of gun violence?

And why aren’t Christians… [Read more…] about Flags, Guns and Christians

Marriage Equality — What Have Christians Lost?

by Chuck Queen in Christian Issues

Should Christians who are celebrating marriage equality empathize with those who are grieving over the Supreme Court ruling?

A call for such empathy recently came from a colleague in ministry who wrote,
Whether or not you agree with those who weep, they are still weeping today. They are experiencing loss. The world that they anticipated living into has changed. It’s not going back. It will never be the same. I’m not making any arguments about whether that is good or bad. . . . What I want to say today is that there are those among us who are mourning. What are we going to do about it?
My colleague quotes Paul who says to the church in Rome, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). He claims that “our first responsibility is to try to empathize with each other’s experience,” but the thrust of his admonition is aimed at those of us who are celebrating, not grieving. He challenges us to be “wounded healers” (Henri Nouwen’s phrase) to those who have encountered marriage equality as “a train wreck” and have experienced “genuine loss and trauma.” He points out that we are all members of the body of Christ and he encourages us to empathize with those hurting so we might be “avenues of healing and conduits of grace.”

So what is it exactly that our sisters and brothers who are weeping have lost?

According to my friend, they have had to say good-bye “to something that was supposed to be there… [Read more…] about Marriage Equality — What Have Christians Lost?

Biblical Marriage and Biblical Justice

by Chuck Queen in Christian Issues

Are you growing weary of the outcry of angst, fear, and frustration over marriage equality from Christians who claim to believe in biblical marriage? What if more Christians who say they believe in biblical marriage would actually practice biblical justice?

If more Christians who say they believe in biblical marriage would actually practice biblical justice, then more Christians would realize how they have all been impacted by racist biases and pursue a course of repentance and restitution. They would  intentionally advocate for policies that would correct a criminal justice system where blacks and other minorities are much more likely to be stopped by police than whites, much more likely to be incarcerated for the same offenses as whites, and then be underrepresented in their trials.

They would recognize our equality and oneness in Christ (Gal. 3:28) and strive to break down walls of division by opposing voter suppression laws and by removing symbols typically identified by our African-American sisters and brothers as signs of oppression, such as the Confederate flag. White Christians would reach out to all races in concrete, tangible ways to express hospitality, generosity, and kindness.

If more Christians who say they believe in biblical marriage would actually practice biblical justice, then more Christians would actually take seriously the numerous biblical instructions about caring for widows… [Read more…] about Biblical Marriage and Biblical Justice

Speak the Truth in Love

by in Christian Issues

“Speak the truth in love” is a phrase that some Christians love to toss out when they encounter disagreement, as if repeating those trite words will magically win debates. All too often they use it as a license to spew pet positions in a manner is that is far from actually being loving.

For example, Al Mohler, in a recent post on the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision, wrote: “We are charged to uphold marriage as the union of a man and a woman and to speak the truth in love.” As if that solves everything.

Let’s take a closer look at what “speak the truth in love” actually means.

The phrase appears in the Bible in Ephesians 4:15: “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

The key words here are “speaking the truth,” which is a translation of the single Greek word ἀληθεύοντες (alētheuontes), a participle of the verb ἀληθεύω (alētheúō), which is generally translated as “to speak truth.” But, though verbal communication may certainly be part of what ἀληθεύω means, its most literal translation is “truthing” — it’s simply the verb form of the noun “truth.”

About this word, theologian John Stott said:

‘Speaking the truth in love’ is not the best rendering of his expression, for the Greek verb makes no reference to our speech. Literally, it means, ‘truthing in love’, and includes the notions of ‘maintaining’, ‘living’ and ‘doing’ the truth.

The verse in not… [Read more…] about Speak the Truth in Love

"40 Questions For Christians Now Waving Rainbow Flags"

by Buzz Dixon in Christian Issues, LGBT

The Gospel Coalition website has posted the following questionnaire and commentary from Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan:
“[P]erhaps what’s been most difficult is seeing some of our friends, some of our family members, and some of the folks we’ve sat next to in church giving their hearty ‘Amen’ to a practice we still think is a sin and a decision we think is bad for our country. It’s one thing for the whole nation to throw a party we can’t in good conscience attend. It’s quite another to look around for friendly faces to remind us we’re not alone and then find that they are out there jamming on the dance floor…

“If you consider yourself a Bible-believing Christian, a follower of Jesus whose chief aim is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, there are important questions I hope you will consider before picking up your flag and cheering on the sexual revolution. These questions aren’t meant to be snarky or merely rhetorical. They are sincere, if pointed, questions that I hope will cause my brothers and sisters with the new rainbow themed avatars to slow down and think about the flag you’re flying.”

Fair enough, Kevin. I’ll take you at your word that you are sincere in your desire to understand why we believe what we believe.

1. How long have you believed that gay marriage is something to be celebrated?

From the moment I realized that sexual orientation was either innate in most human beings from birth; or… [Read more…] about "40 Questions For Christians Now Waving Rainbow Flags"