Pointed reflections
In doing some sermon prep, I came across the etymology of our word examination. Comes from the Latin examen, which originally referred to the pointer on a scale. To examine something was to weigh it to find out just how much substance was really there (as opposed to what might appear to be there). Without doing any judging or piling on, I'd like to reflect on Ted Haggard's all-too-painfully-public crash-and-burn. (Don't know about you, but my early responses, as the situation unfolded, was "Sounds a lot like me!" Not that I'm tempted in the specific ways that he apparently was--more that I recognized myself in the hypocrisy, dissembling, self-deception, etc.) Could we provide some encouragement and support (and possibly some protection) for one another by responding to a question: Have you developed any spiritual "examen" techniques or practices that keep you well in touch with the deep realities of yourself and the deep realities of God? I don't mean anything technical or precise by "spiritual examen techniques," I'm simply asking for ways in which you help guard/keep your heart.
posted by Brian Emmet @ 4:13 PM
11 Comments:
Yup. So any thoughts on what we can do in/for our churches to make this kind of confession more likely? I'm not looking for the "perfect fix" for the situation you described, just wondering what might be some useful counterweights to our commitment to live in, and practice, darkness. Maybe the more liturgically formal traditions have some things to offer? It seems to me that the practice of confession can be a good one, but that the priestly respnse to confession ("Say ten 'Hail Marys'") doesn't do much for the struggling sinner.
Picking up on LeRoy's comments at the end of the previous blog, may I attach my string to your tin cans? I agree with your assessement, LeRoy; however it doesn't answer Brian's question, which is a very good one. Linda and I are involved helping a new, very young couple in our church (she is 20 and he is 21 and they have a newborn). He is in the Navy and was busted at Mast, yesterday, for using the internet for pornography at his work, NSA. He is on one month restriction, busted a pay grade, and fined $1000.00! Linda took his wife to the airport this morning. She is flying home to spend the month with her mom! I say all this to say it IS a problem. FYI: His wife is lovely and very attentative. I will blog more later with some possible ideas/suggestions.
A resource book that may be of some help, Randy (and others)-- "Restoring the Fallen," by Friesen, Wilson and Larson, published by IVP (and maybe out of print). It's a practical, Biblical approach to developing "spiritual care teams" to walk out Galatians 6:1 ("Brothers, if any of you is caught in a sin, those who are spiritual should restore him gently, watching yourselves, because you too may be tempted")with those who have crashed and burned. Earl Wilson (one of the co-authors with his wife Sandy), was a crash-and-burnee something like Haggard, who, praise God, was restored to Christ, family, and usefulness.
Thank you, LeRoy and Brian, I was out-of-touch this weekend, visiting family in Louisville. My Mom not only doesn't have a computer, but she still uses a rotary phone, so I have very limited email access! It is funny, because in so many other ways, she is far from "old fashioned" at 83 years old! I have reconnected my string!
So--any thoughts or models for responding to/in a culture that is increasingly accepting of homosexuality? One potential result of Haggard's situation is that people will say, "Hey, if a guy like that is struggling with homosexual stuff, maybe it's time we re-thought our approach ot the meaning of gender and sexuality." That's still a theoretical question: how about when a same-sex family, who is orthodoxly christian (confesses Jesus, affirms the Creed, for example) wants to enroll their adopted children (or their children who resulted from sperm donors, artifical insemination and surrogate parenting) want to come to our school... attend our church... join our church? I don't mean to set up straw men to be easily knocked down--I think you see where I'm coning from? As our understanding of male-femal roles changes, we're also discovering that there are many who want to re-examine and re-define our whole approach to sexuality. I guess my core question is how we contextualize the gospel in such a culture...a culture, if i understand Paul's thinking in Romans 1, may be well on its way to irrecoverable reprobation.
GREAT question, Brian! I only have a minute; however, I will add an additional thought to the mix. I read a fascinating editorial a few months ago that stated that the reason this door is open is because our culture (Christian even) states the if two people LOVE on another, then they should be married. In other words, "love" is the defining factor. Therefore, what is wrong if that is two men or two women? The person writing the editorial pointed out that this is a relatively new concept in that for milleniums (and still true in much of the world), marriages were arranged; thus, making it easier to define "marriage." Intersting?
yes, Randy, that is an important angle on why this area is so vexing: the "no discrimination" card tends to trump the "reasonable definition" card. The "defense of marriage" folks probably got off on the wrong foot by choosing "defense"--"definition" would have been, I think, a stronger and clearer startug point, although I'm not sure it would have changed the outcome.
What we're seeing is the total privatizationa dn individualization of marriage--as you point out, "marriage" is now redefined as a "loving, committed relationship", and who is the govt (or anyone else for that matter) to judge my "love." I expect that what we'll see next is marriage extended to include threesomes and more--why not? Once marriage is redefined as "two persons," the inescapable (and unanswerable) question becomes, Why two?
So I guess the challenge for Christ's people is to clearly rearticulate what marriage is all about--and that includes more than simply "love," especially as our culture understands "love."
No quarrels with you LeRoy. i guess my question was more along the line of how missionaries might contextualize the Gospel, specifically its teachings on the nature and conduct of marriage, in a culture that practices polygamy. Do we say to the man with ten "wives," "Brother, you must put away nine of them, so let us know which nine that will be," knowing that the nine thus put away will be immediately subject to poverty, etc. My point is that cultures change slowly (unless they're at a point of collapse/destruction, at which point things can change rapidly indeed).
So...when a gay family wants to send their children to Covenant School here in Arlington, do we say (politely), "No way!" Or, "Perhaps, but you should understand that whenever the issue of marriage and family comes up, we will not be taking a position that you would agreee with." Or something else? Here in Massachusetts I know that there are folks who understand themselves to be homosexual and who would also identify themselves as orthodox Christians--i.e., they would confess Jesus as Savior, Lord and God, and affirm the Creed. I realize that we might find their orthodoxy (and resulting orthopraxy) debatable--but their starting point would be as I've described. What might faithful witness and ministry look like in these circumstances?
I'm not trying to legitimate homosexual behavior--I agree with you that both Testaments pronounce the ultimate censure of it: being "cut off" from Israel (OT) and being unable to inherit the kingdom (NT). I'm also not questioning our need to take a principled stand, even if that puts us significantly at odds with our culture; in fact, I think that may be a much healthier position for the church to be in culturally. I am suggestng that I think it would be helpful for us to dialogue how churches should function and minister in such a culture...beginning, no doubt, with a thorough house-cleaning of our own sexual mores, attitudes towards marriage and divorce, etc. We may not have a lot of impact on the world in the near term, but we probably can make a greater impact on those within the household of faith, confused as many of them (us) may be!
By the way, LeRoy and Randy, I enjoy these discussions, and am edified by them...and think they could be more widely helpful. Any ideas about encouraging some other guys to tie their strings on?
Robert has also said that no horse is too dead that you can't beat it again! I am adding a comment to this dormant blog, wondering if anyone will notice that there are now "20" replies vs. the previous "19."
Fred and I were having a conversation today, and he shared something that he heard on talk radio. The person calling into the talk show host identified himself as a Christian. He also shared that he was gay and had a partner. He was calling state his opposition to Same Sex Marriage. When asked why he opposed it, he stated, "Because the Bible clearly states that marriage is between one man and one woman." Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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