My mind has been turning over the issues relating to the proposed Sexual Orientation Regulations. I've had the usual flurry of emails exhorting me to sign this petition or write this letter. I've been told all about the potential threat to ministry and the possibility that I might be asked to do something which, in all good conscience, would run counter to the gospel itself.
But I'm bothered.
I'm bothered because when I preach, I preach a gospel of good news and a gospel of grace. I tell the congregation week after week that God loves them and longs to build a deepening relationship with them. I might even quote the old hymn Just as I am without one plea...
And therein lies my problem.
If I can come just as I am, why can't everyone else? Why should everyone else bend to my pattern first and come to Jesus second, when I came to Jesus first and then I started to work out how to behave.
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he responded with what must have been a well-known abbreviation. He said, "Love God wholeheartedly and love everyone else like you want to be loved."
I want to be respected. I want other people to treat me well. I don't want to be rejected because of what I believe, or worse still, persecuted for it.
So I don't think I can sign a petition that calls for the law to protect my right to refuse to serve someone because I don't approve of their lifestyle choices. If I did that, I wouldn't do weddings for people who live together, I wouldn't do funerals for people who didn't believe, and I wouldn't care for people I don't like.
That's not my kind of faith. I think I'll find a different path through the moral and theological challenges.
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