{"id":17133,"date":"2018-03-22T21:20:36","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T04:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=17133"},"modified":"2018-03-24T15:11:36","modified_gmt":"2018-03-24T22:11:36","slug":"to-live-as-an-expression-of-christs-love-a-challenge-and-a-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/to-live-as-an-expression-of-christs-love-a-challenge-and-a-mandate\/","title":{"rendered":"To Live as an Expression of Christ’s Love: A Challenge and a Mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI concentrate on a new goal: reclaiming the word love. My goal is to explore how Christ\u2019s love manifests itself in believer\u2019s lives, and in turn, how to best express that love to the rest<\/em>.\u201d[1]<\/a> These are the words of author Andrew Marin in his book Love is an Orientation<\/em>. Marin who identifies as a heterosexual, evangelical Christian has spent his time doing life with the GLBT community. His purpose evolved over time. One thing that remained at the core was that he remained open while sharing his faith in the only way he knew how. When he asked why people would come to his Bible Study the response was that \u201cyou treat us like children of God and not gays and lesbians who want to be Christians<\/em>.\u201d[2]<\/a> When I read this statement my eyes welled up with tears. At first, I didn\u2019t know what to think but my heart just began to feel sad. Whether people mean it intentionally or unintentionally it doesn\u2019t take away from the fact that the actions of many believer\u2019s cause others to feel pushed to the edge without feeling connected or a place of belonging. Despite a person\u2019s individual perception or belief, as a believer our hearts should be broken for anyone who wants connection and relationship with God without forcing them to feel like an outsider. Growing up in church it was often said \u201cHe looked beyond my faults and saw my needs\u201d.\u00a0 I would say for my life nothing can be closer to the truth! I am also not asserting that the stories of the individuals told in this book were about exposing faults what it did speak to is the multi dynamics and complexities of what it means to be human. \u00a0In our American context the discussion of homosexuality has more to do with sexual behavior and the polarity that exists between opinions within our culture today.<\/p>\n

Marin asserts that \u201cdespite what many believe, true biblical love does not come naturally to our human nature. It is not natural for us to get hit on the right cheek and then turn to the abuser the other cheek as well. It is not natural for us to earnestly forgive those who continue to purposefully wrong us seventy times seven times.\u201d[3]<\/strong><\/a><\/em>There is something often forgotten for those who profess Christ. It was His amazing love and kindness that drew us to Him. While we may have been introduced to Him through various methods (not saying all were healthy, biblical or even good) most of us were able to grow beyond our initial experience(s) and discover Him for ourselves.\u00a0 Real genuine love provides safety and security allowing us to become vulnerable and open. We become open to connect, to feel, to express our vulnerabilities, fears, uncertainties, and challenges. It is through a healthy, safe place where we begin to take the steps to grow and allow transformation to happen. All of us can admit that we are on a faith journey. Seeking out the meaning of our lives and attempting to live out our purpose one day at a time. We will never get it right 100% but most of us know that it is not about the percent we get right but the transformation and fortitude that results in our earnest attempt to be who we were destined to become.<\/p>\n

While reading this book was eye opening in some ways but known in others, I still wrestled with some of the points Marin conveyed in his book. In the sixth chapter he made a statement that I initially agreed with but was challenged by the rest of what he said \u201cI strongly believe that whenever Jesus is involved, change is soon to follow. I\u2019m not necessarily talking about sexual orientation; I\u2019m talking about mind, soul and eternal understanding. Lives change with Jesus, and if a GLBT person says that God has indicated that it\u2019s OK to be gay, <\/strong>the Christian community has to deeply trust and rely on the knowledge that we can never know the end to God\u2019s best journey for someone else\u2019s life.\u201d[4]<\/strong><\/a> <\/em>\u00a0When I first read this statement I was like HUH?!I know what the author was trying to convey but that could easily be misinterpreted. Yes, we have to trust the Holy Spirit to know the end to God\u2019s journey in our lives but to say that if someone indicates that it is ok for them to be who they are then we should accept their indication is troublesome for me. I do believe we should all be accepted for who we are but I believe that it is indeed the power of God through his amazing love that transforms and changes our lives regardless of the place we find ourselves at in any season of our lives. Overall, I think Marin\u2019s book spoke from a place that many otherwise would not have taken time to pause and listen too. I am reminded of our Cape Town advance when Michelle spoke to us about welcoming those on the edge as prophetic voices. While I am growing in my understanding with those in my life, holding in tandem what I was taught, experienced, and know to be true I do believe the word of the late Rev Billy Graham apply not only in this context but in the context of how we treat all humankind. As re-expressed by Marin \u00a0\u201cit\u2019s the Holy Spirit\u2019s job to convict, God\u2019s job to judge, and our job to love gays and lesbians in tangible and measurable ways through our unconditional behaviors as a flesh representation of Jesus Christ in their lives\u2014no matter what the outcome<\/em>.\u201d This among other things is both a challenge and a mandate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Andrew P. Marin, Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2009),99.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid, 106.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 109.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>Ibid,110.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI concentrate on a new goal: reclaiming the word love. My goal is to explore how Christ\u2019s love manifests itself in believer\u2019s lives, and in turn, how to best express that love to the rest.\u201d[1] These are the words of author Andrew Marin in his book Love is an Orientation. Marin who identifies as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[134],"class_list":["post-17133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-marin","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17133"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17271,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17133\/revisions\/17271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}