Terrify No More

With the revolutionary announcement by the president in support of the right to marry for people of every orientation I've watched another opinion explosion, as group after group, and person after person, has lined up to lambaste or laud this new chapter in the marriage policy contest. 


In Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell, asserts a truth of the life of Christ and call of the Church, "[...] the gospel is good news, especially for those who don't believe it. [And] if the gospel isn't good news for everybody, then it isn't good news for anybody." In my scrollings, I found an interesting piece which addresses a very important issue at the heart of the church response to the issue of marriage and sexualities. 


Author, speaker, and blogger Rachel Held Evans's post, How to Win a Culture War, and Lose a Generation, begins with some interesting statistics on how Christians and the Church are being perceived beyond it's walls: 
When asked by The Barna Group what words or phrases best describe Christianity, the top response among Americans ages 16-29 was “antihomosexual.” For a staggering 91 percent of non-Christians, this was the first word that came to their mind when asked about the Christian faith. The same was true for 80 percent of young churchgoers. (The next most common negative images? : “judgmental,” “hypocritical,” and “too involved in politics.”) 


She later cites examples from her experience while speaking: 
 Some of these students would say they most identify with what groups like the Gay Christian Network term “Side A” (they believe homosexual relationships have the same value as heterosexual relations in the sight of God). Others better identify with “Side B” (they believe only male/female relationship in marriage is God’s intent for sexuality).  But every single student I have spoken with believes that the Church has mishandled its response to homosexuality. 


Please take a few minutes to read this piece, and think about what you do with your rightness or wrongness which may leave you winning a culture war and losing a generation.