Confession

I feel completely callused towards geopolitics and even to suffering in the world. I see what's happening with Russia/Ukraine, I read about what's happened in Turkey/Syria and truthfully, I just don't care. I want to care, I want to feel for the people who are suffering the effects of a devastating earthquake or who are feeling the ravages of a war that has been going on for over a year, but I don't. Then I start to wonder to myself, should I care? Should I care about things that I wouldn't otherwise know about except for the availability of information and which in no way affect my daily life? I don't know the answer to that question, it's just a question that crosses my mind.

A Vexing Question

I've heard about Andy Stanley's recent comments about homosexuality and the church and read some of the articles on The Gospel Coalition website and heard their calls for clarification from NorthPoint and from Mr. Stanley.

Here's the question I'm struggling with: we all agree that the Church is full of sinners and while we'd like to believe that all those attending Sunday services are actively resisting sin, we know that in reality that's not true. I've heard the argument that what makes homosexuality different than other sins is that most often, those living a homosexual lifestyle are claiming that it is not sinful, or are openly promoting that lifestyle or asking others to affirm their choices. Knowing that there are others in the congregation who are leading sinful lifestyles that have nothing to do with sexuality, how can the Church tell one group that they cannot be involved while allowing the other group to stick around? Does the Church have a permissibility problem or a discriminatory problem?

So I guess that's more like 2-3 questions. Right now, I'm leaning more towards 'the church has a permissibility problem' side of things. When we are inconsistent in how we respond to and address sin, no matter its flavor, then we get into situations where we appear to be condemning some sins and accepting others. Open to having my mind changed.