new church life: september/october 2015
A loving and wise response: two
ropes.
So how are we to respond to the
U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has
finalized a change in the definition of
marriage on a civil level, to include
people of the same sex? How are we
to regard people we love who may be
attracted to people of the same sex?
How do we interact with those who
believe strongly in their conscience
that homosexuality is to be embraced?
While I can’t pretend to answer
that for all readers in all contexts, I go
back to something suggested earlier,
that the best responses come from
a careful interweaving of love and wisdom. I liken it to holding on to two
ropes – the “love” rope, calling us to look for the good in others, to view the
whole person, to humbly acknowledge our own limitations, and to build up
rather than tear down; and the “wisdom” rope, strongly attached to the Word
as the source of wisdom, describing the truth about marriage and important
principles to consider about homosexuality. The bottom line is: we don’t get
to let go of either rope, because the same Lord, who is love and wisdom, has
given us two hands to hold both.
What is important
to recognize is that
this is what the Lord
calls “marriage.” It
has everything to do
with “the interplay of
love and wisdom” in
feminine and masculine
human beings.
Holding onto love.
The “love” rope is relatively easy to talk about, yet often takes a lifetime to work
on. It’s essential for us to see the Lord as a God of infinite love who cherishes
every human being. We can also count on the fact that His love is always and
completely married to His wisdom, leading Him to provide for each of us
from an intimate and full knowledge of all that is going on. Therefore it can
be useful, whenever we are considering another human being, to reflect: “The
Lord loves that person, and is caring for him or her.”
Most of us also know that our greatest calling from the Lord is to love –
love Him, and love our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 22:38-39) He leads us
to put ourselves in the context of other people to the best of our ability, saying,
“Whatever you want others to do to you, do also to them.” (Ibid. 7:12)
Of the things we might see in others that seem off-track, we are encouraged
toward humility: “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but
do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Ibid. 7:3). And if we do have
to make a judgment call about what’s going on in the life of another person,
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