Ah. Now I Get It.

Okay, so after weeks of wondering why so many people are tiffed about the fact that Pastor Rick Warren is delivering the inaugural invocation, I stumbled across the above image while perusing americablog.com. The image was taken from the website of Saddleback Church, the church that Warren pastors in California. If you look at the caption underneath the image, Warren points out that "someone unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted as a member at Saddleback Church." It goes on to say that homosexuals are more than welcome to attend the church as God has the power to change lives. Furthermore, Warren has each person considering membership into his church fill out the following questionnaire:


1. What does each candidate believe about abortion and protecting the lives of unborn children?
2. What does each candidate believe about using unborn babies for stem-cell harvesting?
3. What does each candidate believe about homosexual marriage?
4. What does each candidate believe about human cloning?
5. What does each candidate believe about euthanasia—the killing of elderly and invalids?

So hold up, pause, time out, bring it back, flip it and reverse it. Since when did the Church get bouncers? It is true that God has the power to save lives. We all (including you. Yes, you!) have something inside of us that we have to work on. We're not Jesus, but we are all called to live as Jesus lived. Christians realize that Jesus indiscriminately hung out with those that people would consider to be the "throwaways" of society: swindlers, prostitutes, drunkards, etc. I feel that Pastor Warren's decision to exclude anyone from becoming involved in the church handicaps their willingness to progress in the Christian faith. Don't get it twisted, I'm not condeming the man. That's God's job. But, I do feel that we should adopt the Christian philosophy and "let him who will come, come." Also, we should become more familiar with the ideology that the Christian role is to plant seeds towards righteousness and trust God that they will blossom.

Now. Do I believe that homosexuality is wrong? Yes. Above being black and above being a woman, I am a Christian. I trust the Bible to be the infallible Word of God; the truth scripted in its pages trump the beliefs of this world and of man. Sorry. But, I feel that if we are to condemn homosexuals unto hell, we must consider those who also may not make it through the pearly gates:

1 Corinthians 6

9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

If we are going to use the holy text to alienate any group from God's Kingdom, we need to use it alienate all appropriate groups. I attend church regularly and I know that several members of my congregation alone would be excluded from Heaven if we adhere to the scripture noted above. Being a Christian isn't easy, and we need all of the help and guidance that we can get. Hindering anyone from developing a relationship with God through church membership is, in my opinion, extremely dangerous. Do not be deceived!

Can't we all just get along? PEACE