Highlights from "What God Has Joined Together" - part 1

i feel like oprah when i say the following statement: i cannot stop talking about this book! well, technically i can't really talk to many people about it because that might give me away. but i can talk about it to you over and over again! if you still haven't ordered or bought the book, you totally should. it's called What God Has Joined Together? the Christian case for gay marriage, by david myers and letha dawson scanzoni. weird name, awesome writer. i used to have a lisp and i had a friend named lisa and i said her name "letha" so i feel right at home :)

anyway, i want to start blogging about my favorite parts of the book. today will be part 1.

first, the book touched on an issue i'm very passionate about: authenticity

the writers refer to an exchange between the velveteer rabbit and the skin horse. "When someone 'love you for a long, long time' explained the wise old skin horse to the velveteen rabbit, "not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the skin horse.

"Does it happen all at once or bit by bit?" he asked.

"It doesn't happen all at once... You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily... Generally, by the time you are Real you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

The writers explain that we're most real when we're connected to others (especially when you're connected to the one you were created to love). This couldn't be truer! and i think that even more so, we are most real when we're connected with our authentic selves. i have finally connected with who i really am. not who someone tells me i am or what the world says, but really who God says i am. good stuff.

the next thing that really jumped out at me was the authors' beautiful summation of theology. sometimes theology can get tricky and complicated and by the time we're finished talking about systematic theology, people are either confused or upset. but the writers did a fabulous job in depicting the gospel in the most beautiful and accurate of lights. They realize that though christians have many differences among them (like the hot button issue of whether or not homosexuality is a sin) we also hold onto a similar hope. we can agree on some things:

"Today's followers of Jesus share a faith that God exists, loves us, and made this love manifest with a supreme redeeming act, which also serves as the supreme model for our own love for others... Whatever our differences, we agree that everyone is an image bearer of God, with immeasurable worth and deserves respect. And whatever our disputes, we share a common hope-that death will not have the last word. In the end, the very end... all shall be well. We also... generally agree that truth is revealed through God's word (Scripture) and God's works (nature). Furthermore, we agree that pride is a deadly temptation, that we are all fallible and at times broken, and that we are called to worship God with an "ever reforming" spirit of humility." AMEN AND AMEN! i love it. what a beautiful explanation of how we can actually come together as Christians, despite our differences. 

what's sad though is when christians or those who claim to be, put other christians down and judge them harshly. it breaks my heart when one person disparages and judges another for any reason. we must resist pride. we must embrace humility and try to love one another as Christ loves us. Christ never used hate speech against homosexuals. we could all learn something from Him. 

one last thing, and that will be quite enough for tonight, i loved how this book pointed out the consensus among medical professionals concerning homosexuality. this blew me away. it showed me that pretty much the only group who is still buying the whole "homosexuality is a sin" thing are mostly fundamentalist christians. of whom i am a recovering one, mind you. the book reveals that half a million medical professionals agree that therapy cannot change orientation. they agree that it is actually harmful and could have dastardly effects. i could go on and on, but basically the authors compile the research and findings of top medical professional organizations and they all agree that homosexuality is not a choice and that it is unchangeable. now i know there are many out there who might agree with this, yet still think homosexuality is a sin. i can't judge those people because i thought that once, as well. but that's when it's important for that person to dig deep into scripture and see what the Bible really says about the issue of homosexuality. i dug and dug and prayed and prayed for years. and throughout the course of that intense studying time and praying and fasting, i finally realized i'd been deceived into thinking it was a sin. i prayed for years asking God to reveal to me His Truth and He did. some may say i'm deceived now by satan, but it's quite the contrary. finally i have eyes to see. the God i am in love with would not allow me to be deceived when everyday for a year i asked Him to show me if i was wrong about everything. all i get over and over again is affirmation after affirmation. life outside of the box and 2 dimensional thinking is so much better than the alternative, in which i lived for 20+ years. i am so thankful that sanctification involves enlightenment and that God is taking us from glory to glory with new understandings. and that He is big enough and sovereign enough to keep us from being deceived if we are truly and daily seeking Him and abiding in His truth, Word, and Spirit. 

whether you are christian or non-christian, gay or not, or whether you believe being gay is a sin or not, i encourage you to read this book. educate yourself on what's really out there, outside of what you've always known. it's time to seek peace and pursue it. it's time to hold fast to the Truth. not the truth we've been taught and convinced of by people and misinterpretation of the Bible... no, i'm talking about the Truth that is found deep within the heart of the God who loves perfectly, the God who sanctifies us and the Holy Spirit who leads and guides us into all truth. 

thank you Jesus for saving me from myself. thank you for revealing your truth to me. thank you that you are big enough to reveal your heart to me despite my deceiver. thank you that in the end, you will and have and will continue to show me the way. i want more of you Jesus. i need you and i throw myself at the foot of your cross asking that you would continue to lead me and guide me into all truth, by your Spirit. search me Abba and know my thoughts. test me and know my anxious heart. see if there be any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. reveal your truth to your creation. open our eyes Lord that we might see you. truly see you, for who you really are, not who we've been told you are. open our ears to hear your truth and to see into what you really say in your word. keep us from the evil one and shine your bright light of grace, love, tenderness, mercy and forgiveness through us, your humble servants. we'll give you all the glory. amen and amen.