The party's still going on at umc.org

[dewdrop_world]

Man, I am having too much fun over there!

In response to another same-old, same-old post from pastorsteve:

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A question has been haunting me all day (I posted it in a new thread, but it seems that one isn't such a [pardon the pun] sexy topic as this one).

What if God never intended the Bible to be used literally?

What if God never intended the Bible to be the end all, be all of spiritual wisdom?

Of course you'll have some kind of explanation why you are right. It might even be "because the Bible says the Bible is right." That may be honest, but it's a tautology and therefore trivial.

The truth seems much simpler, even self-evident. Wherever there is good in the world, there is God also. To reject good in the world because it doesn't conform to views that you cherish at this time in your life is to reject God working in the world.

What if someone embodies the spirit of Christ but does not adhere to one person or another's definition of Christianity? What if someone else fails to see Christ in that person because she's too busy setting herself up as the model of a "true Christian"?

Who is following Christ? The one who lives in the example of Christ, or the one who talks about how people who disagree cannot be followers of Christ?

I respect your right to hold your views, but I don't feel that following your example would be the best thing for my soul. I would miss out on too much of what God has to offer!

Malice is not essential in something being a sin, although harm comes to a person because it ccreates separation from God and thus eternal harm.

I was separated from God before I came out. I began to heal from that separation after I came out.

Jesus himself said that the path to the kingdom of God was narrow and few that would find it and travel it.

Curiously, people who gravitate to those scriptures always, without fail, are absolutely positive that they themselves are on the narrow path, and that they are qualified to identify people who are not on the narrow path. That in itself is sufficient for me to doubt their counsel.

For many years, I've wondered why it is that some people gravitate toward the loving God and others gravitate toward the judgmental God. Both are equally justifiable in scripture! I haven't heard a good answer yet, which leads me to believe that the real reason is that it satisfies that person's psychological need. At one point in my life I realized that I would be disrespecting God to paint a picture of God in my mind for that reason. So I changed the focus in my prayer life to get my mind out of the way and allow God to reveal himself as he saw fit -- God's will, not mine! As a result, my spirituality is deeper now than at any prior time in my life.

James

[keltic63]

someone over there got it right: it's not that the Bible is inerrant (or infallible) it is that particular person or group's interpretation of the Bible that is inerrant!

[Emproph]

I can't believe what's happened in that thread, a hundred and eighty degrees. I have to post a couple of responses yet, but by this point half the work has been done.

Not that it's over, but it's a good start, it's our ONLY start.

You guys are lynchpins.