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Sometimes it happens... an event or announcement or some news is shared but I miss it completely because I’m not on social media. Well, truth be told: that happens all the time. What’s rare is wishing I hadn’t. This week had one of those. I heard Wednesday about the commotion around Andy Stanley and wished I’d been engaged. Then I read an article. And a second. And I was reminded why I got off social media in the first place. My anger aside… and don’t worry, the first version of this was the angry, eye-rolling rant at the self-earned moral righteousness arguments that continue to be lifted up in challenge to the radical love of Jesus ever since the Pharisees. I deleted it. I’m calm(er) now. My anger aside, I have hope around Stanley’s actions. In conversation with our own Bryan Amerling, who originally shared it with me, I agree with his assessment: that Stanley’s encouragement to not avoid or condemn but name and love our LGBTQIA+ siblings coupled with his influence has the potential to make changes in the general evangelical movement, not least by providing cover for other leaders to do the same. I don’t know much more about this conference, or Stanley for that matter, but one more thing I read moved me. In a tweet (are they still called tweets?) @ZachWLambert shared after attending the Unconditional Conference, which he described as “safe, supportive and affirming”, and Sunday’s follow up sermon, which called for the full inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community in church, he writes: “We still have a long way to go, but I am hopeful. I am grateful for this conference and the amazing people who made it happen. I believe it will save lives, restore families, and make a positive difference for the full inclusion of our LGBTQ+ siblings”.
I love that. I love that this happened, and that this is precisely the work that we are a part of when we take Jesus’ call to sacrificial love seriously. The work of reconciliation, of restoration, of grace and welcome. And of saving lives. That phrase gets used in different ways, especially in some Christian contexts. “Are you saved?” is akin to “have you been born again?” It’s all fancy or delineative talk for “have you accepted Jesus?” But that’s not the kind of saving lives that @ZachWLambert means here. He’s talking about ending patterns of repulsion, expulsion, hatred, and cruelty. Moving away from the easy, profitable, evil, solipsistic bullying practiced at the expense of our siblings who are of sacred worth. And that will save lives. And here’s the thing: the kind of saving that means being saved from sin, that means being reconciled to God… we can’t do that. I mean, seriously: I get to do this for a living, y’all, and I’m up to zero lives saved so far, and that’s including my own. That work is beyond my quality or capacity. It’s beyond us all. But God’s grace is sufficient, praise be to God. And our response to that grace should look a lot like remembering that we are saved not by our righteousness, but by God’s. By a gift. “Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God!” So, when we disagree, even on theological interpretation, we’d better err on the side of grace. Of love. Of saving lives. Because we can’t save anyone’s soul; only God knows them and only God can. What we can do is this work of reconciliation, of loving one another. We can make disciples by coming alongside them in our own discipleship. We can forgive. We can seek, listen, care for one another. We can let everyone know, everyone, that God loves them. And when we do that, well… we still have a long way to go, but I am hopeful. Rev. Ben Richards
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