Few things grate my nerves like hearing Christians accuse each other of being untrue Scotsmen over issues that are outside of the Creed, outside of the Gospel. I don’t fear disagreement or gentle correction, but I do fear condemnation. •
That said, I do think that Christians should be able to back up their positions using biblical, contextual, and historical support. I don’t believe in twisting Scripture to support biases or personal agendas. But even when careful research is carried out, there will be nuances. And as my friend Katie loves to say, “There’s grace for that.” •
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I come from a long line of lament-ers. Jews are really, really good at lamenting — we even have an entire book of Hebrew Scripture called “Lamentations”! And Jews are also good at “praising God in the storm,” to borrow the Christian lyric. The Psalms are a beloved mix of praise and despair. All of the Hebrew Scriptures seem to flip back and forth between the two sentiments. •
When I attended an evangelical church, I noticed a lack of lament in 90% of worship songs. They all seemed to focus on how good God is, which isn’t a bad thing. But, it's not reflective of the actual human experience of God. We can believe that God is good and still be angry. We can believe God is good while struggling to forgive someone who wounded us. We can believe God is good when everything in life is falling apart, and the future has never looked more uncertain. •
That's the kind of gut-level honesty I aim for in my relationship with God. I wish other Christians weren't so afraid of it.
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