Grace and Truth

I am at the convention floor of a major meeting for Canadian family doctors in Vancouver. This will be a quick blog.

What I have been thinking, and discussing with others at home church and a breakfast bible study this week concerns the hot topic of homosexuality. The minister's sermon last Sunday (Being a Third Way Family) calls for "the third way". The first way is intolerance as in we must remove any sin from the church. The second way is the opposite - we must accept the brothers and sisters fully even though they practice their sexuality that I believe is against God's design and intention for men and women. The third way for the church provides a safe place and environment for those who believe the essential gospel and yet disagree with the church's interpretation of scripture on certain doctrines, such as the practice of homosexuality. To make this work we must agree on what are the essential gospel. We must also believe that God is the ultimate judge of all. So if a brother says he is a believer and wants to be part of the family of God, and yet practises homosexuality with another  believer, I should be honest to state my position lovingly and to accept the brother into our fellowship. The work of the Spirit will either convict my brother if he is wrong, or convict me for not interpreting the bible properly.

I have given the thought further. What I will do is to engage my gay brothers and sisters in a loving dialog. The intent is not to convince them that they are wrong, but to understand their position better, especially their interpretation of the few places in the bible where the homosexual behaviour is specifically condemned. And more importantly, our engagement should extent further to mutual benefit in growing in faith, as in Romans 1:11-12 "For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me."

Jesus is described in John 1:14 as "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.". Jesus came to dwell among us to demonstrate that He is from God and to show us to live a life full of both grace and truth. I often remind myself when I am dealing with those with whom I have differences  that I should deal with them with grace and truth, and in that order.