Shame by Josh Roggie
Author:Josh Roggie
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Quoir
Published: 2020-02-10T23:00:00+00:00
As I said, in my estimation the greatest sin is labeling people with one dimensional definitions. For my part, I believe that sin should be defined as an act that separates you from God and community. The Bible attempts to reveal what that looks like through specifics, but it is hardly exhaustive, and is not always universal. It is not intended to be a rulebook, but rather a foundational starting point to understanding God.
Labeling others from a simplistic viewpoint may or may not hinder your relationship with God. God is, after all, an invisible being in the sky and any sense of closeness is nebulous at best. However, labeling others will undoubtedly interfere with whom you are capable of experiencing community with. How can you maintain a sense of community with all of God’s creation if you are going to exclude some based on only a portion of who they really are?
If there are whole people groups that you refuse to interact with, then you are creating an exclusionary community in ways that Jesus never modeled. If your only interactions with certain people groups are hostile and violent (violence isn’t always physical), then you are disrupting community.
I have found it hard to talk earnestly about politics and religion with people who hold a strictly conservative view. I disagree with so much, and instead of digging into the nuance, it feels safer to divert the conversation to trivial topics like sports and food. I am also finding it hard to speak with people who are considered extreme liberal leaning, as it seems that any added nuance to the opposing view is regarded as defecting and requires a “circling of the wagons” perspective.
I don’t like debating with people who believe the Bible is inerrant, because they are likely to label my views as heretical and may even suggest I am not a Christian and will be doomed to hell. See what I am doing? These are real thoughts I frequently have about others. I am minimizing people to one aspect of who they are and am stopping the fluid and healthy movement of the community. All because I am assuming the worst. I told you I was a sinner, even by my own definitions.
When I first started my journey, I saw the world in its simplest form: black and white. As the world was revealed to me as more complex, I felt shame over my simple views. I felt shame that I casually used words like queer, gay, and faggot. I didn’t need to be told these words were offensive, because I could see in the eyes of my gay friends that they were hurtful. Then my own eyes were opened to how I was excluding them above and beyond my thoughtless language. I was confused that I held faith in a God that had enough grace for everyone, but couldn’t allow gay people into the community. I was guilty of thinking that I could somehow hold more grace for people than God, because I cared for these people.
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